Thursday, April 08, 1999
With Johnson in, McGhee out at UC
He'll attend junior college for a year
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
University of Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins managed to add one and subtract one from a basketball roster already down one because of NCAA sanctions — and still come out ahead.
With UC over its scholarship limit for the 1999-2000 season following the commitment of McDonald's All-American guard DerMarr Johnson, the coaching staff had to clear a roster spot. That was accomplished when sophomore forward Aaron McGhee said Wednesday he would transfer to junior college for one year, then return to the Bearcats as a junior in the 2000-01 season.
“There's a creative solution to every problem,” said Huggins, who suggested the idea to McGhee recently and found him amenable.
McGhee, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound power forward from Aurora, Ill., averaged 2.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in eight minutes a game as a sophomore, his first year with the Bearcats after sitting out his freshman season to establish academic eligibility.
McGhee would have had limited playing time again next season, given the presence of veterans Kenyon Martin, Jermaine Tate and Ryan Fletcher along with taller underclassmen Donald Little and B.J. Grove.
When McGhee returns, though, he will join a front line with Little and Grove — both 6-11 — and the 6-7 Eugene Land. McGhee should be able to compete for a significant place in the rotation.
“I thought about it from the beginning of the season,” Huggins said. “Redshirting doesn't help him, and he doesn't want to play just a year.
“Unless something drastic would happen, he's probably not going to play a whole lot more next year than he did this year. This is the best way we can do this to get him on the floor playing and get his skills back.”
McGhee is not bound to return to UC until he signs a letter of intent in November, but he intends to play again for the Bearcats. “I know I need to play to improve,” he said. “I'm coming back as a better player.”
It is possible McGhee will spend his year in junior college at Cincinnati State, which would enable him to continue living in Clifton. But McGhee is a coveted prospect among junior colleges and will have numerous options.
This maneuver gives UC a significant head start on its recruiting for the 2000-01 class. The Bearcats will lose five seniors after next season but will be able to replace only four because of scholarship restrictions that limit them to 12 players for the 1999-2000 season and 11 for 2000-01.
With McGhee accounting for one of those grants, they have three more to offer. Their primary targets will be 6-5 Jerome Harper of Keenan High in Columbia, S.C.; 6-6 Julius Johnson of Garfield Heights, Ohio, and 6-8 Eddie Griffin of Philadelphia's Roman Catholic High, the alma mater of UC assistant coach Rod Baker.
Bringing back McGhee upon losing Fletcher, Tate and Martin means “you're getting a guy who knows what he's doing, understands what we want done,” Huggins said. “Losing those three guys, it's kind of like having a veteran guy right there.”
This is the only way under current NCAA rules that McGhee can complete four years of competition.
He was a non-qualifier out of high school, and players in that classification are not given back a fourth year of eligibility even if they complete their degree work in four years. By spending a year in junior college, he'll have played four seasons by the time he is done at UC in 2001-02. Alvin Mitchell followed a similar course, although he chose to attend UC his final two years after leaving Nebraska for Indian Hills Community College.
UC would like to see McGhee work on his perimeter skills, especially on defense, so he could help out at small forward upon his return. The Bearcats thought he would be able to play there this past season because of his outside shooting ability, but McGhee struggled to guard opponents on the outside.
“Aaron has a lot of basketball potential, and this is one way he can reach that potential,” Huggins said. “We're looking forward to his return.”
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