Height: 6’5
Weight: 210
Hometown: Wilmington, Oh
Jarron Cumberland suits up for his final home game as a Bearcat on Saturday night, and with it brings a finish to one of the best careers of anyone who has stepped foot on the campus of Cincinnati. Justin Williams had a great piece in the Athletic about Jarron Cumberland the person as well as the basketball player that I highly recommend checking out. As for this piece I want to just focus on Cumberland the player. Depending how the remainder of the year finishes he has an opportunity to finish 5th all-time in scoring with over 1,800 career points (1,762 currently), and he’s also 7th all-time in assists. He’s a guy that has been maddeningly frustrating at times with silly turnovers and a million charge calls, but he’s also the guy who mesmerizes fans while he’s spinning through defenders down the lane for an acrobatic layup and who is in shooting range as soon as he steps across half court. Cumberland is the only guy I can remember who can make fans leave the arena saying “man Cumberland was off tonight wasn’t he?” or “I don’t know what was up with Cumberland he didn’t look good at all” and then you check the box score and he still had 15 points five assists four rebounds and a couple steals, his talent level and expectations have been that high for four years now.
I will be one of the 10,000 plus fans in attendance Saturday night to say farewell to one of the best and what I think I will remember the most is how Cumberland, more so than anyone else in recent memory, felt like us. He is the local kid from right up the road in Wilmington who at times carried the entire program through good or bad. He’s earned every one of those career points and if he felt you didn’t respect him enough on the court he’ll be the first to let you know about it while he jogs back down the floor knowing you can’t stop him, he IS Cincinnati. Come Saturday night I’m sure there will be a play, or a moment in the game that makes me clinch my teeth and say what are you doing, but I know for every one of those plays Jarron makes five more that make me appreciate the level of greatness I’ve gotten to see over the years. I’ll be sad to see Jarron go and I hope after Senior Night he leads the Bearcats on a deep post season run that gets him the career ending he deserves, but regardless of the season outcome, thanks for the memories Jarron Cumberland.
Accolades: 2016-17 AAC Co-Sixth Man of the Year, 3x AAC Rookie of the Week, 7x AAC Weekly Honor Roll, 5x AAC Player of the Week, 2018-19 First Team All-AAC, 2018-19 AAC Player of the Year and Tournament MVP 2019
UC Stats: 132 Career Games (97 Starts), 13.3 points, 3.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals
