2019–20 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bearcats were led by first-year head-coach John Brannen. The team played their home games at Fifth Third Arena as members of the American Athletic Conference.

2019–20 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
AAC regular season co-champions
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Record	20–10 (13–5 American)
Head coach	John Brannen (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Jayson Gee (1st season) Sean Dwyer (1st season) Tim Morris (1st season)
Home arena	Fifth Third Arena
Seasons ← 2018–19 2020–21 →

2019–20 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Cincinnati	13	–	5		.722			20	–	10		.667
No. 22 Houston	13	–	5		.722			23	–	8		.742
Tulsa	13	–	5		.722			21	–	10		.677
Wichita State	11	–	7		.611			23	–	8		.742
UConn	10	–	8		.556			19	–	12		.613
Memphis	10	–	8		.556			21	–	10		.677
SMU	9	–	9		.500			19	–	11		.633
UCF	7	–	11		.389			16	–	14		.533
South Florida	7	–	11		.389			14	–	17		.452
Temple	6	–	12		.333			14	–	17		.452
East Carolina	5	–	13		.278			11	–	20		.355
Tulane	4	–	14		.222			12	–	18		.400
Note: The 2020 AAC tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Bearcats finished the 2018–19 season 28–7, 14–4 in AAC play, finishing in second place. They defeated SMU, Wichita State, and No. 1 seed Houston to win the AAC tournament for the second consecutive year, and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 7 seed in the South region, they were upset by No. 10 seed Iowa in the first round. After the conclusion of the NCAA tournament, head coach Mick Cronin accepted the head-coaching position at UCLA.^[1] John Brannen, the head coach at nearby Northern Kentucky, would be hired to replace Cronin.^[2] In the transition, UC lost G/F Rashawn Fredericks and C Nysier Brooks - both of whom would've both been seniors. They also lost sophomore guard Logan Johnson and backup PF Eliel Nsoseme. Incoming freshman and Ohio's Mr. Basketball in 2019, Samari Curtis, also de-committed. Jarron Cumberland announced he would test the waters to enter the 2019 NBA draft on April 20, 2019.^[3] On May 27, Cumberland announced he would return for his senior season.^[4]

Despite the deluge of transfers, Brannen was able to inspire a late-season recruiting renaissance, as he moved quickly to land Jeremiah Davenport, Chris Vogt, Mika Adams-Woods, Chris McNeal, Jaume Sorolla, and Jaevin Cumberland (in that order) - with the latter four commitments transpiring in under one week's time. It is worth noting that, at the time of the final scholarship being fulfilled, both Logan Johnson and Eliel Nsoseme were still in the transfer protocol and technically "could" return to UC; this series of signings effectively locked in their transfer from the program.

After all the dust settled, UC would have a final transfer enter the portal in redshirt Freshman LaQuill Hardnett. His spot would be filled shortly thereafter by the highest rated recruit of the 2019 class, Zach Harvey. Entering this season, new scholarship players would now outnumber returning players 7-6.

Offseason

Departing players

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Logan Johnson	0	G	6'2"	175	Freshman	Mountain View, California	Transferred to Saint Mary's[5]
Justin Jenifer	3	G	5'10"	175	Senior	Baltimore, Maryland	Graduated
Rashawn Fredericks	10	G/F	6'5"	200	Junior	St. Croix, Virgin Islands	Transferred to UAB[6]
LaQuill Hardnett	11	F	6'8"	210	RS Freshman	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Transferred to Buffalo[7]
Cane Broome	15	G	6'0"	165	RS Senior	East Hartford, Connecticut	Graduated
Eliel Nsoseme	22	F/C	6'9"	225	Sophomore	Kinshasa, DR Congo	Transferred to Georgia State[8]
Nysier Brooks	33	C	6'11"	240	Junior	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Transferred to Miami (FL)[9]

Incoming Transfers

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Chris Vogt	C	7'1"	240	Junior	Mayfield, KY	Transferred from Northern Kentucky. Vogt was granted a waiver for immediate eligibility. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.[10]
Chris McNeal	PG	6'0"	195	Graduate Student	Jackson, TN	Transferred from Tennessee Tech after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately.[11]
Jaume Sorolla	C	6'11"	240	Graduate Student	Tortosa, Spain	Transferred from Valparaiso after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately.[12]
Jaevin Cumberland	SG	6'3"	185	Graduate Student	Wilmington, OH	Transferred from Oakland after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately.[13] Cousin of guard Jarron Cumberland.

2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jeremiah Davenport SG	Cincinnati, OH	Hargrave Military Academy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	May 11, 2019[14]
	Recruit ratings: 247Sports:
Mika Adams-Woods PG	Syracuse, NY	New Hampton School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	May 30, 2019[15]
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    (78)
Zach Harvey SG	Topeka, KS	Prolific Prep	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	June 27, 2019[16]
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    (80)
Overall recruit ranking:    247Sports: 44
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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 2019 Player Commits". ESPN. Retrieved April 2, 2019. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved April 2, 2019.

2020 Recruiting class

College recruiting information (2020)
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Mike Saunders PG	Indianapolis, IN	Wasatch Academy	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	June 11, 2019[17]
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    (80)
Gabe Madsen SF	Rochester, MN	Mayo High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	August 31, 2019[18]
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    (80)
Mason Madsen CG	Rochester, MN	Mayo High School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	August 31, 2019[19]
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    (NR)
Tari Eason PF	Seattle, WA	Garfield High School (Seattle)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	December 21, 2019[20]
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    (79)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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 2020 Player Commits". ESPN. Retrieved March 11, 2020. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved March 11, 2020.

Preseason

AAC media poll

The AAC media poll was released on October 14, 2019, with the Bearcats predicted to finish third in the AAC.^[21]

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Houston	113 (7)
2	Memphis	113 (4)
3	Cincinnati	94 (1)
4	Wichita State	88
5	USF	79
6	UConn	75
7	Temple	72
8	SMU	47
9	UCF	40
10	Tulsa	36
11	East Carolina	20
12	Tulane	15

Preseason Awards

American Athletic Conference^[22]

• All-AAC First Team - Jarron Cumberland (* Only unanimous selection)
• AAC Player of the Year - Jarron Cumberland

Sporting News^[23]

• All-America: Second team - Jarron Cumberland

Roster

2019–20 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Chris McNeal 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) GS Tennessee Tech Jackson, Tennessee G 1 Jeremiah Davenport  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Hargrave Military Academy Cincinnati, Ohio G 2 Keith Williams 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School Brooklyn, New York G 3 Mika Adams-Woods 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr New Hampton School Syracuse, New York G 5 Trevor Moore (T) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr South Kent Prep Houston, Texas F 13 Trevon Scott 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Sr McIntosh County Academy Darien, Georgia F 20 Mamoudou Diarra 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS So 22ft Academy Bamako, Mali G 21 Jaevin Cumberland 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) GS Oakland Wilmington, Ohio G 23 Zach Harvey 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Prolific Prep Topeka, Kansas F 24 Prince Toyambi  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Fr Fresno High School Kinshasa, DR Congo G 31 Sam Martin (W) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Summit Country Day School Cincinnati, Ohio G 32 John Koz (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Bay High School Cleveland, Ohio C 33 Chris Vogt 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Jr Northern Kentucky Mayfield, Kentucky C 35 Jaume Sorolla (LT) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) GS Valparaiso Tortosa, Spain G 34 Jarron Cumberland 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Wilmington High School Wilmington, Ohio F 44 Adam Cook (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Marysville High School Marysville, Ohio F 45 Rob Banks (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Gould Academy Bracknell, England	Head coach John Brannen (Marshall) Assistant coach(es) Jayson Gee (Charleston (WV)) Sean Dwyer (Michigan State) Tim Morris (Stanford) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on (T) Transferred (LT) Left team Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: March 4, 2020

• Preseason - Prince Toyambi underwent surgery to correct a cardiac issue, leading him to sit out for the entire season.^[24]
• Dec. 9, 2019 - Trevor Moore elected to transfer to Morgan State after the fall semester.^[25]
• Feb. 4, 2020 - Jaume Sorolla left the team. He elected to return home to Spain to pursue a professional career.^[26]
• Mar. 1, 2020 - Jeremiah Davenport did not make the trip to Houston. He later underwent surgery to correct a knee injury, leading him to sit out for the rest of the season.^[27]

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Chris Vogt	Jaume Sorolla	Rob Banks
PF	Trevon Scott	Mamoudou Diarra	Adam Cook
SF	Keith Williams	Zach Harvey	Jeremiah Davenport
SG	Jarron Cumberland	Jaevin Cumberland	Trevor Moore
PG	Mika Adams-Woods	Chris McNeal	Sam Martin

