The Bearcats have two true freshmen waiting to make a big impact this upcoming basketball season

The Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball program held a press conference this week where Wes Miller, Corey Evans, Moustapha Thiam, and ______ where taking questions. Something that came up often was how the pair of true freshmen, Shon Abaev and Keyshuan Tillery have been killing it in practice so far.

Abaev was the No. 22 player in the class of 2025 while Tillery was ranked No. 57. Abaev and Tillery are the only members of the class of 2025 on the Bearcats this season and are already going to be playing large roles within the team.

"Key has been great, you can tell by his approach this summer he has an expectation." Bearcats' head coach Wes Miller has a lot of praise to the mindset that Tillery came to Cincinnati with. Miller went on to elaborate that Tillery has goals that he wants to accomplish and having a role as a rotational guy is one of them.

The new Cincinnati Bearcats general manager of basketball, Corey Evans praised both freshmen players as well. "Shon Abaev's basketball acumen is through the roof. Keyshuan is the same way." Evans highlighted their IQ as basketball players, being able to make the right decision at game speed over and over is something you don't see in a lot of younger players.

Abaev and Tillery have been a huge talking point for the Bearcats offense this upcoming year but can make a large impact on both ends. The Bearcats full schedule is likely to be released towards the end of the month with their pre-season exhibitions as well.