Saturday, October 16, 1999
Bearcats know success comes on the court
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The madness did not begin Friday night. The madness has been going on for weeks now, since college basketball yearbooks began squeezing other magazines for space on the newsstands.
The Cincinnati Bearcats are No. 1. Or No. 2. They will play in the Final Four. They will stumble short of their potential, again. Depends on whose words you're reading, whether it's Street & Smith's or Athlon or whatever, but all this really says little about what will happen to UC this winter. It only says what might happen.
“I try not to get too involved in all the preseason rankings and stuff like that,” said UC senior forward Ryan Fletcher. “Over the years, with maturity, I realize that rankings throughout the year really mean nothing. It's all about how you do in March and how you do those last six games.”
From experience, Fletcher knows a team can be ranked No.1 in the preseason and still lose in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, can sweep conference regular-season and tournament titles and still lose in the second round of the NCAA Tournament or open the season 15-0 and still lose in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Those have been the stories of the Bearcats' past three seasons. Beginning with Friday night's public workout, they will attempt to conjure a new ending for this year.
The Bearcats made their debut Friday night at Shoemaker Center for Midnight Madness. They signed auto graphs for a steady stream of fans for nearly an hour, then had to wait another hour for midnight to arrive and with it the first legal minute of practice. In the meantime, they and the members of the UC women's team accepted Conference USA championship rings for last season.
The goals are higher this year.
UC's three freshman guards — Kenny Satterfield, Leonard Stokes and DerMarr Johnson — and returning big men Donald Little and Jermaine Tate and sophomore guard Steve Logan are in dramatically better physical shape than a year ago. Fletcher is down to 245 from 260.
The young guards will face immediate pressure, with UC playing Gonzaga in the Rock 'n Roll Shootout Dec.4 and North Carolina in the Great Eight Dec.8 in Chicago. Johnson should be an instant starter at shooting guard. Satterfield will push Logan for the point guard job.
Whoever does not start will still play significant minutes. UC appears to be its strongest at the position since Nick Van Exel.
“I watched Mike Horton play. He didn't really have a lot of confidence in his jumpshot, so he wouldn't shoot it,” Satterfield said. “The way Coach Huggins explained it to me, if I just play my game, I could be real successful at playing in his system.”
Satterfield said he and Logan are looking to help each other improve. “That will help the team a lot more than us just getting out there and fighting for a spot.”
Because senior Alvin Mitchell decided in July not to return to the team, the Bearcats have no choice but to use its young backcourt.
“I think they're going to have to help a lot, if we're going to be good,” Fletcher said. “ ... I don't care how much they help us at the beginning of the year if at the end of the year, they help as much as they have the potential to.”
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