Future Cincinnati Bearcats basketball players Jarron Cumberland and Nysier Brooks are eligible to sign their letters of intent with UC tomorrow, November 11th.
That is the first day of the NCAA’s early signing period for college basketball, one that lasts until next Wednesday the 18th. Last year the three freshman on Cincinnati’s roster wasted little timing inking their NLI’s and faxing them into UC. I wouldn’t expect much delay from Cumberland or Brooks this year, either. Usually there’s a delay with recruits on the West Coast, as they’re three hours behind, but the two players currently committed in this class are from Wilmington, Ohio and New Jersey.
So no problems with a time difference there.
Jarron Cumberland is the headliner of the class, a four star shooting guard who continues the pattern of recruits with high offensive abilities, and not just upside, committing to Cincinnati. He absolutely tore apart the Summer league circuit for his AAU team King James (OH). During the Peach Jam Tournament in July, Cumberland averaged a whopping 20.8 points per game, good for 4th highest in the tournament, shooting 61% from the field and averaging 5.2 boards per game. That performance jolted him up ESPN’s recruiting boards and into the Top 100 as their 65th best prospect in the 2016 class.
Then there’s Nysier Brooks, a 6’9″ tower of a player who Mick is planning to step in and replace outgoing big men Octavius Ellis and Coreontae DeBerry in 2016. Based on his minimal highlight tape, the center appears to play with an edge offensively, again fitting the mold that Cronin has established with the recruits he’s targeted recently. It’s probably unrealistic to expect Brooks to perform at the level of Ellis and DeBerry as a true freshman but the fact that he’s a four-year low post player, something that UC has struggled with in this staff, is encouraging for his long term development in this system.