More depth

[Carl]

Last spring the roster was full and by summer Aldridge had to take a hike. For once in recent Bearcat history it appeared that UC would field a team with full roster. Then Wright the point guard got hurt and by the end of the season there were only ten scholarship players and Brandon Miller, bless him.

At the end of season nobody wanted to play more than Miller, nobody played harder. He wasn't ND's Rudy Ruettiger, but Miller's effort was a bright spot at the end of the season.

Why not carry five walk-ons? Increase the travel budget a little and take some dedicated guys, with limited talent, to Madison Square Gardens. Mick could use them to finish games when the other players can't concentrate. It would give the fans something to cheer about if the team collapses again next year. Maybe their attitudes would rub off on the scholarship players. Maybe it would start a tradition like the Aggie 12th man standing.

I could be dreaming.

[catsfan32]

I do like the idea of walk-ons, whether or not they travel with the team is not up to us, but i think they would motivate some players to play harder and realize how lucky they are to play at a major D1 school and receive an excellant education.

[dp3113]

If you take walk on's, you need to find guys who are good enough to practice with the team without bringing down the level of play. Most of these guys you ideally want are playing low level d-1, d-2, or d-3 basketball. It is not as easy as it sounds to "get a walk on", and have them serve any purpose besides wearing a jersey.

[Forsure21]

Miller was a senior. When you are a senior on any level and in any sport you take it a little more serious then when you are younger and still have clock left.

Deonta Vaughn will be that senior next year and my guess is really step into that senior role because it is his last chance to DO ANYTHING.

[gocats13]

Its nice to have one walk on every year that people love i.e. Miller, Meeker, Meachum (sp?). But to have 5 on one team would be ridiculous and the team would not be competitive. To build a good team, you need to have as many scholarship players as possible so that you have depth and you don't lose anything when your starters need a rest.

[London 'Cat]

The last few games, Miller was seeing increased minutes. I thought he hustled much more than most of the guys on the team. In the Seton Hall game, he was the only player to show any energy or ethusiasm to play that day. He started the game and played well until Cronin subbed someone else in for him.

I agree that every team needs a walk-on that the fans can adore. UC has had several over the years and I would like to see that tradition continue. But to keep more than one is difficult. You may be able to keep two, but any more than that is probably neither logsitcally nor financially feasible.

[bearcat1518]

Its nice to have one walk on every year that people love i.e. Miller, Meeker, Meachum (sp?). But to have 5 on one team would be ridiculous and the team would not be competitive. To build a good team, you need to have as many scholarship players as possible so that you have depth and you don't lose anything when your starters need a rest.

The North Carolina Tar Heel have 5 Walk-Ons on this year's team.

[jeffto]

The North Carolina Tar Heel have 5 Walk-Ons on this year's team.Carolina can probably get some darn good walk-ons. What could be better on a resume than a BBall letter from North Carolina. If I'm a good, well-to-do player who knows he's not going to the pros, I walk on at Carolina in a heart beat.

[bearcat1518]

I'm just saying some of the top schools do have 4-5 walk ons a year.

[gocats13]

Yes but look at the differences in the situations.

UNC has gotten 7 five star recruits and 10 four star recruits from the 2005-2009 classes compared to UC getting one five star and five four stars (one being Devan Downey). When you can recruit at the level that UNC does it is possible to carry some more walk ons.

[bearcat1518]

Geez...why do you people always argue...

UC could get guys to walk-on that would still be competitive, they simply choose a strategy to only have 1 (sometimes 2). Jamal Lucas was one solid walkon, so was Brent Petrus and Brad Jackson.

Obviously the current practice situation isn't paying dividends, so maybe it's worth a try-get some guys in there who play hard at least. Notice most of the UNC walk-on guys were players on their JV squad first...so they brought the experience of the system and the work ethic of the program necessary to help the team. UC could do the same thing by plucking guys from the Clermont team if they wanted (which almost happened back when I was in school).

[bearcat1518]

But to have 5 on one team would be ridiculous and the team would not be competitive.


Just proving that this statement is incorrect. UNC has 5 and they are competitive. I know might be a different situation to you...but nonetheless disproves your statement.

I do agree that a team needs as much scholarship talent as well though.

[gocats13]

No one is arguing I am just putting it into perspective

[Joe_Pong]

It really tells the sorry state of this team when we are talking about having to bring in more walk-ons. That's just sad.

[Cincatz13]

To be honest I think that it would hurt more to have more than a couple walk-ons. There is only so much that a walk-on can do to be honest. And I think that it would hurt UC's image to carry that many walk-ons. The way we have been playing, I think the last thing we need is to go to the bench and our 3rd guy off be a walk-on.

UC needs to get the toughness image back and not start an image of being Walk-on University. Bring in the football players to practice and have them hit our big guys. Make our guys learn how hard they have to work. I can't tell you how awesome it was to hear of the stuff that would go on when K-Mart was here and he would get in guy's faces or knock them out, is Donald Little. Our team is too tentative and we need to get stronger and more physical. It could be just me but I think that having this in practice could help a ton.

