2024–25 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

2024–25 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
2024–25 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 20
AP	No. 20
Record	2–0 (0–0 Big 12)
Head coach	Wes Miller (4th season);
Associate head coach	Chad Dollar (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Andre Morgan (4th season); Drew Adams (2nd season); Jaylen Stowe (1st season); Tim Buckley (1st season);
Home arena	Fifth Third Arena
	Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 Big 12 men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 10 Arizona	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
Arizona State	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
BYU	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
No. 20 Cincinnati	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
Colorado	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
No. 1 Kansas	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
Kansas State	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
TCU	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
Texas Tech	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
UCF	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
Utah	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
West Virginia	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
No. 5 Iowa State	0	–	0	–	1	–	0	1.000
Oklahoma State	0	–	0	–	1	–	0	1.000
No. 8 Baylor	0	–	0	–	1	–	1	.500
No. 4 Houston	0	–	0	–	1	–	1	.500

† 2025 Big 12 tournament winner As of November 8, 2024 Rankings from AP poll

The 2024–25 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team will represent the University of Cincinnati during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bearcats will be led by fourth-year head coach Wes Miller. The Bearcats play home games at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio as second-year members of the Big 12 Conference.

Previous season

The Bearcats finished the season 22–15 and 7–11 in Big 12 play to finish in 11th place in the conference standings, thus earning the 11th seed in the 2024 Big 12 Tournament. They defeated West Virginia, and Kansas in the Big 12 tournament before losing to Baylor in the quarterfinals.^[1]

The Bearcats were invited to play in the NIT, where they defeated San Francisco and Bradley before falling to Indiana State in the quarterfinals.^[2]

Offseason

Coaching staff changes

Former assistant coach Josh Loeffler accepted the head coaching job at Loyola.^[3] South Carolina assistant Tim Buckley was hired as an assistant coach.^[4] Jake Thelen previously Director of Player Development/Assistant Coach accepted the head coaching job at Covington Catholic High School.^[5] Former UC graduate assistant Jaylen Stowe who was an Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at High Point was hired as an assistant coach.^[6]

Departures

Due to COVID-19, the NCAA ruled in October 2020 that the 2020–21 season would not count against the eligibility of any basketball player, thus giving all players the option to return in 2022–23.^[7] Additionally, any players who have declared for the 2024 NBA draft—including seniors, who must opt into this year's draft—have the option to return if they make a timely withdrawal from the draft and end any pre-draft relationships with agents.

Cincinnati Departing Players
Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason
John Newman III	G/F	6' 5"	215	Graduate student	Greensboro, NC	Completed college eligibility
Landen Long	G	5' 11"	185	Graduate student	Cincinnati, OH	Completed college eligibility
Ody Oguama	F	6' 9"	230	Graduate student	Raleigh, NC	Completed college eligibility
Viktor Lakhin	C	6' 11"	240	Junior	Anapa, Russia	Graduated; transferred to Clemson^[8]^[9]
Jamille Reynolds	F	6' 11"	275	Senior	St. Petersburg, FL	Transferred to South Florida^[10]
Sage Tolentino	C	7' 1"	240	Sophomore	Honolulu, HI	Transferred to UNC Asheville^[11]^[12]

Incoming transfers

Cincinnati incoming transfers
Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Old school	Remaining Eligibility
Arrinten Page	C	6' 11"	245	Sophomore	Atlanta, GA	USC	Three years^[13]
Connor Hickman	G	6' 3"	200	Senior	Bloomington, IN	Bradley	One year^[14]
Dillon Mitchell	F	6' 8"	205	Junior	Tampa, FL	Texas	Two years^[15]

Recruiting class

2024 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Tyler Betsey SF	Windsor, CT	St. Thomas More School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Oct 6, 2023
Tyler Betsey SF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 87
Tyler McKinley PF	Cincinnati, OH	Winton Woods High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Nov 8, 2023
Tyler McKinley PF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 83
Halvine Dzellat PF/C	Loir-et-Cher, France	ADA Blois Basket 41	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sep 11, 2024
Halvine Dzellat PF/C	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Cincinnati 2024 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "2024 Cincinnati Basketball Commits". ESPN.com. "2024 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. "Cincinnati 2024 Basketball Commits". 247sports.com.

