All Bearcats

Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball Lands Commitment From First Five-Star Recruit of Wes Miller Era in Shon Abaev

What a Thanksgiving for Cincinnati hoops.

Russ Heltman

6-foot-8 Shon Abaev is a left-handed guard/forward who has been lighting up his senior season playing for Fear of God Athletics in the Overtime Elite League. The Cincinnati Bearcats are pursuing Abaev and their coaching staff was present to watch him play Friday night.
6-foot-8 Shon Abaev is a left-handed guard/forward who has been lighting up his senior season playing for Fear of God Athletics in the Overtime Elite League. The Cincinnati Bearcats are pursuing Abaev and their coaching staff was present to watch him play Friday night. / Scott Springer/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
In this story:

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats made history on the holiday by adding a five-star commitment from 2025 small forward Shon Abaev out of Calvary Christian School (Florida). Multiple reports broke the news upon his Thanksgiving announcement.

He chose Wes Miller's program from a top five that included Cincinnati, Oregon, Auburn, Arizona State, and Arkansas. It should vault Cincinnati way up the national rankings after sitting at No. 71 on 247Sports entering the day.

According to 247Sports, Abaev is the 24th-best player nationally and the sixth-best small forward on their composite ratings, while being just inside the top-30 nationally on other major services. The 6-8 talent held 26 total offers before cutting down his list. Abaev officially visited UC on Oct. 2.

The wing has nasty shotmaking skills to go with a strong acumen around the boards. Abaev owns a killer pull-up jump shot and fits right in with Cincinnati's long energetic approach on the offensive end, while also bringing tantalizing defensive tools to sharpen.

He is the program's second-highest-rated recruit of the 247Sports era behind Lance Stephenson. The latter carved out a long NBA career, and Abaev could be next in line for that as a candidate to go one-and-done to the league. Check out his highlights below:

Bookmark Bearcats Talk for the latest news, exclusive interviews, and so much more. Check out our YouTube page as well, starting with the video below.

You may also like:

Cincinnati Opens a Home Betting Underdog in Season Finale Against TCU

Watch: Scott Satterfield, Corey Kiner And More Discuss 41-15 Loss to Kansas State

Final Huddle: Cincinnati Overwhelmed by Kansas State 41-15 in Fourth Consecutive Loss

Cincinnati Gets Commitment From Three-Star 2025 Edge Rusher Tim Griffin

Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Continues Winning Ways on The Road Against Georgia Tech

Report: Former Bearcats Star Travis Kelce's House Burglarized

Look: Cincinnati Bearcats Stay in Top 20 of AP Poll After One-Game Week

PFF Grades Roll In From Cincinnati's Defeat at Iowa State

Look: Cincinnati Falls Again in The Athletic's FBS Ranking Following Loss to Iowa State

Final Huddle: Balanced Iowa State Cyclones Pick Apart Cincinnati Bearcats 34-17

Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Bearcats Stay Undefeated With Dispatching of Nicholls State

Recruiting Roundup: Cincinnati Offers Four-Star 2026 Wide Receiver Travis Johnson

Wes Miller Updates Cincinnati Bearcats Injuries And More Ahead of Nicholls State Game

Wes Miller Introduces Four-Star 2025 Point Guard Keyshuan Tillery After Signing

Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball Storylines: Nicholls State Colonels

Watch: Gavin Gerhardt Discusses Elevated Pass Blocking, Road Game Mentality, And More

Watch: UC Defensive Coordinator Tyson Veidt Discusses Return to Iowa State

Joe Royer Preaches Confidence in Bowl Pursuit, Brendan Sorsby Following West Virginia Loss

Look: Cincinnati Releases Uniform Combination For Home Matchup Against West Virginia

-----

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

Follow Bearcats Talk on Twitter: @BearcatsTalk

Like Bearcats Talk on Facebook: Bearcats Talk

Published |Modified
Russ Heltman
RUSS HELTMAN

Russ Heltman is a contributor for AllBearcats and AllBengals. He is the morning host and producer for 89.3 WMKV in Cincinnati, OH. Russ can be found on Twitter: @RussHeltman11 or you can reach him by email at Heltmandm@yahoo.com.

Home/Recruiting