[DimitriusChristedes]

sort of off topic but didn't we have varez ward signed at one point? here's tearing up duke

[Corporateballa]

sort of off topic but didn't we have varez ward signed at one point? here's tearing up duke

Ward had a GREAT game vs. Duke

[Doss]

The Chevrolet Player of the Game! Sorry Named not Namrd. He had 16 points!

sort of off topic but didn't we have varez ward signed at one point? here's tearing up duke

[Lobot]

The Chevrolet Player of the Game! Sorry Named not Namrd. He had 16 points!

If it weren't for his extenuating circumstanced Ward probably would have been our primary ball handler this year. Oh well too late now.

[Lobot]

Geez...why do you people always argue...

UC could get guys to walk-on that would still be competitive, they simply choose a strategy to only have 1 (sometimes 2). Jamal Lucas was one solid walkon, so was Brent Petrus and Brad Jackson.

Obviously the current practice situation isn't paying dividends, so maybe it's worth a try-get some guys in there who play hard at least. Notice most of the UNC walk-on guys were players on their JV squad first...so they brought the experience of the system and the work ethic of the program necessary to help the team. UC could do the same thing by plucking guys from the Clermont team if they wanted (which almost happened back when I was in school).

Brad Jackson tackled post players as opposed to defend them. This is probably what to expect from the average football walk on. We've been lucky with some of our walk-ons IMO

[London 'Cat]

Ward had a GREAT game vs. Duke

Just a week or so ago I posted here that I watched him play and thought he would have helped UC. I received several replies about how UC had not really missed out on anything special. I only saw him play two games, and he averaged 15 PPG in those games and was better at dribble-drive penetration than every player on UC's roster. I wish he had come.

[DOOGINS]

Are there any schools with JV programs left? If so, why not field a team with 10 walk-ons. You then could use somebody that stands out for the Varsity in emergencies. The cost would be minimal.

[jeffto]

Just a week or so ago I posted here that I watched him play and thought he would have helped UC. I received several replies about how UC had not really missed out on anything special. I only saw him play two games, and he averaged 15 PPG in those games and was better at dribble-drive penetration than every player on UC's roster. I wish he had come.He changed his mind on UC. I don't know if Mick did anything to influence that change of heart, but the popular opinion on this forum was that he was no great loss.

To be fair, there's no way of knowing how good a player is going to be. He could just as easily come here and been a bust. Predicting the future is a messy business.

[jeffto]

Are there any schools with JV programs left? If so, why not field a team with 10 walk-ons. You then could use somebody that stands out for the Varsity in emergencies. The cost would be minimal.Big schools have branch campuses that have teams. It would be an interesting concept to have 2 year programs at branch campuses set up as your own internal JUCO teams and use them as feeders to the main program. Has anyone seen anything like that?

[MicksTheGuy]

This is a very interesting idea and I actually like where it is heading. Why do we have to follow suit with what the other teams do? If we do it right then other teams will follow our lead.

We always seem to have some sort of injury and it is amazing how many of these smaller schools find good players. I saw some amazing talent on that Siena roster. I have to wonder that if UC asked a couple of those guys if they wanted to be a walk on with the possibility of getting a scholarship if they might jump at the chance. Could we have a B team? It would have been great to have someone fill in for Mike Williams when he got hurt. Your not going to get the kid who has other choices for a for a full ride but you would get the diamond in the rough. Cincinnati is a great basketball rich area that has to have a ton of those diamond in the roughs. I just want them to be quality kids though and not a bunch of kids with issues. I like the prospect of being proud of my team both on the court and off the court.

[Bearcat Jeff]

I loved the W. Ky. guards. They were agressive on both ends of the court. College ball is all about agression. Xavier was 4th in the nation in either shot or made ft's. In spite of only shooting 67%. Memphis was not a great shooting team most of the season but they are very agressive on both ends too.

[long suffering UC fan]

I loved the W. Ky. guards.

That was a fun team to watch. That guy with the two last names plays with the smarts of an NBA veteran & also has a really cool herky/jerky unorthodox style which throws defenders off. I normally watch the tourney games pretty neutrally, but I ended up pulling pretty hard for them by the end, hoping to see them play again. I think that team is actually better than UC and several other Big East teams, at this point. If for any reason, UC were in a position needing a new coach, I'd love for them to consider that coach as a replacement (going on the assumption that UC can't afford or attract a household name).

I know I've bagged on Mick, and sincerely don't want to turn this thread into a bash/defend Mick thread - honestly just pointing out how impressed I was with that coach's team & how they played (more in the spirit of I wish the Bearcats could play like that soon, regardless of who is coach).

[cincycpaw]

He changed his mind on UC. I don't know if Mick did anything to influence that change of heart, but the popular opinion on this forum was that he was no great loss.

To be fair, there's no way of knowing how good a player is going to be. He could just as easily come here and been a bust. Predicting the future is a messy business.

But one that college coaches must stake their careers on.