Bearcats Basketball

Andrew Rowsey Picks Marquette Over Cincinnati

by Chris Bains Follow @cinbinbains

The Cincinnati Bearcats again failed to finish in first in the competitive race for a talented player at a position of need. This time UNC-Asheville sophomore Andrew Rowsey picked the Marquette Golden Eagles over UC, it was revealed yesterday.

This is of course the second time a highly talented player on the transfer market has spurned UC for another school. Former Charlotte 49ers center, and a 4-star recruit, Ebuka Izundu had the Bearcats in his top 3 the morning of his decision. But just a couple of hours before his announcement the talented big man dropped Cincinnati from his list of favorites, reducing the contenders to Miami (FL) and Arkansas. Izundu ultimately picked the Hurricanes and the Bearcats were left waiting in the wind.

Then there’s Andrew Rowsey, whom Cincinnati brought in for a visit on the weekend of May 9th. But he left Clifton without making a decision and still took a trip to Milwaukee to see what the Golden Eagles had to offer this past weekend. It seems Rowsey came away so impressed he gave Marquette a commitment on the spot.

So that’s two players Cincinnati went hard after in the last few weeks and came up short when their announcement came.

I mean, I get what made Miami (FL) so attractive to Izundu and Marquette to Rowsey. Those really are good fits for them. Izundu will probably see 15-20 minutes of court time as a true freshman with the Canes whereas he wouldn’t have played even half that at Cincinnati with Octavius Ellis and Coroentae DeBerry occupying the five. To the Golden Eagles, they graduated their top scoring guard this offseason, allowing Rowsey to slip right in and get significant run in his first season in Milwaukee. It’s likely he would have been battling for playing time at UC with Troy Caupain, Farad Cobb, and Kevin Johnson returning.

In that sense, the Bearcats never truly needed either Izundu or Rowsey for short term help. UC’s pretty well set at every single position this fall. But the frustration sets in when you realize that Ellis, DeBerry, and Cobb are all gone after the upcoming season. 2016-17 is when Izundu and Rowsey could have really helped Cincinnati.

Thankfully that’s what recruiting classes are for. Mick Cronin’s signed a pretty good one for 2015 and has plenty of time for a repeat in the next cycle. Missing out of Izundu and Rowsey hurts but it’s not the end of the word. As he’s done before, Cronin will find a way.