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Had the Cincinnati Bearcats not turned into the Washington Generals in the final minutes of their Big 12 tournament game against UCF, they might have well been watching CBS Sunday to see if their name would appear on the revealed brackets.
Instead, with bubble burst and feelings hurt, UC is parting ways with coach Wes Miller and what happens later on Sunday is anyone's guess. Barring the unforeseen, UC will miss the NCAA Tournament for a seventh straight year.
UC would have been in contention for a second Crown berth as the Big 12, Big Ten and Big East are contractually obligated to send the top two teams in the NCAA NET who did not make the NCAA tournament to the event in Las Vegas.
However, Friday evening, March 13, University of Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham said the Bearcats would not go to the Crown. The Crown doesn't begin until April 1, which is also the day Wes Miller's buyout drops to $4.69 million.
It's believed UC is waiting for that day to make the official announcement of the program moving on from Miller; otherwise, they would have to negotiate between now and April Fool's Day on the buyout figure.
Witnessing both parties shortly after their meeting in the Lindner Center on March 13, there were no official comments, but there was no doubt what had occurred. Wes Miller was visibly upset and John Cunningham and Executive Senior AD Brad Pike exited shortly with a wave, but no comment. Senior Deputy AD/Chief Financial Officer John Daniel was also in the meeting.
Cunningham has now released two basketball coaches and will be making his second hire. There have been no losing records since Mick Cronin left for UCLA, but also no NCAA tournament games in seven years since the Bearcats lost a 13-point lead against Iowa in Columbus on March 22, 2019.
UC's last NCAA tournament win was eight years ago, March 16, 2018, vs. Georgia State in Nashville. Two days later, they lost a 22-point lead with 11:37 to go against Nevada. UC fans may have gotten a similar feeling when the Bearcats once had a 95% chance of winning against UCF late in the game, only to watch it implode in the final two minutes on the Big 12's glorious glass floor.
The great unknown is that he is probably still coaching in the NCAA tournament; thus, much can't be acknowledged. Josh Schertz of Saint Louis and Jerrod Calhoun of Utah State have been the logical frontrunners, according to many experts The Enquirer contacted.
On the day of the Miller parting, Schertz signed a contract extension in Saint Louis. Kansas State had pursued both Schertz and Calhoun, but settled on Belmont's Casey Alexander.
At Utah State, Calhoun's top assistant, Eric Haut, just took a job at Tarleton State in Texas, where former Kentucky coach Billy Gillespie resigned due to health reasons. Calhoun is a UC grad who served as a student assistant under Bob Huggins at UC when Mick Cronin and Andy Kennedy were assistants. He eventually worked with Huggins at West Virginia before starting his head coaching career at Fairmont State, Youngstown State and now Utah State.
He is from northern Ohio, so there are several things to connect the dots to here. However, UC AD John Cunningham is pretty good at keeping searches under wraps, so nothing should be assumed as a "done deal."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bearcats March Madness bracket predictions
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Instead, with bubble burst and feelings hurt, UC is parting ways with coach Wes Miller and what happens later on Sunday is anyone's guess. Barring the unforeseen, UC will miss the NCAA Tournament for a seventh straight year.
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No NCAA, no NIT, no College Basketball Crown
UC would have been in contention for a second Crown berth as the Big 12, Big Ten and Big East are contractually obligated to send the top two teams in the NCAA NET who did not make the NCAA tournament to the event in Las Vegas.
However, Friday evening, March 13, University of Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham said the Bearcats would not go to the Crown. The Crown doesn't begin until April 1, which is also the day Wes Miller's buyout drops to $4.69 million.
It's believed UC is waiting for that day to make the official announcement of the program moving on from Miller; otherwise, they would have to negotiate between now and April Fool's Day on the buyout figure.
Witnessing both parties shortly after their meeting in the Lindner Center on March 13, there were no official comments, but there was no doubt what had occurred. Wes Miller was visibly upset and John Cunningham and Executive Senior AD Brad Pike exited shortly with a wave, but no comment. Senior Deputy AD/Chief Financial Officer John Daniel was also in the meeting.
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Cincinnati Bearcats, fans must wait
Cunningham has now released two basketball coaches and will be making his second hire. There have been no losing records since Mick Cronin left for UCLA, but also no NCAA tournament games in seven years since the Bearcats lost a 13-point lead against Iowa in Columbus on March 22, 2019.
UC's last NCAA tournament win was eight years ago, March 16, 2018, vs. Georgia State in Nashville. Two days later, they lost a 22-point lead with 11:37 to go against Nevada. UC fans may have gotten a similar feeling when the Bearcats once had a 95% chance of winning against UCF late in the game, only to watch it implode in the final two minutes on the Big 12's glorious glass floor.
You must be registered for see images attach
Who's UC's new coach?
The great unknown is that he is probably still coaching in the NCAA tournament; thus, much can't be acknowledged. Josh Schertz of Saint Louis and Jerrod Calhoun of Utah State have been the logical frontrunners, according to many experts The Enquirer contacted.
On the day of the Miller parting, Schertz signed a contract extension in Saint Louis. Kansas State had pursued both Schertz and Calhoun, but settled on Belmont's Casey Alexander.
At Utah State, Calhoun's top assistant, Eric Haut, just took a job at Tarleton State in Texas, where former Kentucky coach Billy Gillespie resigned due to health reasons. Calhoun is a UC grad who served as a student assistant under Bob Huggins at UC when Mick Cronin and Andy Kennedy were assistants. He eventually worked with Huggins at West Virginia before starting his head coaching career at Fairmont State, Youngstown State and now Utah State.
He is from northern Ohio, so there are several things to connect the dots to here. However, UC AD John Cunningham is pretty good at keeping searches under wraps, so nothing should be assumed as a "done deal."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bearcats March Madness bracket predictions
Continue reading...
