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The Cincinnati Bearcats begin the 2019-20 basketball season at Ohio State on Wednesday November 6th.
Following a mass exodus of players, that included two graduations and five transfers, the Bearcats have five key players returning this season.
Jarron Cumberland
Cumberland, the 2019 AAC Player of the Year, is the clear cut star of this team. CBS lists him as the 10th best player in college basketball.
Among the many pre-season accolades Cumberland has received:
- Unanimous First Team All-AAC selection
- AAC Preseason Player of the Year
- Dick Vitale First Team All-American
- Lindy’s Sports First Team All-American
- CBS Third Team All-American
- NBC Sports Third Team All-American
- Sporting News Second Team All-American
- Selected as 1 of 20 players to the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year watch list
- Honorable mention AP All American
Trevon Scott
During his freshman and sophomore seasons, Scott played 70 games total, but never started. He played behind Gary Clark and Kyle Washington. Following their departure after 2018, there was a huge hole in the frontcourt for Scott to fill and he was successful in doing so. After previously averaging 3 points and 3 rebounds per game, Scott saw his averages increase to 9.3 ppg and 6.9 rpg. Beyond that, he was an emotional leader on the floor and played excellent defense.
Keith Williams
Williams was second on the team in scoring in 2018-19, averaging 9.9 ppg. The new up-tempo offense is expected to suit his game perfectly.
Trevor Moore
Through two seasons and 69 games total, Moore has only scored 198 points, even though we heard he’s a good shooter coming out of high school. Perhaps this new offensive system will be exactly what Moore needs to get going as he enters his junior season.
Mamoudou Diarra
Diarra has averaged 6.8 minutes per game, playing just 27 games (20 last season). As one of the returning players, he is expected to see more playing time and play a larger role.
Note - Prince Toyambi also returns after redshirting last season, however he recently underwent a procedure on his heart and is not expected to play in 2019-20. His basketball playing future is unfortunately TBD.