2025–26 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

2025–26 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
2025–26 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Record	7–5 (0–0 Big 12)
Head coach	Wes Miller (5th season);
Associate head coach	Chad Dollar (5th season)
Assistant coaches	Andre Morgan (5th season); Tim Buckley (2nd season); Jaylen Stowe (2nd season); Mamadou N'Diaye (1st season);
Home arena	Fifth Third Arena

2025–26 Big 12 men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 Arizona	0	–	0	–	12	–	0	1.000
No. 3 Iowa State	0	–	0	–	12	–	0	1.000
No. 10 BYU	0	–	0	–	12	–	1	.923
No. 8 Houston	0	–	0	–	11	–	1	.917
Oklahoma State	0	–	0	–	11	–	1	.917
UCF	0	–	0	–	11	–	1	.917
Colorado	0	–	0	–	10	–	2	.833
Baylor	0	–	0	–	9	–	2	.818
No. 17 Kansas	0	–	0	–	10	–	3	.769
TCU	0	–	0	–	9	–	3	.750
No. 15 Texas Tech	0	–	0	–	9	–	3	.750
Arizona State	0	–	0	–	9	–	4	.692
West Virginia	0	–	0	–	9	–	4	.692
Kansas State	0	–	0	–	8	–	4	.667
Utah	0	–	0	–	8	–	4	.667
Cincinnati	0	–	0	–	7	–	5	.583

† 2026 Big 12 tournament winner As of December 23, 2025 Rankings from AP poll

The 2025–26 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represents the University of Cincinnati during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bearcats, led by fifth-year head coach Wes Miller, play their home games at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio as third-year members of the Big 12 Conference.

Previous season

The Bearcats finished the season 19–16 and 7–13 in Big 12 play to finish in tie for 12th place in the conference standings, thus earning the 13th seed in the 2025 Big 12 men's basketball tournament. They defeated Oklahoma State in the first round before losing to Iowa State in the second round.^[1]^[2]

The Bearcats were invited to play in inaugural College Basketball Crown, a single-elimination, fully-bracketed men's college basketball postseason tournament featuring sixteen National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams not selected to participate in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.^[3]^[4] In their first round game, they defeated DePaul and lost to fellow Big 12 Conference opponent UCF in their quarterfinals game, 88–80.^[5]^[6]

Offseason

Coaching staff changes

Former assistant coach Drew Adams accepted an assistant coach job with Indiana, following two years at Cincinnati.^[7] Mamadou N'Diaye accepted the assistant coaching vacancy after spending the previous four seasons at UCF.^[8]

Departures

Any players who have declared for the 2025 NBA draft—including seniors, who must opt into this year's draft—have the option to return if they make a timely withdrawal from the draft and end any pre-draft relationships with agents. Thus, separate lists will initially be maintained for confirmed and potential departures.

Cincinnati Departing Players
Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason
CJ Anthony	G	6' 0"	195	Senior	Columbus, OH	Transferred to Iona
Aziz Bandaogo	C	7' 0"	235	Graduate student	Dakar, Senegal	Completed college eligibility
Tyler Betsey	F	6' 8"	225	Freshman	Windsor, CT	Transferred to Syracuse
Rayvon Griffith	G/F	6' 6"	210	Freshman	Cincinnati, OH	Transferred to Kent State
Connor Hickman	G	6' 3"	200	Senior	Bloomington, IN	Transferred to Charleston
Jizzle James	G	6' 3"	205	Sophomore	Orlando, FL	Dismissed from program^[9]
Simas Lukošius	F	6' 8"	225	Senior	Kaunas, Lithuania	Completed college eligibility
Dillon Mitchell	PF	6' 8"	210	Junior	Tampa, FL	Transferred to St. John's
Arrinten Page	C	6' 11"	240	Sophomore	Atlanta, GA	Transferred to Northwestern
Josh Reed	G	6' 7"	220	Junior	Atlanta, GA	Transferred to Penn State
JJ Rembert	G	5' 10"	155	Freshman	Jamaica, Queens, N.Y.	Transferred to McNeese
Dan Skillings Jr.	SF	6' 6"	210	Junior	Blackwood, N.J.	Transferred to Baylor

Source:^[10]

Incoming transfers

Cincinnati incoming transfers
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Old school	Remaining Eligibility
Jalen Celestine	32	G	6' 7"	215	Graduate student	Ajax, Ontario	Baylor	One year
Sencire Harris	5	G	6' 4"	175	Junior	Canton, OH	West Virginia	Two years
Jalen Haynes	3	PF	6' 8"	260	Graduate student	Fort Lauderdale, FL	George Mason	One year
Kerr Kriisa	11	PG	6' 3"	185	Graduate student	Vissu Küla, Estonia	Kentucky	One year
Baba Miller	18	C	6' 11"	215	Senior	Mallorca, Spain	Florida Atlantic	One year
Moustapha Thiam	52	C	7' 2"	235	Sophomore	Dakar, Senegal	UCF	Three years

