Two junior-college basketball players are scheduled to make official recruiting visits to the University of Cincinnati this weekend, their coaches say.

        One is Robert Whaley, a 6-foot-10, 270-pound center/forward from Barton County (Kan.) College, where former Bearcat Jamaal Davis played. Whaley has no visits to other schools scheduled, said his coach, Ryan Wolf.

        The other is Nick Williams, a 6-4 guard from Chipola College in Marianna, Fla., where incoming UC junior Kareem Johnson played. Williams started 25 of 29 games last season at Kansas State and averaged 9.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists a game in 28.2 minutes.

        Both players are probable preseason junior-college All-Americans, recruiting experts say.

        Whaley started slow in his first season at Barton County but ended up averaging 19 points and seven rebounds, Wolf said.

        Among UC's competition for Whaley is the NBA.

        “Robert Whaley's as good a player as there is in junior college,” said Jerry Mullen, who publishes Mullen's Roundball Review. “He's an NBA player — great hands, soft touch. I think he can be an (NBA) lottery pick (next spring) if he chooses to go that way.”

        Neither Wolf nor Mullen has any idea whether Whaley plans to turn pro in the spring or attend a Division I college.

        “I think he wants to find a school that will help him develop and a coach who will push him to the next level,” Wolf said. “If you want to become the best player you can be, coach (Bob) Huggins is definitely one of the guys you look at playing for. If he wants to be a top-5, top-10 (NBA draft) pick, he needs to go to school.”

        Whaley signed with Missouri out of Benton Harbor (Mich.) High School, where he missed most of his senior season after being indicted on sexual assault charges. The case was declared a mistrial and Michigan authorities declined to re-try the case. In June 2001, Missouri released Whaley from his letter of intent.

        Williams, from Mansfield, Texas, is expected to play point guard and shooting guard for Chipola, and UC is recruiting him as a combination guard. Williams has no other visits scheduled, but Oklahoma, Kansas, Auburn and Baylor are among the schools most interested.

        “I think his best position, and I think what Cincinnati wants him to be, is a point guard,” Chipola coach Ryan Cross said. “That's what he's going to play mostly for us. He's a bigger point guard that can score.”

Juco standouts to visit UC

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