SK and Bearcats seek respect

[Who Dey Time]

Here's the problem...people can't appreciate the good years under him without looking realistically at the whole. The fact is after 1996 UC advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA once. The fact is the schools reputation was horrible. The fact is the grad rate was horrible (not as bad as advertised) but horrible. The fact is there were constant issues of players involved in off court issues and/or coaches. I think the success you see in the AAC under Cronin will be pretty close to our past CUSA success.

I loved Huggs but I thought his time had run it's course. It was time for a change, just not the way it went down. It harmed the program (no recruiting for 2 years) and he deserved better. But it was time for a change.

Very well said. Can't imagine anyone not appreciating Huggs for his time here. Having said that, anyone not appreciating Mick for what he has done is either bitter or blind.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

I know this will probably open up the floodgates for a war, but I wonder where our program would stand today had we not fired Huggins. Would he still be here? My guess is we would've landed in trouble somewhere, definitely would've lost scholarships. I think he would've spiraled downhill quicker than he did. I think having to rebuild himself as a coach rejuvenated him for a few years. I don't think our program today would be as strong as it is with Cronin at the helm. If he were still here I think we would be mediocre. In reality I think something would've happened several years back to lead to him being gone and we would be in rebuilding mode now as opposed to five years ago.

Let's assume Huggins would have brought in Beasley's AAU coach as an assistant like he did at K-State. Then, UC has Devan Downey, Bill Walker and Michael Beasley for that one year in the Big East. That certainly would have been a great team!

However, beyond that I think Huggins would have fallen off because he no longer has the staff to recruit like he did when he had Mick and Steven Moeller.

What hurt the program the most was that they brought in a relative unknown coach in a behemoth of a league, so UC was thrown into the Rutgers, Seton Hall, DePaul group. Not to mention they had ZERO recruiting for TWO years. That absolutely decimated the program.

In a better world, Huggins coaches for 2-3 years in the Big East including one really good team and then would either maintained the level (like 20-10; 8-9 seed) or resigned under his own terms. Then UC hires Mick Cronin and there is actually some semblance of a team and the rebuilding project is much easier, without a fractured fanbase. He could have been kept involved with the program much like Eddie DUI Sutton is still involved in the OSU program.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Yes it could have been handled so much better.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Let's assume Huggins would have brought in Beasley's AAU coach as an assistant like he did at K-State. Then, UC has Devan Downey, Bill Walker and Michael Beasley for that one year in the Big East. That certainly would have been a great team!

However, beyond that I think Huggins would have fallen off because he no longer has the staff to recruit like he did when he had Mick and Steven Moeller.

What hurt the program the most was that they brought in a relative unknown coach in a behemoth of a league, so UC was thrown into the Rutgers, Seton Hall, DePaul group. Not to mention they had ZERO recruiting for TWO years. That absolutely decimated the program.

In a better world, Huggins coaches for 2-3 years in the Big East including one really good team and then would either maintained the level (like 20-10; 8-9 seed) or resigned under his own terms. Then UC hires Mick Cronin and there is actually some semblance of a team and the rebuilding project is much easier, without a fractured fanbase. He could have been kept involved with the program much like Eddie DUI Sutton is still involved in the OSU program.

I could buy this. It's hard to say if he would've gotten Beasley here. There was alot of speculation the year off to do nothing but recruit him helped. As well as stepping foot on campus and getting to hire out a whole staff. Maybe there isn't the opportunity to hire his coach here with assistants already in place. Walker probably was a done deal to go here.

