Thanks, Nancy

August 23, 2005 is a day that continues to live in infamy in the eyes of University of Cincinnati basketball fans. It was on this day that school president Nancy Zimpher gave long-time coach Bob Huggins a choice: resign or be fired. Huggins chose to resign Zimpher and Huggins had shared a huge difference on opinion on a variety of issues. This tension was furthered when Huggins was charged with DUI in June 2004. Cincinnati fans resented Zimpher for her decision to get rid of Huggins. “Nuck Fancy” signs and T-shirts were a popular item following Huggins ouster.

Why were people so upset at Zimpher? Whether or not you agree that she made the right choice by moving the basketball team in another direction, there is one thing that cannot be debated: Huggins produced a winning team on the court. Huggins went 399-127 in 16 seasons at the school, including 14 straight NCAA Tournament appearances*. He may not have had a stellar post-season record (only one Final Four appearance) and his players may not have all been overly scholarly or moral in character, but Huggins produced teams that were fun to watch. He produced winners. He restored pride and glory to the University of Cincinnati basketball program.

Andy Kennedy was the interim coach for the 2005-2006 season and helped guide Eric Hicks, Devan Downey, Jason White and the rest of the Bearcats to a productive first season in the Big East. Many people thought that the Bearcats deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament just for their impressive regular season, which included a near-upset of second-ranked Villanova. In the first round of the Big East tournament, Syracuse’s Jerry McNamara hit a last-second, game winning shot against UC . The ‘Cats were snubbed three days later on Selection Sunday, later receiving a top seed in the National Invitational Tournament rather than a place in the Big Dance. Kennedy left after the season to become head coach at Ole Miss, while Huggins became head coach at Kansas State. Freshman standout Devan Downey also chose to transfer to South Carolina following the season.

Mick Cronin was hired on March 24, 2006. Cronin, a UC alum, was a former assistant under Huggins and Louisville coach Rick Pitino. Most, recently, he was head coach at Murray State guiding the Racers to two NCAA Tournament appearances. At first, Cronin seemed like a good fit for the Bearcats. However, into his third season, Cronin has received little praise from the UC community. He was 69-23 in three seasons for Murray State, but was just 24-38 in his first two seasons at UC**. This season started out well with the Bearcats going 10-3 in non-conference play. However, the Bearcats are currently just 2-4 in conference play, including two losses to Providence.

In early November 2004, the University agreed to join the Big East Conference. Along with Louisville, DePaul, Marquette, and South Florida, Cincinnati was set to help solidify an already-powerful basketball conference. This would be a far different league than the powder-puff Conference USA where Huggins had so dominatingly carried his teams. “In the days of Conference USA, we won the league when we had average teams,” said Cronin. “But you played on your whole schedule all year one or two ranked teams. We play a ranked team every week in the Big East.” (taken from the January 22,2009 News Record)
In the current Associated Press poll, 8 teams: Connecticut (3), Pittsburgh (4), Syracuse (8), Louisville (9), Marquette (11), Georgetown (12), Notre Dame (19), and Villanova (20) are currently ranked. UC could come back and make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2004-2005season, but it’s doubtful considering they still have games against 7 of these ranked teams, including two against Georgetown.

Xavier, which is currently ranked 15th in the Associated Press poll, is having the kind of success that UC saw under Huggins. Also like Huggins’ teams, Xavier plays in a scarcely competitive conference. The Atlantic 10 is arguably even weaker than the former Conference USA. At least the Conference USA of the ‘90s had UC, Louisville, and Marquette. Right now, the A 10 has Xavier and only Xavier. One difference between Xavier’s program and UC’s program is that Xavier has remained competitive amidst coaching changes. Skip Prosser and Thad Matta left successful Xavier teams for bigger schools in Wake Forest and Ohio State, respectively. After Matta left, Xavier hired Sean Miller, who is 108-41 in his fifth season as Xavier’s coach. Miller has led the Musketeers to 3 straight Tournament appearances, which includes a 4-3 post-season record and a trip to last year’s Elite Eight. The 39 year-old Miller is obviously a good coach with a lot of potential, but it’s still up in the air as to whether or not he’ll honor his contract with Xavier (which runs through 2017) or leave for the big time, just like his predecessors.

Looking at Xavier’s success in such a weak conference, compared to UC’s semi-failure in what some people are calling “the greatest conference ever in the history of college basketball,” one has to wonder what would happen in the two schools switched places. If UC were in the Atlantic 10, would they be ranked in the top 15? If Xavier were in the Big East, would they too have a losing conference record? (UC has lost the past three Crosstown Shootouts to Xavier.) If Huggins hadn’t been forced out, would UC be just as good as the other teams at the top of the Big East? Of course there is no way of answering any of these questions, but the last question is the most intriguing.

No matter if you love or hate Bob Huggins, it is pure fact that his ouster has had a major effect on the current basketball program. Players often sign with a school not just because they like the campus or area, but also because they like the coach. This was the reason that Devan Downey and other players chose to transfer away from UC after Huggins was forced out. Huggins is a great recruiter. He was only at Kansas State for a year, but was able to recruit star player Michael Beasley. After Huggins left Kansas State to coach at his alma mater, West Virginia., Beasley (2nd overall pick) and Bill Walker (47th overall pick) declared for the NBA Draft.
West Virginia, which is also in the Big East Conference, is currently not ranked, but Huggins did get his team to the NCAA Tournament in just his first year at the school. Huggins is still in the process of brining players to Morgantown that fit his coaching style. In a few years, the Mountaineers will resemble a traditional tough, motivated, dominating, Bob Huggins team. This isn’t to say that Cronin isn’t a good coach or a good recruiter. That’s still up in the air. I am saying, however, that Huggins is better known than Cronin. Cronin is still in the process of finding his identity as UC’s head basketball coach.

Bob Huggins became a legendary figure in University of Cincinnati sports history. At this point in time, it is doubtful that Cronin will ever reach that status. But with all this uncertainty surrounding Cronin, one thing is for sure: Bob Huggins would never have allowed his team to lose twice in 12 days to the Providence Friars. Growing up, I’d always wanted to attend UC. I could always see myself cheering on the basketball team. Since starting school in 2005, I have witnessed the growth of the football team along with the demise of the basketball team. This is a different time in college sports. I hope UC’s football program continues to grow. Regardless of the football team’s recent success, however, Cincinnati is historically known as a basketball school, and that notion will not easily fade. Sooner or later, the team will be restored to prominence. Until then, enjoy the ride while it lasts, Xavier fans!.


Sources:

The stats about Huggins coaching career at UC were taken from: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2141113 *

The stats about Cronin’s coaching career were taken from:
http://www.bigeast.org/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=19400&ATCLID=1280620&SPID=11915&SKIP_BACK_BUTTON=YES **

The stats about UC’s current season were taken from:
http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/cinn-m-baskbl-sched.html ***

The stats about Xavier’s current season were taken from:
http://goxavier.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/miller_sean00.html ****