Recruiting classes

2025 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2025)
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Keyshuan Tillery PG	Albany, NY	New Hampton School	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	Sep 20, 2024
Keyshuan Tillery PG	Recruit ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: (85)
Shon Abaev SF	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Calvary Christian Academy (Florida)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Nov 28, 2024
Shon Abaev SF	Recruit ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: (88)
Bryson Buckingham G	Edmond, OK	Link Academy	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jul 4, 2025
Bryson Buckingham G	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Jordi Rodriguez G	Barcelona, Spain	Grupo Ureta Tizona Burgos	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Oct 1, 2025
Jordi Rodriguez G	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Lucas Atauri G	Campinas, Brazil		6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Oct 9, 2025
Lucas Atauri G	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Cincinnati 2025 Basketball Commitments". Rivals. "2025 Cincinnati Basketball Commits". ESPN. "2024 Team Ranking". Rivals. "Cincinnati 2025 Basketball Commits". 247Sports.

Preseason

The Big 12 preseason coaches poll was released on October 16, 2025. All awards were voted on by the league's 16 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players. The Big 12 preseason media poll was released on October 30, 2025.

Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll

	Big 12 Coaches	Points
1.	Houston	224 (12)
2.	BYU	204 (1)
3.	Texas Tech	200
4.	Arizona	179 (1)
5.	Iowa State	170
6.	Kansas	163
7.	Baylor	137
8.	Cincinnati	120
9.	Kansas State	117
10.	TCU	90
11.	West Virginia	79
12.	Oklahoma State	77
13.	Utah	50
14.	UCF	39
15.	Colorado	37
16.	Arizona State	34
Reference:^[11] (#) first-place votes

Big 12 Preseason Media Poll

	Big 12 Media
1.	Houston
2.	Texas Tech
3.	BYU
4.	Arizona
5.	Iowa State
6.	Kansas
7.	Baylor
8.	Kansas State
9.	Cincinnati
10.	TCU
11.	West Virginia
12.	Oklahoma State
13.	Utah
14.	UCF
15.	Colorado
16.	Arizona State
Reference:^[12]

Roster

2025–26 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Bryson Buckingham	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Link Academy	Edmond, OK
G	1	Day Day Thomas	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	GS	Kilgore College	Columbia, SC
F	3	Jalen Haynes	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	GS	George Mason	Fort Lauderdale, FL
G	5	Sencire Harris	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	West Virginia	Canton, OH
G	7	Keyshuan Tillery	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	New Hampton School	Albany, NY
G	10	Shon Abaev	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Calvary Christian Academy	Broward County, FL
G	11	Kerr Kriisa	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	GS	Kentucky	Vissu Küla, Estonia
G	13	Grant Darbyshire	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	GS	Kentucky	Cincinnati, OH
G	14	Lucas Atauri	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Fr	Campinas, Brazil
G	17	Jordi Rodriguez	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Grupo Ureta Tizona Burgos	Barcelona, Spain
F	18	Baba Miller	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sr	Florida Atlantic	Mallorca, Spain
F	24	Tyler McKinley	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	RS Fr	Winton Woods High School	Cincinnati, OH
G	32	Jalen Celestine	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	GS	Baylor	Ajax, Ontario
G	52	Moustapha Thiam	7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	So	UCF	Dakar, Senegal
F/C	65	Halvine Dzellat	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	So	ADA Blois Basket 41	Loir-et-Cher, France

Head coach

Wes Miller (North Carolina)

Assistant coach(es)

