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Hoops Chatter Off The Floor In Nashville

jason stamm
Guys, the great thing about the tournament, is getting to chat with quite a few folks. I've talked with Pete Thamel from Yahoo, my buddy Evan Daniels from FS1 and Cincy's Dan Hoard, to name a few. And Will Perkins is every bit of 7-feet tall lol.

Here's a few tidbits:
I tweeted earlier, talking to Cincinnati AD Mike Bohn, before the game. That tweet is below:

But I sat with Bohn briefly after the Texas/Nevada presser. He just told me, "Right now, everybody is tough. But we'll get 'em Sunday."

I also sat with assistant coach Darrin Savino during the game courtside. Right before Nevada won he told me, "That's a dangerous team right there. Lots of shooters. Tough to guard."

He also told me the team is very loose and comfortable right now after the win. Seemed to be very happy with attitudes and how they're acting right now. We'll see if that's a good omen come Sunday.
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FB Recruiting ***INsider: Michael Katic Update***

jason stamm
NOTE: Please do not copy/paste or summarize any portion of this post to other Web sites or message boards, as it is a direct violation of copyright laws. Thank you.

Guys, just spoke a little while ago with yet another recent Bearcats offer, Pine Richland (Pa.) OL Michael Katic. He's from right outside of Pittsburgh. And while this kid has been a secret (hence no ranking yet), that's quickly changing.

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Katic is up to 11 offers. Besides UC, Army, Navy and Syracuse have also recently offered. In the last month, he went to Toledo and Miami (OH) and will be at Ohio March 24. Of that group, Toledo is the visit he liked and the one that seems to be standing out a little.

With the Bearcats, Katic hasn't visited yet. But he said he'll likely go the first weekend in April for spring practice and to check out campus. Katic's main recruiter has been assistant coach Ron Crook. Katic was trying to tell me a story that Crook told him, about Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. It made him laugh, but he couldn't remember the details. Still, Katic told me, "He's a really nice guy."

Still mighty early here. It won't stick that a MAC team is out front. But that should show you how early it really is here.

Full story coming.
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FB Recruiting ***INsider: Solomon Brown Update***

jason stamm
NOTE: Please do not copy/paste or summarize any portion of this post to other Web sites or message boards, as it is a direct violation of copyright laws. Thank you.

Guys, I talked just a few minutes ago with one of the Bearcats' latest offers for 2019, Largo (Fla.) cornerback Solomon Brown. I know Rivals does not have him rated yet, but that won't be for long. He camped with Rivals last month in Orlando and had a solid camp from what I'm told.

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Brown is now up to six offers, from Cincinnati, Syracuse, Iowa State, Boston College, Army and Rutgers. It's still early here. Brown said he hasn't made any visits this year so far. And no dates are currently set. But he's trying to take a tour north to see as many of his current offers this summer as possible.

With UC, Brown said he doesn't know a lot yet. He has spoken a few times with assistant coach Joker Phillips and said the two of them have messaged quite a bit. From the interaction they have had, Brown said of Phillips, "He’s a real cool guy." Brown said he also liked how Phillips told him he could fit into the Bearcats' rebuilding.

Brown said Boston College and Rutgers have been in contact most. He likes both, but said he remains wide open and hopes to get more offers this summer. Officials likely won't take place until the fall, so no decision is expected until late season.

Also funny to note, I had no idea, but when I called Brown, he was in the middle of a track meet, just between heats. So he wasn't busy at the moment, but I was still surprised he answered his phone. Brown runs the speed events, the 100m, 200m, 4x100m and the 4x400m. So speed is the name of the game here.

Full story coming.
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FB Recruiting ***INsider: Taylor Harris Update***

jason stamm
NOTE: Please do not copy/paste or summarize any portion of this post to other Web sites or message boards, as it is a direct violation of copyright laws. Thank you.

Guys, I talked last night with one of Cincinnati's offers for 2019, Woodbridge (Va.) cornerback Taylor Harris. He now has six offers, also from Virginia, Temple, Old Dominion, East Carolina and Charlotte.

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Harris is definitely not at the top of the list right now, but he's an option. The Bearcats have been to see him this spring and spoken to his coach. Still, Harris doesn't feel like they've shown him as much interest as his other offers. So if UC does decide (whether by choice or missing out on those ahead of him) that it wants him, there's work to do. "I’m looking at them but they don’t show me a ton of interest, as much as the schools on the east coast," Harris told me.

Old Dominion and Virginia Tech look to be toward the top of his list right now. UVA is also close. Yes, the Hokies have not offered, but Harris visited there for a junior day Feb. 18. And it sounds like if VT did offer, that might jump to the top.

Harris is at East Carolina this weekend and Vanderbilt over the next week or two. That one isn't set. No hurry for Harris, as he wants to take in a lot of visits. We'll see if he gets back to UC this spring.

Full story coming.
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Hoops Cronin SemiFinalist For Coach Of Year

jason stamm
University of Cincinnati men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin has been named a semifinalist for the Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year.

Cronin is one of 10 semifinalist named by the Atlanta Tipoff Club on Friday.

Using this list of 10, the Naismith Awards master voting academy will identify the four finalists, to be announced on March 15. The Werner Ladder Naismith Trophy for Men’s College Coach of the Year will be announced on during the Naismith Awards brunch April 1 at Pearl Stable in San Antonio, Texas.

Fans will be able to vote for their favorite coach by visiting www.naismithtrophy.com/vote between March 19-30 to cast their ballot, which will account for five percent of the final tally.

Cronin has guided 11th-ranked Cincinnati to a 24-4 overall record and 13-2 league mark atop the American Athletic Conference standings. The Bearcats recently climbed to No. 5 in nation, owned the nation’s longest active win streak at 16 games and built a nation-leading 39 game home-court win streak – all Cronin coaching era high mark (since 2006-07).

The Bearcats entered Thursday’s game against UConn ranked among the country’s Top 25 teams in scoring margin (first at +18.7), field-goal percentage defense (second at .371), scoring defense (second at 57.1), win-lost percentage (seventh at .852),

rebound margin (seventh at +8.1), blocked shots per game (12th at 5.5), offensive rebounds per game (14th at 13.3), total blocks (14th with 148), turnover margin (18th at +3.5), three-point field-goal percentage defense (15th at .308) and total rebounds per game (20th at 39.5).

Cronin was named a finalist for the 2014 USBWA Henry Iba National Coach of the Year Award and was tabbed the 2014 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for his efforts in helping guide the Bearcats to a share of the inaugural AAC regular-season crown with Louisville.

Cronin is one of only six coaches to take his team to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last seven years, joining Mark Few (Gonzaga), Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Bill Self (Kansas) and Roy Williams (North Carolina).

The 46-year old Cincinnati native and UC alumnus leads the nation in Division I wins (330) and total NCAA Tournament appearances (nine) among active coaches his age or younger and ranks second in Division I wins among active coaches under the age of 50.

Cronin owns a 330-163 career record in his 15th season overall. He is 261-139 mark in his 12th season at Cincinnati. He posted a 69-24 mark in three seasons as head coach at Murray State from 2004-2006.

// WERNER LADDER NAISMITH NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR SEMIFINALIST

Rick Barnes, Tennessee
Chris Beard, Texas Tech
Tony Bennett, Virginia
Brad Brownell, Clemson
Mick Cronin, Cincinnati
Chris Holtmann, Ohio State
Chris Mack, Xavier
Matt Painter, Purdue
Bruce Pearl, Auburn
Jay Wright, Villanova

// NEXT GAME

No. 11 Cincinnati closes out its 2017-18 home schedule by playing host to Tulsa on Sunday, Feb. 25 at noon ET (CBS Sports Network/700 WLW) at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Ky. Senior Day festivities honoring Gary Clark, Kyle Washington and walk-on Jackson Bart start at 11:40 a.m.
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