Preview: Nicholls at Cincinnati
After a week-long break, the 17th-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats return to Fifth Third Arena Friday night for a matchup against Nicholls State.
Nicholls is part of the Southland Conference and were picked to finish third in the league after receiving three first-place votes in the conference preseason rankings.
The Colonels are led by Head Coach Tevon Saddler, who played for Wes Miller at UNC Greensboro from 2013-15, earning SoCon Freshman of the Year honors.
At 29, Sadler is the youngest head coach in college basketball.
"What I can say after watching his team here the last couple days, he's doing a hell of a lot better job at that age than I was doing," Miller told media Wednesday afternoon.
6-foot-7 senior forward Jamal West Jr. was a preseason Southland First Team selection and is currently averaging 10.0 points, 6.3 rebounds per game.
The Colonels leading scorer, 6-foot-4 senior guard Robert Brown III, was a preseason second team all-conference selection and is currently averaging 16.7 points, 3.7 rebounds per game.
Nicholls upset LSU last season and went on to make an appearance in the Southland Conference championship game.
Wes Miller hopes his team and Cincinnati fans have an understanding of what is walking in to Fifth Third Arena Friday night, despite the lack of name recognition.
"We're going to play against a really really good basketball team in here Friday night," said Miller. "(They) may not have the national name that our fans recognize, but they're a really good team."
"We're ready for any level of opponent but I do want to make sure that people like our plays, our fans, understand that this is a good basketball team coming in here Friday night.
Other Players to Know:
6-foot-6 redshirt-junior guard Ike Cornish:
Former four-star, top 100 recruit who began his career at Maryland before transferring to Ohio for one season. Currently averaging 16 points, 4.5 rebounds per game.
6-foot-8 senior forward Mekhi Collins
12-of-14 from the field through four games. Scored nine points and pulled down 12 rebounds in a win over NKU.
6-foot-7 senior forward Brian Myles
Prairie View A&M transfer who averaged 7.2 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 57% from the field in three seasons. Averaging 9.3 points, 4.7 rebounds per game for Nicholls through three games.
Twyman-Stokes Classic:
Friday night's game, as well as Tuesday's game against NKU, are both a part of the Twyman-Stokes Classic.
Friday's game will feature a halftime presentation spotlighting the story that transcends the city and basketball as a whole. Rising NBA star Maurice Stokes, while playing for the Cincinnati Royals, suffered a life-changing injury at the end of the 1958 season that left him paralyzed and unable to speak. His teammate, Bearcats legend Jack Twyman, became his legal guardian at 23 to give him financial and physical support.
After years of grassroots fundraising nationwide, NBA stars held out at the 1964 All-Star Game to get the players' union recognized, largely in part after seeing what Stokes had gone through. Stokes died in 1970, and when Twyman passed in 2012, the Reverend Jesse Jackson helped lead a call to the NBA to establish the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award.
"It's a story that's not being told enough, cause it's special and it's the type of story that could impact you whether you care about this sport or not," said Miller.
"It's something that could impact all of us in every walk of life."