Center – This is probably the roughest group of guys since UC has not had a true dominant center in quite a while, but the group I narrowed it down to (and yes I know some of these guys might be PF in your eyes and some PF Centers like I said its tough to nail some of these guys down to one position) is Nysier Brooks, Kyle Washington, Cheikh Mbodj, David Nyarsuk, Octavius Ellis, and Coreontae Deberry. Given the list I’d have to say my runner up was Nysier Brooks, as frustrating as he was at times he had start to come into his own last year before ultimately deciding to transfer out after Cronin left. It feels blasphemous to give the Center of the decade to a guy who was only with the team for a short stint, but that’s exactly what I am doing, because I believe Kyle Washington deserves it. He was originally recruited by the Bearcats, but went to NC State instead and after two years transferred to UC and helped really balance out the scoring. In his two years at UC he averaged double figures in both seasons and shot 50% for his career. He had such an unorthodox left handed release at times that made him impossible to block and he had range from the outside, which included a game tying 3 in the AAC title game with under a minute left that was one of my favorite moments of the decade.
TOP PLAYERS OF THE DECADE – Alright after a long debate this is my top 5 Bearcats of the decade in order…
1 – Gary Clark
2 – Sean Kilpatrick
3 – Yancy Gates
4 – Jacob Evans
5 – Jarron Cumberland *
Jarron has the ability to move as high as 3 on this list for me depending on how this season and his UC career finishes up.
Nice lists, I’d put Justin Jackson with the power forwards, but I’d roll with Ellis as my center because of defense and at times solid offense..at the point it would be a coin toss with Wright and Caupain