It amazes me how many excuses our fans made for Huggins. Everyone who likes to throw Cronin under the bus for every little thing are the same ones that act like Huggins could do no wrong. As holier than thou alot of Cincinnatians are they must have no problem with DUI's, player arrests, player's kidnapping and assaulting people, player's discharging guns on campus, etc. much less not caring about academics. I just think eventually that would've caught up to him. Well I guess it did. We blame Zimpher but in reality I think she was right to get rid of Huggins she should've done it at the end of the previous year though. I know Cronin has had a couple of players that have had some incidents but all were handled immediately and in the right way and he doesn't seem to be going after the checkered players. Lets hope at least. I'm all for guys getting second chances in life, especially teenagers and we would be naive to believe that these 18 year-olds from various backgrounds aren't going to do stupid stuff from time to time, but I don't think it's that hard to talk to a guy and get to know their character. One thing I have noticed about alot of Cronin's recruits are they come from strong families.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Dave, Huggs recused the program from the Yates years. He had his bad apples but he had a bunch of kids he helped turn their lives around far out numbering the bad.

I don't buy into the whole kids being young as a excuse for getting the simple things wrong. Parents should be reinforcing these things constantly.There are 10 pretty SIMPLE rules out there that have been around for a longtime. If people paid a bit more attention to those simple rules the world would be a better place. Really not that hard. I'm not a big fan of lowering the bar.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

I could buy this. It's hard to say if he would've gotten Beasley here. There was alot of speculation the year off to do nothing but recruit him helped. As well as stepping foot on campus and getting to hire out a whole staff. Maybe there isn't the opportunity to hire his coach here with assistants already in place. Walker probably was a done deal to go here.

It amazes me how many excuses our fans made for Huggins. Everyone who likes to throw Cronin under the bus for every little thing are the same ones that act like Huggins could do no wrong. As holier than thou alot of Cincinnatians are they must have no problem with DUI's, player arrests, player's kidnapping and assaulting people, player's discharging guns on campus, etc. much less not caring about academics. I just think eventually that would've caught up to him. Well I guess it did. We blame Zimpher but in reality I think she was right to get rid of Huggins she should've done it at the end of the previous year though. I know Cronin has had a couple of players that have had some incidents but all were handled immediately and in the right way and he doesn't seem to be going after the checkered players. Lets hope at least. I'm all for guys getting second chances in life, especially teenagers and we would be naive to believe that these 18 year-olds from various backgrounds aren't going to do stupid stuff from time to time, but I don't think it's that hard to talk to a guy and get to know their character. One thing I have noticed about alot of Cronin's recruits are they come from strong families.

He got Beasley to go to KSU because he hired his AAU coach. Remember, as the #1 player in the country Beasley was committed to UNC-Charlotte because of his coach being there as an assistant. I was simply assuming he'd hire him and get Beasley here as well but even without him a team of Downey and Walker would have been a nice squad. All in the past now, I am very excited for the future of UC basketball. Next year will be a bit of a down year, but the year after will be SPECIAL.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Dave, Huggs recused the program from the Yates years. He had his bad apples but he had a bunch of kids he helped turn their lives around far out numbering the bad.

I don't buy into the whole kids being young as a excuse for getting the simple things wrong. Parents should be reinforcing these things constantly.There are 10 pretty SIMPLE rules out there that have been around for a longtime. If people paid a bit more attention to those simple rules the world would be a better place. Really not that hard. I'm not a big fan of lowering the bar.

I agree, I really didn't intend to bash Huggins it's just when you look back at all the stuff that got overlooked while he was here I just find it astonishing. Huggins did a tremendous job here as head coach and for that I have good memories of him. To your second point I agree as well which is why I alluded to the fact that Cronin seems to be getting guys from strong families. These are the type of kids that usually have the right focus on things in life and subsequently on a college campus when they are 18, 19 and immature and have plenty of things that can pull them away. My parents are both ministers and are still together 40 years later so I definitely was kept on the straight and narrow. Doesn't mean I didn't do a couple stupid things nor that I was shielded from the bad that society offers. I think there is nothing more important than how your parents raise you as to what kind of man/woman you will grow up to be. Part of a coach's job is to keep your focus on sports/education and not messing up while at school but in reality kids are going to do what they are going to do. You bring in too many bad seeds and they will do bad things. Sometimes kids don't have a father figure and their coach (high school and college) becomes a father figure to them and probably should. Huggin's players said it about him and Cronin's players have said it as well and I'm sure every coach in America's players would say that.