The Bearcats, who had won at least one game in the NCAA tournament for eight straight seasons before losing to Gonzaga, have a handful of fresh faces after a disappointing ending last season.
Head coach Bob Huggins has recruited heavily from the junior college level with three transfers he hopes will give the Bearcats back their dignity. Robert Whaley, a 6-foot-10 inside scorer, will complement junior power forward Jason Maxiell who led the team in scoring last season with 12 points per game. Nick Williams and James White, both transfers from junior colleges in Florida, give Huggins a point guard who can find the open man and a great leaper on the wing, respectively.
The Bearcats also return Field Williams, a deadly three-point shooter, and Tony Bobbitt, who left the team in February last season and returned eventually, in the backcourt. Bobbitt can drive to the basket and light it up from the outside.
Marquette, selected to finish third in the Conference USA Coaches poll, probably has the most pressure hanging over its head to repeat the success of last season — winning the C-USA regular season title and making its first Final Four appearance since 1977. The Golden Eagles gave coach Tom Crean an extended contract soon after the postseason but could not hold onto Wade, who left early for the NBA and was selected fifth overall in the NBA Draft by the Miami Heat.
Travis Diener, who Crean described as the “calm in the eye of the storm” last season, is the leader of the Golden Eagles and his size does not resemble his playing style. He can shoot, he can dish, and he can play defense and is the guy Crean would most want taking the game-winning shot. The Golden Eagles have multiple players to fill Wade’s absence in the backcourt with sophomores Joe Chapman and Karon Bradley and the versatile freshmen Dameon Mason and Carlton Christian. Sophomore Steve Novak’s 50 percent mark from three-point range was the best in the league last season, and junior Todd Townsend — who can also shoot from three-point range — brings rebounding and defense to the swingman position. In the frontcourt, Scott Merritt looks to have a breakout season after recovering from a shoulder injury and Crean has recruited 6-foot-8 Marcus Jackson, a junior college transfer from Texas, and 6-foot-8 freshman James Matthews to give the team the size down low with the departure of 6-foot-10, 250-pound Robert Jackson.
The team with the highest expectations this season is the Charlotte 49ers, who might have the deepest team in C-USA. Guard Demon Brown is in his senior season and led the team in scoring last season with 16.8 points per game, most coming from beyond the three-point line as he set school and C-USA record by making 137 three-point shots last season.
Brendan Plavich, a transfer guard from Vanderbilt, will take some of the pressure off Brown and is also known as a deadly shooter. Freshman 7-footer Martin Iti looks to make an impact immediately as a shot-blocker and rebounder. The team also returns junior Chris Sager, who led the team with a 95 percent free-throw percentage, sophomore Mitchell Baldwin, and junior Eddie Basden to fill out the backcourt.
Memphis could have been the best team in college basketball if all of coach John Calipari’s recruits had stayed. Instead, in the last three years, he lost Amare Stoudemire, Dajuan Wagner — who only played one year with the Tigers — Qyntel Woods and Kendrick Perkins to the NBA. The Tigers have the most talent in C-USA at the guard position, with six of the 13 players on the roster playing that position. Sean Banks, Calipari’s second biggest recruit after Perkins decided to go pro after high school, headlines his freshmen class at the small forward position and probably all of C-USA. Antonio Burks, Anthony Rice, Jeremy Hunt and Billy Richmond in the backcourt give them speed, and an ability to shoot inside the lane as well as outside.
The last team to have a chance at making the NCAA tournament from the big five in the league is DePaul. The Blue Demons may finish above Memphis depending on how consistent they can be during the regular season. DePaul was the most improved team last season considering the state the program was in, going 21-37 over the last two seasons, before coach Dave Leitao took the job. Leitao, after losing inside threat Sam Hoskin and perimeter shooter Joe Tulley, has seniors Andre Brown and Delonte Holland returning along with junior Drake Diener, Travis’s cousin. Leitao insured a good future by signing guard’s freshman Sammy Mejia and Tyler Smith from the East Coast to help compete with the league’s top guards.
No one could have seen Alabama-Birmingham’s run during the conference tournament in Louisville coming last season, upsetting Marquette and Saint Louis only to lose to Louisville in the championship game. The gutsiest team in the league, the Blazers have a backcourt of Morris Finley, who averaged 18 points per game last season, and added twin brothers Donell and Ronell Taylor at the guard position. The guard spots and forward positions will make them a team who may not make it to the tournament, but no one will take lightly.
Marque Perry was Saint Louis’ star player last season, averaging 17.1 points per game, and was one of the quickest and most talented guards in the league. His presence will be greatly missed by the Billikens, but Villanova transfer Reggie Bryant might fill the gap.
Southern Mississippi is returning a handful of players who got some key experience last season in the conference tournament, including a win over Cincinnati in the first round. The other Golden Eagles will be led by Charles Gaines, who led the team with 14.4 points per game last season, but the confidence off finishing with a 13-16 record overall and a 6-11 in conference last season won’t give them enough momentum to do any damage.
The Houston Cougars were last in C-USA in scoring and were 8-20 overall. The Cougars need a miracle more than anything, and head coach Ray McCallum has four of them in freshman guard Lanny Smith, junior college transfer Darrius Brannon, and freshmen Andrew Francis and 6-foot-10 Elijah Miller.
East Carolina may be the toughest place to play on the road, but the team can’t seem to win one on the road as they are 0-16 in the last two years. The Pirates, 3-13 in C-USA last season, will hope for some quick offensive leadership from freshman Japhet McNeil, who comes from Christ of King High School in Brooklyn, NY, the same school that produced NBA player Speedy Claxton.
Tulane had a winning record last season, made the conference tournament and is improving slowly. The Green Wave lack a dominant scorer and the closest they have is senior Wayne Tinsley who averaged 6.9 points per game. Their freshmen class needs to make an impact, as soon as possible.
South Florida suffered two key losses in center Will McDonald and point guard Reggie Kohn. This season, the team will center on senior forward Jimmy Baxter, who led the team with 14 points and 5 rebounds per game. The Bulls are picked to finish last in C-USA despite finishing 7-9 in league play. The teams better savor their times together in the next two seasons because soon DePaul, Marquette, Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida will leave to the Big East and Charlotte and Saint Louis will depart to the Atlantic 10.