Preseason

Big 12 Preseason Poll

	Big 12 Coaches	Points
1.	Kansas	215 (9)
2.	Houston	211 (5)
3.	Iowa State	194 (1)
4.	Baylor	185
5.	Arizona	179 (1)
6.	Cincinnati	140
7.	Texas Tech	135
8.	Kansas State	133
9.	BYU	116
10.	TCU	90
11.	UCF	83
12.	Arizona State	64
13.	West Virginia	62
14.	Oklahoma State	46
15.	Colorado	37
16.	Utah	30
Reference:^[16] (#) first-place votes

Pre-Season All-Big 12 Team

First Team

Player	School
Caleb Love	Arizona
LJ Cryer	Houston
J’Wan Roberts	Houston
Tamin Lipsey	Iowa State
Hunter Dickinson†	Kansas
† denotes unanimous selection Reference:^[16]

Second Team

Player	School
Norchad Omier	Baylor
Jeremy Roach	Baylor
Keshon Gilbert	Iowa State
Dajuan Harris Jr	Kansas
Coleman Hawkins	Kansas State
† denotes unanimous selection Reference:^[16]

Player of the Year: Hunter Dickinson, Kansas
Co-Newcomer of the Year: Jeremy Roach, Baylor & Coleman Hawkins, Kansas State
Freshman of the Year: V. J. Edgecombe, Baylor

Roster

Roster below is based on the 2023–24 roster with outgoing players removed and incoming players added. The roster will undergo multiple changes as players leave via the NBA draft or transfers and players are added via the transfer portal and recruiting.

2024–25 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Daniel Skillings	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Jr	Roman Catholic High School	Blackwood, NJ
G	1	Day Day Thomas	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Kilgore College	Columbia, SC
G	2	Jizzle James	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Olympia High School	Orlando, FL
G/F	3	Rayvon Griffith	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS Fr	AZ Compass Prep School	Cincinnati, OH
G	5	CJ Fredrick	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	GS	Kentucky	Cincinnati, OH
G	8	Connor Hickman	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Bradley	Bloomington, IN
G	10	Josh Reed	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Pace Academy	Atlanta, GA
G	11	CJ Anthony (W)	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Putnam Science Academy	Columbus, OH
F	14	Tyler Betsey	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	St. Thomas More School	Windsor, CT
G	20	JJ Rembert (W)	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	Fr	Nation Ford High School	Queens, NY
F	22	Arrinten Page	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	So	USC	Atlanta, GA
F	23	Dillon Mitchell	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Texas	Tampa, FL
F	24	Tyler McKinley	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Fr	Winton Woods High School	Cincinnati, OH
G/F	41	Simas Lukošius	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sr	Butler	Kaunas, Lithuania
C	55	Aziz Bandaogo	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	GS	Utah Valley	Dakar, Senegal
F/C	65	Halvine Dzellat	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	ADA Blois Basket 41	Loir-et-Cher, France

Head coach

Wes Miller (North Carolina)

Assistant coach(es)

