ESPN Ranks Bearcats Basketball 19th Nationally Entering 2024-25 Season

Cincinnati start the campaign on Nov. 4.

Cincinnati Bearcats guard Dan Skillings Jr. (0) and Cincinnati Bearcats guard Jizzle James (2) embrace in the second half of a college basketball game against the Bradley Braves during a second-round game of the National Invitation Tournament,, Saturday, March 23, 2024, at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati. / Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats start basketball season in about three weeks as they project to be one of the top 25 teams in the country entering the campaign.

ESPN certainly agrees with that, as Jeff Borzello slotted Cincinnati in at No. 19 nationally entering the season.

"Cincinnati has won 45 games in two seasons but has yet to reach the NCAA tournament in Wes Miller's three seasons at the helm," Borzello wrote. "That is expected to change in 2024-25. The Bearcats brought back six of their top eight scorers, signed a pair of ESPN 100 prospects and welcomed in three transfers. Dillon Mitchell (Texas) looks like the missing piece in the frontcourt, given his versatility and two-way ability. Jizzle James' late-season surge -- 46 points and six assists in the final two games of the 2023-24 campaign -- could catapult him into the Bearcats' starting lineup.

Borzello projected the starters as follows:

Jizzle James (8.8 PPG)

Dan Skillings Jr. (12.9 PPG)

Simas Lukosius (11.8 PPG)

Dillon Mitchell (9.6 PPG at Texas)

Aziz Bandaogo (6.6 PPG)

I see it the same way with Cincinnati having versatile bench options in names like Day Day Thomas, C.J. Frederick, and Connor Hickman who could start as well.

This is the deepest roster of the decade for UC, and major outlets are taking notice.

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