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COLUMN: Cincinnati’s once proud basketball program is now at an all-time low

It didn’t have to be this way.

Two years ago in 2019, Mick Cronin had just finished leading Cincinnati to its ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

He wanted a long-term commitment from his alma mater and the Bearcats’ administration wasn’t smart enough to give it to him.

How does that decision look now?

Cronin is fresh off leading UCLA to one of the most impressive NCAA Tournament runs in college basketball history and now appears primed to have the Bruins regularly back among the sport’s elite following a trip to the Final Four.

And Cincinnati?

The Bearcats are at an all-time low.

The decision to terminate John Brannen on Friday feels more like a witch hunt than anything that’s based on real circumstances.

Brannen did a very good job taking over for Cronin last season and led Cincinnati to a share of the American Athletic Conference regular season title.

The Bearcats’ 12-11 record this past season was disappointing, but Brannen did lead the Bearcats to the American Athletic Conference Tournament title game where it lost to an eventual Final Four team in Houston.

Cincinnati — like many programs in college basketball — was constantly set back by COVID-19 and only played 23 games.

Another thing that hurt Cincinnati?

Not having players like Jarron Cumberland and Tre Scott, two guys recruited by Cronin who both could have been the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year 12 months ago.

It didn’t have to be this way.

Nevertheless, this is where Cincinnati’s once proud basketball program is.

There are currently less than five players remaining on the Bearcats’ roster.

The program’s former coach — Brannen — is about to get into a legal dispute for what he’s owed on his contract, which he undoubtedly deserves.

It doesn’t sound like Cincinnati had a problem with Brannen personally — it sounds like Cincinnati had a problem with the way that Brannen’s team performed this season.

Did several players enter the transfer portal and opt for other opportunities as soon as games were concluded?

Absolutely, but as we’re seeing everywhere, this is now college basketball in 2021.

That’s a sad excuse to tarnish the name of a good man and a good basketball coach, who proved his abilities last season and also by leading Northern Kentucky to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances during a four-year span between 2015-19.

The decision to place Brannen on administrative leave and do an internal investigation feels like a code for “our basketball program isn’t heading in the direction that we want it to and we want to make a change without paying you what we owe you”.

Now Cincinnati will aim to restore its proud basketball tradition with its next hire as it deals with a cloud of bad PR and Brannen’s predecessor — Cronin — near the apex of the sport as he looks to be the perfect steward to lead UCLA back to national prominence.

Fans of this program didn’t know what they had when they were regularly making the NCAA Tournament each and every year.

After watching UCLA’s recent run to the Final Four, they sure do now.

15 years ago in 2006, Cincinnati’s program felt like it was starting from scratch when Cronin took over.

The big difference between now and then?

The Bearcats could sell the old Big East — the greatest college basketball league ever assembled — to potential recruits.

They now have to sell the American Athletic Conference — a good league — but one that still doesn’t get the national respect or exposure that other power conferences currently receive.

Cincinnati’s basketball program is now at an all-time low.

Remember: It didn’t have to be this way.

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