Chad Dollar (South Florida)
Andre Morgan (North Georgia)
Drew Adams (Iowa)
Tim Buckley (Bemidji State)
Jaylen Stowe (Mercer)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: October 8, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 18, 2024 7:00 p.m.	No. 20	Ohio State CareSource Exhibition Game for Mental Health^[17]	W 80–62	–	12 – Tied	7 – Mitchell	6 – Thomas	Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
Regular season
November 4, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 20	Arkansas-Pine Bluff	W 109–54	1–0	20 – Lukošius	11 – Skillings	10 – James	Fifth Third Arena (10,290) Cincinnati, OH
November 8, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 20	Morehead State	W 83–56	2–0	14 – Tied	9 – Mitchell	6 – Lukošius	Fifth Third Arena (10,604) Cincinnati, OH
November 15, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Nicholls Twyman-Stokes Classic^[18]						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
November 19, 2024 7:00 p.m., FDSNOH		at Northern Kentucky Twyman-Stokes Classic						Truist Arena Highland Heights, KY
November 23, 2024 2:00 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+		at Georgia Tech						McCamish Pavilion Atlanta, GA
November 27, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Alabama State						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
December 3, 2024 6:30 p.m., FS1		at Villanova Big East–Big 12 Battle						Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA
December 8, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Howard						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
December 14, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Xavier Crosstown Shootout						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
December 20, 2024 8:30 p.m., ESPNU		vs. Dayton Hoops Classic presented by CareSource						Heritage Bank Center Cincinnati, OH
December 22, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Grambling State						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
Big 12 regular season
December 30, 2024 7:00 p.m., CBSSN		at Kansas State						Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, KS
January 4, 2025 2:30 p.m., ESPN2		Arizona						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
January 7, 2025 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Baylor						Foster Pavilion Waco, TX
January 11, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Kansas						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
January 15, 2025 9:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Colorado						CU Events Center Boulder, CO
January 18, 2025 2:00 p.m., CBSSN		Arizona State						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
January 21, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN2/ESPNU		Texas Tech						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
January 25, 2025 10:00 p.m., ESPN2		at BYU						Marriott Center Provo, UT
January 28, 2025 10:00 p.m., CBSSN		at Utah						Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
February 2, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		West Virginia rivalry						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
February 5, 2025 7:00 p.m., CBSSN		at UCF						Addition Financial Arena Orlando, FL
February 8, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPN2		BYU						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
February 11, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Utah						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
February 15, 2025 4:00 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2		at Iowa State						Hilton Coliseum Ames, IA
February 19, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN2		at West Virginia rivalry						WVU Coliseum Morgantown, WV
February 22, 2025 12:00 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2		TCU						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
February 25, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN2		Baylor						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
March 1, 2025 4:30 p.m., CBS		at Houston						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
March 5, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Kansas State						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
March 8, 2025 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Oklahoma State						Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, OK
Big 12 tournament
March 11–15, 2025 TBA		vs.						T-Mobile Center Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[19]^[20]

Rankings

Ranking movements
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	20
Coaches	20

References

^ "Cincinnati's Big 12 Championships Run Ends in Quarterfinals". gobearcats.com. March 15, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Bearcats Fall Short in Quarterfinals to Indiana State, 85-81". gobearcats.com. March 27, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Josh Loeffler Named Men's Basketball Coach at Loyola". LoyolaGreyHounds.com. Loyola University Maryland. March 30, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
^ "Tim Buckley Joins Men's Basketball Staff as Assistant Coach". gobearcats.com. University of Cincinnati. June 3, 2024. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
^ Dyer, Mike (June 7, 2024). "Covington Catholic High School names Jake Thelen as its new basketball coach". WCPO.com. WCPO. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
^ "Men's Basketball Welcomes Back Stowe As Assistant Coach". gobearcats.com. University of Cincinnati. July 1, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
^ "DI Council extends eligibility for winter sport student-athletes" (Press release). NCAA. October 14, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
^ Smith, Kaiden (April 2, 2024). "Cincinnati center Viktor Lakhin enters NCAA transfer portal". on3.com. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
^ Heltman, Russ. "Former Cincinnati Bearcats Forward Viktor Lakhin Transferring to ACC School". si.com. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
^ Rapien, James (April 4, 2024). "Cincinnati Bearcats Forward Jamille Reynolds Transferring to American Athletic Conference School". si.com. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
^ Heltman, Russ. "Cincinnati Forward Entering Transfer Portal". si.com. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
^ @@Knickoson42 (April 24, 2024). "Former #Bearcats center Sage Tolentino has committed to UNC Asheville, he announced on Instagram" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ Heltman, Russ. "Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball Lands Commitment From USC Center". si.com. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
^ Heltman, Russ. "Bradley Transfer Guard Commits to Cincinnati". si.com. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
^ Knickoson, Keegan. "Texas F Dillon Mitchell will transfer to UC". 247sports.com. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Kansas Selected As Big 12 Men's Basketball Preseason Favorite, KU's Dickinson Named Preseason Player of the Year". Big12sports.com. Big 12 Conference. October 10, 2024.
^ "CareSource Announces Exhibition Games for Mental Health". CareSource.
^ "Twyman-Stokes Classic Set for Nov. 15 Against Nicholls". GoBearcats.com. University of Cincinnati Athletics. October 28, 2024.
^ "Wildcats to Host Cincinnati in Big 12-BIG EAST Battle". villanova.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
^ Heltman, Russ. "Report: Cincinnati Finalizing Another Matchup Against Dayton". si.com. Retrieved May 3, 2024.

