Losing Hernol Hall is actually the thing that hurt the rebuilding of this program. I'm not saying the kid was Kenyon Martin but, as the highlight video above shows, he was an aggressive big that could block shots and finish around the rim. Something we sorely lacked those first few years under Mick. This is just another example of the NCAA screwing a kid that did nothing wrong with their asinine rules. From gobearcats.com:
"During the certification process for his eligibility, it was determined that Hernol Hall played in organized basketball competition with Tiburones of Nicarugua and the Costa Rican national team during two calendar years after his 21st birthday" said McKinley. "NCAA Bylaw 14.2.3.5 states that for each calendar year that a prospect participates in any organized competition after their 21st birthday and before their initial enrollment in college, the prospect is charged with a season of eligibility. Since Hernol participated in two calendar years after turning 21 and he competed two years at Lon Morris College, he has exhausted his four years of collegiate eligibility."
"Coach Cronin and his staff were forced to recruit under unusual and exceptional time constraints and we signed nine excellent student-athletes," stated UC Director of Athletics Mike Thomas. "Under even the best of circumstances, recruiting international students presents some very unique challenges. My heart goes out to Hernol and the rest of our men's basketball family who were all under the impression that Hernol had eligibility remaining."
Head Coach Mick Cronin stated, "We are extremely disappointed with the outcome of Hernol's appeal. Hernol is a great player and an even better person and will remain a Bearcat. We will work with him everyday and continue to help him chase his dreams as a student and then as a professional player. Hernol is concerned about his teammates and has been through so much in his life that this is only a minor setback for him. When we told him, his main concern was us, he feels like he let us down, which we told him was not the case. Hernol will have no comment at this time. His entire story is very compelling and he will have his say when he is ready, right now he wants to be with his teammates."
Cronin added that "This is an unfortunate situation to say the least and we are not happy about losing arguably our best player and top recruit. That said, we will continue to work hard and build our program back to national prominence."
