Cincinnati Bearcats redshirt freshman center Jamaree Strickland is transferring from the basketball program. Sports Illustrated is reporting the announcement via head coach Mick Cronin.
Strickland was suspended three weeks ago for what Cronin claims was “conduct unbecoming of a Bearcat”. Anyone with an iota of logic can surmise that the freshman isn’t transferring so much as he’s probably being asked to leave. Cronin doesn’t have patience for players who stray from the process, from anything to showing up late to practice to punching a bouncer at a local night club.
I’m not exactly sure what Strickland did to get in his head coach’s dog house and quite frankly I’m not interested in it. The fact that Mick wants to part ways with the player is good enough for me.
Strickland was redshirted his first year at Cincinnati essentially because he was being jerked around by the NCAA. Not only couldn’t he play for the Bearcats, he couldn’t practice with his teammates. So Strickland came into his second season as a player familiar with the program but not inundated with the team like one who would have ran drills for a year like the others.
As such he struggled to climb the depth chart in a reloaded front court, only appearing in a couple of games this season. So in that sense this is a bit of a tragic story.
Regardless of the circumstances that led us to this day, I have to wish Jamaree Strickland the best of luck at the next step of his collegiate career. His next program will be getting a big bodied center who, while raw, could develop into solid role player in the post.
As for Mick Cronin and the Bearcats, Strickland’s departure frees up a spot on the roster. UC could potentially add a prospect in the regular signing period this spring or pocket the scholarship for the 2016 class. There really isn’t much of a rush to find Strickland’s placement so it wouldn’t be surprising if Mick takes the latter route.