[1] "Cincinnati's Big 12 Championships Run Ends in Quarterfinals". gobearcats.com. March 15, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.

[2] "Bearcats Fall Short in Quarterfinals to Indiana State, 85-81". gobearcats.com. March 27, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.

[3] "Josh Loeffler Named Men's Basketball Coach at Loyola". LoyolaGreyHounds.com. Loyola University Maryland. March 30, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2024.

[4] "Tim Buckley Joins Men's Basketball Staff as Assistant Coach". gobearcats.com. University of Cincinnati. June 3, 2024. Retrieved October 15, 2024.

[5] Dyer, Mike (June 7, 2024). "Covington Catholic High School names Jake Thelen as its new basketball coach". WCPO.com. WCPO. Retrieved October 14, 2024.

[6] "Men's Basketball Welcomes Back Stowe As Assistant Coach". gobearcats.com. University of Cincinnati. July 1, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2024.

[7] "DI Council extends eligibility for winter sport student-athletes" (Press release). NCAA. October 14, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2024.

[8] Smith, Kaiden (April 2, 2024). "Cincinnati center Viktor Lakhin enters NCAA transfer portal". on3.com. Retrieved April 3, 2024.

[9] Heltman, Russ. "Former Cincinnati Bearcats Forward Viktor Lakhin Transferring to ACC School". si.com. Retrieved April 18, 2024.

[10] Rapien, James (April 4, 2024). "Cincinnati Bearcats Forward Jamille Reynolds Transferring to American Athletic Conference School". si.com. Retrieved April 4, 2024.

[11] Heltman, Russ. "Cincinnati Forward Entering Transfer Portal". si.com. Retrieved April 18, 2024.

[12] @@Knickoson42 (April 24, 2024). "Former #Bearcats center Sage Tolentino has committed to UNC Asheville, he announced on Instagram" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[13] Heltman, Russ. "Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball Lands Commitment From USC Center". si.com. Retrieved April 21, 2024.

[14] Heltman, Russ. "Bradley Transfer Guard Commits to Cincinnati". si.com. Retrieved April 21, 2024.

[15] Knickoson, Keegan. "Texas F Dillon Mitchell will transfer to UC". 247sports.com. Retrieved May 21, 2024.

[Big_12_Preseason_Poll/Honors-16] "Kansas Selected As Big 12 Men's Basketball Preseason Favorite, KU's Dickinson Named Preseason Player of the Year". Big12sports.com. Big 12 Conference. October 10, 2024.

[17] "CareSource Announces Exhibition Games for Mental Health". CareSource.

[18] "Twyman-Stokes Classic Set for Nov. 15 Against Nicholls". GoBearcats.com. University of Cincinnati Athletics. October 28, 2024.

[19] "Wildcats to Host Cincinnati in Big 12-BIG EAST Battle". villanova.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.

[20] Heltman, Russ. "Report: Cincinnati Finalizing Another Matchup Against Dayton". si.com. Retrieved May 3, 2024.

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v t e Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
Venues	Schmidlapp Gymnasium (1901–1954) Cincinnati Gardens (1949–1954; 1987–1989) Armory Fieldhouse (1954–1976) Riverfront Coliseum (1976–1987) Fifth Third Arena (1989–2017; 2018–present) BB&T Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Louisville Memphis West Virginia Xavier
Culture & lore	Bearcat "Cheer Cincinnati" 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl Longest game in Division I history UC Pep Band
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics