Wes Miller: 'Crucial Offseason' Ahead for Jeremiah Davenport, Viktor Lakhin

The basketball team has added plenty of talent recently, but still needs some internal development to make it all come together.

© Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports

CINCINNATI — Bearcats head basketball coach Wes Miller recently chatted with The Athletic's Brian Hamilton and highlighted two players heading into important developmental offseasons.

Junior wing Jeremiah Davenport and freshman center Viktor Lakhin are carrying that mantle.

"Jeremiah Davenport, No. 1," Miller said about the player he wants to develop most this summer. "He can take a humungous leap. He was at the top of the scouting report for the first time in his college career, where the other team was designed to take him away. That’s always an interesting transition for a player, to deal with that. I thought he handled it well. But now he understands what he has to do to take another step as a player. This is a crucial offseason for him, and there’s so much room for him to improve. He’s such a gifted offensive player as it stands."

Davenport (13.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists) was one of the best scorers on the team last year, but he can do a lot to round out his game. The obvious areas for improvement are with on and off-ball defense, plus, playmaking in transition and in the halfcourt. At 6-foot-7, 205 pounds, Davenport has all the physical tools to improve across those areas.

Lakhin (4.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.2 assists) is a few years younger than Davenport and hasn't had as much time to get a normal development program working, but that's changing in 2022.

"And then I look at our frontcourt guys," Miller said. "They all are important. I don’t want to minimize anybody else. But I look at Viktor Lakhin, who’s as gifted as anybody on our whole roster. But he was a first-year player in college basketball, coming from Europe. In my experience, kids coming directly from Europe who haven’t been in prep school or something, that first year is a big adjustment, no matter how high a level they’ve played.

"And he played at a really high level with CSKA Moscow’s junior team and with the Russian national team. Regardless of the level he played, that transition to a different style of basketball is hard. I thought he had some moments where he looked like one of the better bigs in our league, and I thought he had some moments where he looked like a first-year player going through a transition. If he has the kind of offseason he’s had to date — and he’s having a great one — I think he could have one of the biggest jumps in the American."

The Russian has played in 29 games last season after missing the entire 2020-21 campaign due to injury. Lakhin was the most efficient shooter on the team last year (54.9% true shooting) and now needs to expand that into a larger shot diet this season. 

He brings a lot of strong minutes on defense, but the offense needs to come around for Cincinnati's frontcourt to meet expectations in 2022-23. Read the full conversation here.

Make sure you bookmark All Bearcats for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more.

You May Also Like:

Three-Star 2023 Quarterback Brady Drogosh Commits to Cincinnati

Ahmad Gardner Headlines Record-Breaking New York Jets Draft Class

Major Analysts Name Desmond Ridder 'Steal of the 2022 NFL Draft'

Local Four-Star 2023 Guard Rayvon Griffith Commits to UC

UC Emerges as a Major Winner From the 2022 NFL Draft

Curtis Brooks Ninth Bearcat Selected in 2022 NFL Draft

Watch: Darrian Beavers Celebrates Being Picked by New York Giants

Coby Bryant Selected by NFC West Team in Fourth Round of 2022 NFL Draft

Watch: Desmond Ridder, Coby Bryant, Bryan Cook Full Audio of Draft Calls

Jerome Ford Selected By AFC North Team in Fifth Round of 2022 NFL Draft

Watch: Ahmad Gardner's 'All-Purpose Sauce' Chain is More Than Meets The Eye

Watch: Myjai Sanders Watches his Draft Selection Announcement

Desmond Ridder: Atlanta is 'Going to get a Super Bowl out of me'

Reactions to Alec Pierce Going to Indianapolis Colts

Ahmad Gardner to New York Graded With Flying Colors

Watch: Ahmad Gardner Puts on Jets Hat; Desmond Ridder Celebrates His Teammate

Ahmad Gardner Makes History at 2022 NFL Draft

Watch: Ahmad Gardner Gets Draft Call From New York Jets

Cincinnati Announces The Basketball Tournament Alumni Team

Memphis Transfer Guard Landers Nolley II Commits to Cincinnati

UC Football Adds Commitment From Three-Star Athlete Braedyn Moore

Corey Kiner: 'Why Come Closer to Home When I Could Just Come Home?'

Takeaways From UC's 2022 Spring Game

Bearcats Q&A: A Ball-Handling Discussion With Mika Adams-Woods

-----

Be sure to keep it locked on All Bearcats all the time!

Follow All Bearcats on Twitter: @AllBearcats

Like All Bearcats on FaceBook: All Bearcats

Follow All Bearcats on Instagram: @BearcatsTalk