Source^[28]

Schedule and results

The Bearcats traveled to in-state rival Ohio State to open the season for the second part of a home-and-home series with the Buckeyes. The Bearcats also began a home-and-home series with Tennessee beginning in the 2019–2020 season in Cincinnati. Tennessee visited Fifth Third Arena on December 18, 2019.^[29] The Bearcats traveled to Chicago to take on Iowa in the Chicago Legends event.^[30] Cincinnati traveled to the Virgin Islands to compete in the Paradise Jam tournament where they finished in third-place.^[31]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 31, 2019* 6:00pm, Bearcats TV		Thomas More	W 79–36		15 – McNeal	5 – Diarra	4 – Adams-Woods	Fifth Third Arena (5,389) Cincinnati, OH
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2019* 8:30pm, FS1		at No. 18 Ohio State	L 56–64	0–1	13 – Tied	12 – Scott	3 – Jar. Cumberland	Value City Arena (13,845) Columbus, OH
November 11, 2019 7:00pm, FSOH/ESPN3		Drake	W 81–59	1–1	17 – Jae. Cumberland	11 – Scott	4 – McNeal	Fifth Third Arena (10,133) Cincinnati, OH
November 14, 2019* 7:00pm, FSOH/ESPN3		Alabama A&M	W 85–53	2–1	18 – Vogt	10 – Vogt	6 – Jae. Cumberland	Fifth Third Arena (9,830) Cincinnati, OH
November 22, 2019* 5:45pm, FloSports		vs. Illinois State Paradise Jam Quarterfinals	W 66–65	3–1	23 – Jar. Cumberland	13 – Vogt	3 – Scott	Sports and Fitness Center  Saint Thomas, USVI
November 24, 2019* 7:45pm, FloSports		vs. Bowling Green Paradise Jam Semifinals	L 84–91 OT	3–2	21 – Jae. Cumberland	11 – Scott	4 – McNeal	Sports and Fitness Center (1,525) Saint Thomas, USVI
November 25, 2019* 5:45pm, FloSports		vs. Valparaiso Paradise Jam Third-place game	W 81–77 OT	4–2	21 – Vogt	11 – Scott	4 – Tied	Sports and Fitness Center  Saint Thomas, USVI
November 30, 2019* 7:00pm, FSOH/ESPN3		UNLV	W 72–65 OT	5–2	20 – Jar. Cumberland	9 – Scott	5 – Jar. Cumberland	Fifth Third Arena (10,783) Cincinnati, OH
December 3, 2019* 7:00pm, CBSSN		Vermont	W 82–73	6–2	23 – Williams	12 – Scott	5 – Williams	Fifth Third Arena (10,220) Cincinnati, OH
December 7, 2019* 5:00pm, FS1		at Xavier Crosstown Shootout	L 66–73	6–3	15 – Williams	9 – Williams	4 – Jar. Cumberland	Cintas Center (10,811) Cincinnati, OH
December 14, 2019* 7:00pm, FSOH/ESPN3		Colgate	L 66–67	6–4	16 – Vogt	7 – Tied	4 – Jar. Cumberland	Fifth Third Arena (10,416) Cincinnati, OH
December 18, 2019* 7:00pm, ESPN2		No. 21 Tennessee	W 78–66	7–4	15 – Scott	7 – Scott	4 – Tied	Fifth Third Arena (12,012) Cincinnati, OH
December 21, 2019* 9:00pm, BTN		vs. Iowa Chicago Legends	L 70–77	7–5	18 – Jar. Cumberland	8 – Vogt	4 – McNeal	United Center (6,814) Chicago, IL
AAC Regular Season
January 1, 2020 7:00pm, CBSSN		UConn	W 67–51	8–5 (1–0)	19 – Vogt	13 – Scott	5 – Tied	Fifth Third Arena (10,833) Cincinnati, OH
January 4, 2020 4:00pm, CBSSN		at Tulane	L 71–76	8–6 (1–1)	21 – Vogt	6 – Tied	8 – Scott	Devlin Fieldhouse (2,513) New Orleans, LA
January 8, 2020 7:00pm, ESPNU		Tulsa	W 75–44	9–6 (2–1)	22 – Jar. Cumberland	11 – Vogt	8 – Jar. Cumberland	Fifth Third Arena (10,138) Cincinnati, OH
January 11, 2020 12:00pm, ESPN2		at UCF	W 68–54	10–6 (3–1)	16 – Williams	11 – Scott	7 – Jar. Cumberland	Addition Financial Arena (5,482) Orlando, FL
January 16, 2020 7:00pm, ESPN		at No. 22 Memphis Rivalry	L 49–60	10–7 (3–2)	19 – Jar. Cumberland	8 – Williams	2 – Tied	FedEx Forum (16,079) Memphis, TN
January 19, 2020 6:00pm, ESPNU		East Carolina	W 82–57	11–7 (4–2)	16 – Scott	11 – Tied	7 – Jar. Cumberland	Fifth Third Arena (11,103) Cincinnati, OH
January 22, 2020 7:00pm, ESPNews		at Temple	W 89–82	12–7 (5–2)	22 – Jar. Cumberland	11 – Scott	6 – Jar. Cumberland	Liacouras Center (6,463) Philadelphia, PA
January 28, 2020 7:00pm, ESPNews		SMU	W 65–43	13–7 (6–2)	28 – Jar. Cumberland	9 – Tied	4 – Jar. Cumberland	Fifth Third Arena (11,221) Cincinnati, OH
February 1, 2020 6:00pm, ESPN2		No. 21 Houston	W 64–62	14–7 (7–2)	17 – Jar. Cumberland	11 – Scott	7 – Jar. Cumberland	Fifth Third Arena (12,189) Cincinnati, OH
February 6, 2020 7:00pm, ESPN		at Wichita State	W 80–79	15–7 (8–2)	24 – Jar. Cumberland	11 – Scott	5 – Jar. Cumberland	Charles Koch Arena (10,211) Wichita, KS
February 9, 2020 12:00pm, CBSSN		at UConn	L 71–72 OT	15–8 (8–3)	25 – Scott	13 – Scott	10 – Jar. Cumberland	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (9,409) Storrs, CT
February 13, 2020 7:00pm, ESPN		Memphis Rivalry	W 92–86 OT	16–8 (9–3)	25 – Scott	19 – Scott	9 – Jar. Cumberland	Fifth Third Arena (12,239) Cincinnati, OH
February 16, 2020 12:00pm, CBSSN		at East Carolina	W 70–67 OT	17–8 (10–3)	17 – Williams	12 – Scott	5 – Williams	Williams Arena (4,082) Greenville, NC
February 19, 2020 7:00pm, ESPNU		UCF	L 87–89 2OT	17–9 (10–4)	22 – Scott	21 – Scott	9 – Jar. Cumberland	Fifth Third Arena (10,874) Cincinnati, OH
February 23, 2020 1:00pm, ESPN		Wichita State	W 67–64	18–9 (11–4)	24 – Jar. Cumberland	11 – Scott	4 – Tied	Fifth Third Arena (12,137) Cincinnati, OH
March 1, 2020 1:00pm, ESPN		at No. 25 Houston	L 55–68	18–10 (11–5)	17 – Scott	11 – Scott	4 – Jar. Cumberland	Fertitta Center (7,096) Houston, TX
March 3, 2020 7:00pm, ESPNU		at South Florida	W 79–67	19–10 (12–5)	30 – Williams	11 – Scott	3 – Scott	Yuengling Center (3,008) Tampa, FL
March 7, 2020 8:00pm, CBSSN		Temple	W 64–63	20–10 (13–5)	20 – Jar. Cumberland	12 – Scott	7 – Jar. Cumberland	Fifth Third Arena (12,365) Cincinnati, OH
AAC Tournament
March 13, 2020 1:00pm, ESPN2	(1)	vs. (8) UCF / (9) South Florida Quarterfinals	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic					Dickies Arena  Fort Worth, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

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

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings

Awards and honors

American Athletic Conference honors

All-AAC Awards

• Defensive Player of the Year: Trevon Scott
• Most Improved Player: Trevon Scott
• Sportsmanship Award: Trevon Scott

All-AAC First Team

• Jarron Cumberland
• Trevon Scott

Player of the Week

• Week 15: Trevon Scott

Weekly Honor Roll

• Week 4: Chris Vogt
• Week 10: Trevon Scott
• Week 11: Jarron Cumberland
• Week 12: Jarron Cumberland
• Week 13: Jarron Cumberland
• Week 14: Trevon Scott
• Week 16: Trevon Scott
• Week 18: Keith Williams

Source^[32][33][34]