Meet The Newcomers: Deshaun Morman

Deshaun Morman is a dynamic basketball player. He can score. He can defend. He can distribute. He can do it all. The 6-3 wing is perhaps the most complete player in Mick Cronin's 2013 recruiting class. Like I said before, he can score. But he can score in many different ways. He is a slasher with enough strength to get to the rim, but he can also bury shots from behind the arc.

Matt Opper posted several videos in this piece on Morman in the fall right after he committed to UC. You can see him score in every fashion. Also you can see his quickness and his willingness to play defense, which will automatically endear him to the UC coaching staff.

Now there's always a snag, isn't there? The current snag concerning Morman is his ongoing fight to get eligible. No one has said a word about whether or not Morman is going to be able to suit up for the Bearcats this fall or not. He is in town and has been playing in summer league, but there has been no official announcement from UC on his status.

Even if Morman is cleared, his playing time (much like his status) is up in the air. He's behind several veteran guys with some pretty decent resumes. Depending on which position he ends up at (either shooting guard or small forward) he's already behind (SG) Sean Kilpatrick and Jeremiah Davis III (and battling fellow freshman Kevin Johnson) and (SF) Shaquille Thomas and Jermaine Sanders. Sanders will be a junior who has shown flashes of brilliance at the offensive end and Thomas has the potential to be the best player on the floor for UC at any time he's out there. So Morman could see a lot of the game from the bench. And that's not a bad thing when you're a freshman watching two players the caliber of Thomas and Sanders.

As is the norm for every start of a new season, UC (and its fans) can boast of having a stable of extremely talented players who will all get the chance to contribute to a fast-paced style of play, pressing all over the floor, turning up the heat and the tempo on the way to 100-point scoring nights. In reality it's never that simple. Morman is going to have to take advantage of limited time early in the season and likely make his impressions in practice.

Let's just hope he can get cleared so we have the chance to see exactly what he can do on the college level.