Deionte Buckley Back With The Cincinnati Bearcats?
By Chris Bains
There are signs that former Cincinnati Bearcats running back Deionte Buckley has returned to the UC football team. He of course transferred to Indiana State after the 2013 season.
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Buckley had a bit of a bumpy ride at UC. He was among five players from Indianapolis high school powerhouse Warren Central who committed to Cincinnati as members of the 2011 and 2012 classes. Butch Jones burned his redshirt in 2012 to give him reps in garbage time. Buckley got his first carries as a Bearcat in a 52-14 blowout of the Miami (OH) Redhawks on October 6, 2012. He totted the rock four times for 32 yards.
Unfortunately those four carries as a true freshman were Buckley’s only carries at Cincinnati. He barely saw the field for the rest of the 2012 season and was supplanted in the running back rotation the following year, the first under Tommy Tuberville, by Hosey Williams, Ralph David Abernathy, and Tion Green. Buckley was the odd man out and decided to find playing time elsewhere.
Thus, he landed at Indiana State but there are indications that he’ll be back in red and black in 2015. Take his Twitter account, for example. His profile picture has been changed to one of him from one of UC’s training camps. Plus he mentions that he’s a “student athlete at the university of cincinnati”. Obviously it’s probably wise to take that with a grain of salt but for what it’s worth Buckley’s not listed on ISU’s 2015 football roster.
This is all just speculation, mind you, and I’m sure those at the Enquirer or the great investigative minds at Bearcat Journal know for sure whether or not he’s returned to Cincinnati. However, if these signs hold water, it would be extremely encouraging to see Deionte Buckley get a second chance with the Bearcats.