The Bearcats had earned this ascension with their recent success.  In merging like this they had to leave behind some programs like Dayton and Detroit to fend for themselves and there were some harsh words said but this had to be done to compete.  Or so they rationalized.  They did have the aforementioned St. Louis, Marquette, Memphis, Depaul and UAB (from Birmingham) plus five other schools join up this new super conference.  Conference USA immediately went to the head of the class and though they were not quite considered in the same league as the Big Five conferences they were right with the Big East on being able to compete at those conferences level at least in basketball.  This conference never would have formed without the Bearcats and Cardinals recent success but the team from the Queen City were looking to show that they were not just a mirage as they have not been able to get over the hump after their break through three years ago in the national tournament.  Going into the year the prognosticators put the Bearcats in the top 15 in the polls primarily due to the return of one of the best basketball players the country has ever seen.  Now it is up to Coach Jucker and his coaching staff to fill in the other four positions around the Big O with not just a supporting cast, but a team that can win it all.  After all, after this team’s close but no cigar success since the Big O arrived from Indianapolis, nothing else will do in the city where Bench and Rose are legends but winning the whole damn enchilada.   

Jucker has indeed surrounded Robertson with a pretty darn good supporting cast and some of these Kats are as good at their position as Robertson.  Well, not really, but close than you might think.  Senior Jack Twyman has been described as the quintessential small forward with his all-around game.  A great wing shooter, Twyman is also physical enough to battle for boards and score underneath.  He is as consistent as they come from 15 and in and might be the best talker on the team calling out the defensive switches and setting the offense with his calls.  Twyman comes to play every night and is a terrific team player who does not mind being second fiddle to the Big O. He is not as physically gifted as some of the other small forwards in this league but he more than makes up for it with his work ethic and his ability to see things before they happened.  He has played against some of the best in the country and more than held his own.  Twyman has and always been synonymous with not only being a team player but being a very generous player.  His abilities sometimes overshadow what a great leader and sportsman he really is.  Once in a great while someone comes along who is a great communicator and a true friend!  Jack Twyman was both! 

At center the Bearcats have senior strong man Paul Hogue.  This Knoxville kid decided to come and play for the Beacats after many Southern schools turned him down though he was a stud in an all black school in Tennessee.  His dad was the principal there and Hogue understands the work ethic it takes to succeed.  Hogue is a defensive presence who can also score underneath.  He makes the Bearcats better with his presence because he is so unselfish.  Sometimes others do no notice all the things he does but Jucker sure does.  He does not put up huge numbers but this bear of a man takes his role as the main man in the middle quite seriously.  He is a solid rebounder and sets perfect screens that free up Robertson and company for jump shots.  His low post defense is very important to a team that needs a presence in the middle. He is not a rim protector though which is the one thing this team does not have and needs desperately to get to that next level with the UCLA’s and Kansas’s.  On offense, though, he never takes a bad shot and his field goal percentage was over 60 percent.  Best of all he is a winner as he showed in the two games Robertson missed leading the team to big wins in both.  Fellow seniors Connie Dierking. Rick Roberson, Jim Ard and George Wilson give Hogue plenty of support as does junior Pat Cummings.  Dierking and Cummings got the lion’s share of the minutes though all four played. Where Dierking is the quintessential board and defend guy Cummings gives the team a little more O with a nifty little jump hook and range to the corner.  These guys are not huge (all of these cats are actually 6’9 except for Wilson and Ard who both go 6’8) but are big enough and know their roles and get the job done.  The Bearcats may not have had a Chamberlain in the middle but this post by committee more than can hold its own.

Who will start next to Robertson in the backcourt is anybody’s guess.  Senior Dick Dallmer is the incumbent and brings steadiness next to the great O.  At 6’3 he has some size and can score some but is primarily there for his defense.   Seniors Ron Bonham was just the opposite as instant offense off the bench but also on the wing. Fellow Senior Tom Thacker is a team player who is athletic and can defend on the wings as well and backs up three positions effectively.  The Ron and Tom Show has become quite popular in their roles off the bench.   These two ‘opposites’   have attracted a loyal following over three great years but one of them might be called upon to start this year. Bonham who played against Robertson when he attended Muncie High in Indiana is a true scorer who can flat fill it up and at 6’5 has the size to get his shot off over anyone.  Thacker is a glue player but man does he stick to whoever he is guarding.  Junior Lloyd Batts is another wing who could really get minutes and is a good offensive player. This 6’4 185 pound scorer from Harvey Illinois dominated the JV last year averaging over 20 a game until a late callup but is ready for prime time.  Fellow junior Eddie Lee has played next to Batts for two years on JV and is ready to shine but there might not be an open spot for him.  He, like most Bearcats, is a big guard who at 6’4 runs the point.  Depending on whether Jucker wants the Big O to run the team or be the wing will depend on how much this kid has a shot.  Hard to turn the keys over to anyone but Robertson after he averaged 21, 9 and 7 last year.  Seniors Jim Holstein (6’3) and Ralph Davis (6’4) are also on the roster and both can play but it will be hard to get on the court with this much depth and some of the new kids Jucker (and former assistant Bob Huggins) have recruited.  Foremost of these is sophomore Roger McLendon who was named a Mickey D’s high school All-American and Mr. Basketball Illinois.  This Champaign kid is the king of shooters who shot at almost a 50 percent rate last year on the JV.  Jucker has to make room for him as he is not only talented but as smart as they get.  And that is not to mention all of the kids coming in this year as Huggins had a great class signed already before he decided to take the job at his alma mater and will be coaching the West Virginia Mountaineers who, btw, the Bearcats play Game 9.  That will be epic with Robertson getting to face perhaps the 2nd best all-around player in the country in Jerry West.    

Now for the anointed one.  Robertson was first team All-American and deservedly so.  There has never been another player who can do so many things on the court.  Robertson runs the show offensively and is a great passer.  But his scoring ability is amazing to behold.  He has a one-handed jumper that is impossible to stop because he goes above everybody to get it off.  He is also one of the best natural rebounders in the country and he loves to mix it up.  He runs like a gazelle and jumps like an antelope.  He is the only player in the country to average 20 points a game plus over nine rebounds and seven assists.  Robertson has been called the greatest all-around player ever and he showed why he deserves that title this season.  He is simply the best.  The one team Robertson never got to play while at Cincinnati was Indiana.  Ironically, Robertson came from Indianapolis (Crispus Attucks) and won two state titles there but decided to come to Cincinnati after an incident where after the second title the team was taken to a park to celebrate instead of being allowed to parade through town as they thought the blacks would tear down the city.  Knight knew better than bringing this kid to play his Hoosiers because the king of the triple double might have went for 100 that game. 

Coach Ed Jucker has the opportunity to coach a legend in Cincinnati for one more year.  The Bearcats have the Great Oscar Robertson coming back for one more year and it was Jucker’s responsibility to put a team around that would help the chosen one get to the promised land.    Jucker has put together a marvelous supporting cast featuring  experienced leaders on the front line and depth everywhere.  Now if they can find some kids who can shoot the ball and open things up for the Big O and his teammates to roam, things could get really good in the Queen City.  And perhaps the Redlegs won’t be the biggest game in town come early April!