Chad Dollar (South Florida)
Andre Morgan (North Georgia)
Drew Adams (Iowa)
Tim Buckley (Bemidji State)
Jaylen Stowe (Mercer)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: October 20, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 17, 2025 6:00 p.m., B1G+	at No. 7 Michigan	W 100–98	–	15 – Tied	6 – Tied	4 – Tied	Crisler Center (10,166) Ann Arbor, MI
October 24, 2025 8:00 p.m., SECN+	at No. 14 Arkansas	L 61–89	–	10 – Dzellat	6 – Tied	4 – Harris	Bud Walton Arena (14,832) Fayetteville, AR
Regular season
November 3, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Western Carolina	W 94–63	1–0	18 – Tied	10 – Miller	4 – Kriisa	Fifth Third Arena (9,126) Cincinnati, OH
November 7, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Georgia State	W 74–64	2–0	24 – Miller	10 – Miller	4 – Thomas	Fifth Third Arena (10,009) Cincinnati, OH
November 11, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Dayton Twyman-Stokes Classic	W 74–62	3–0	20 – Thomas	10 – Miller	8 – Kriisa	Fifth Third Arena (11,815) Cincinnati, OH
November 16, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	Mount St. Mary's	W 72–55	4–0	16 – Thomas	11 – Miller	5 – Tied	Fifth Third Arena (9,007) Cincinnati, OH
November 21, 2025 6:30 p.m., ESPN2	vs. No. 6 Louisville Rivalry — The Hoops Classic in Partnership with CareSource	L 64–74	4–1	12 – Tied	9 – Thiam	5 – Thomas	Heritage Bank Center (8,507) Cincinnati, OH
November 24, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	NJIT	W 94–67	5–1	20 – Abaev	10 – Thiam	6 – Kriisa	Fifth Third Arena (8,774) Cincinnati, OH
November 26, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Eastern Michigan	L 56–64	5–2	17 – Thomas	7 – Abaev	6 – Kriisa	Fifth Third Arena (9,853) Cincinnati, OH
December 1, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Tarleton State	W 76–58	6–2	20 – Kriisa	11 – Miller	6 – Thomas	Fifth Third Arena (8,092) Cincinnati, OH
December 5, 2025 7:30 p.m., TNT	at Xavier Rivalry/Crosstown Shootout	L 74–79	6–3	16 – Abaev	17 – Miller	6 – Miller	Cintas Center (10,880) Cincinnati, OH
December 13, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPNU	vs. Georgia Holiday Hoopsgiving	L 65–84	6–4	13 – Celestine	9 – Thiam	4 – Thomas	State Farm Arena Atlanta, GA
December 17, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Alabama State	W 88–51	7–4	26 – Miller	14 – Miller	7 – Kriisa	Fifth Third Arena (7,757) Cincinnati, OH
December 21, 2025* 3:00 p.m., ESPN	vs. Clemson Greenville Winter Invitational	L 65–68	7–5	17 – Thomas	7 – Miller	3 – Tied	Bon Secours Wellness Arena Greenville, SC
December 29, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Lipscomb						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
Big 12 regular season
January 3, 2026 2:00 p.m., FOX	Houston						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
January 6, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN2	at West Virginia rivalry						WVU Coliseum Morgantown, WV
January 11, 2026 5:00 p.m., ESPN2	at UCF						Addition Financial Arena Orlando, FL
January 14, 2026 7:00 p.m., Peacock	Colorado						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
January 17, 2026 2:00 p.m., Peacock	Iowa State						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
January 21, 2026 9:00 p.m., FS1	at Arizona						McKale Center Tucson, AZ
January 24, 2026 10:00 p.m., CBSSN	at Arizona State						Desert Financial Arena Tempe, AZ
January 28, 2026 6:30 p.m., FS1	Baylor						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
January 31, 2026 12:00 p.m., FOX	at Houston						Fertitta Center Houston, TX
February 5, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN2	West Virginia rivalry						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
February 8, 2026 2:00 p.m., CBSSN	UCF						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
February 11, 2026 9:00 p.m., CBSSN	at Kansas State						Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, KS
February 15, 2026 12:00 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2	Utah						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
February 21, 2026 1:00 p.m., CBS	at Kansas						Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
February 24, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2	at Texas Tech						United Supermarkets Arena Lubbock, TX
February 28, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2	Oklahoma State						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
March 3, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2	BYU						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
March 7, 2026 2:00 p.m., TNT/TruTV	at TCU						Schollmaier Arena Fort Worth, TX
Big 12 tournament
March 10−14, 2026 TBD, TBD	vs. TBD						T-Mobile Center Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[13]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

References

[1] "Reed, Mitchell Power Men's Hoops Past Oklahoma State in Big 12 First Round".

[2] "Men's Hoops Falls to Iowa State in Big 12 Championship Second Round".

[3] "What is the College Basketball Crown: Everything to know about the postseason tournament on Fox". FoxSports.com. March 6, 2025. Retrieved March 12, 2025.

[4] "College Basketball Crown". Retrieved March 12, 2025.

[5] "Bearcats Roll DePaul, 83-61, in College Basketball Crown Opener".

[6] "Cincinnati Falls to UCF in Las Vegas".

[7] "Drew Adams Officially Added To Indiana Men's Basketball Coaching Staff".

[8] "Mamadou N'Diaye Assistant Coach".

[9] "Jizzle James, son of ex-RB Edgerrin James, out at Cincinnati".

[10] "ds Football FB Rec Basketball BK Rec Watch Log InJoin Cincinnati Bearcats 2025 College Basketball Transfer Portal Latest Activity".

[:0-11] "Houston Tabbed As Big 12 Men's Basketball Favorite, TTU's Toppin Named Preseason Player of the Year".

[12] "Big 12 Media Votes Houston As Preseason MBB Conference Favorite".

[13] "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule".

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Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
Venues	Schmidlapp Gymnasium (1901–1954) Cincinnati Gardens (1949–1954; 1987–1989) Armory Fieldhouse (1954–1976) Riverfront Coliseum (1976–1987) Fifth Third Arena (1989–2017; 2018–present) BB&T Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Louisville Memphis West Virginia Xavier
Culture & lore	2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl Longest game in Division I history UC Pep Band
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics