Sean Kilpatrick and Mick Cronin Are Finalists For National Awards

Raise your hand if you saw this coming at the start of the year. Anyone? Anyone at all? Didn't think so.

Mick Cronin has been maligned by a subsection of the Bearcats fan base for years, most of it having nothing to do with what has transpired under his watch. Until this year their biggest problem with Cronin was that he got the job. He should have those people shut up now. What he has done with this team, a team that many outsiders viewed to be in rebuilding mode says all that needs to be said. Mick is the right guy for this job, and he should be here for a long time.

As for Sean Kilpatrick there were plenty of reasons to expect a mini leap from SK this year, call it the World University Games bump. The previous Bearcats to make the team for that competition, Kenyon Martin and Eric Hicks both made jumps in the following season. SK has been no different, But I don't know how many people were expecting SK to be a legitimate All American candidate this season, but he surely is.

Neither Mick nor SK are expected to win these awards, but simply being nominated is an honor for both and a testament to the growth they both have shown this season.