In 1991-92, the University of Cincinnati had ideal senior leadership.

HOUSTON at UC

• When: 6:05 p.m. today   • Where: Shoemaker Center (13,176)   • Records: Houston (7-18, 4-9 C-USA), UC (18-8, 8-5)   • TV: Channel 19   • Radio: WLW-AM (700)   • Tickets: $20. Call 556-CATS   HOUSTON   Player-Ht-Yr-Avg   George Williams-6-8-So.-13.5   Patrick Okafor-6-8-Jr.-10.4   Alton Ford-6-9-Fr.-9.9   Dominic Smith-5-10-Jr.-13.0   Marcus Oliver-6-3-So.-5.9   Coach: Ray McCallum (7-18, first season; 133-94, overall)   CINCINNATI   Player-Ht-Yr-Avg Immanuel McElroy-6-4-Jr.-6.6 Antwan Jones-6-7-Jr.-6.3   Donald Little-6-11-So.-6.5   Steve Logan-6-0-Jr.-16.8   Kenny Satterfield-6-2-So.-14.0   Coach: Bob Huggins   (294-94, 12th season; 462-166, overall)   BY THE NUMBERS   • 18-1: UC's series lead over Houston   • 1972-73: Only season Houston beat UC   • 13.5: Steve Logan's scoring average in two games against Houston

        Herb Jones was a quiet, play-hard-every-day, lead-by-example guy. Anthony Buford played hard, too, but he also was the vocal one, the enforcer, the mouthpiece.

        “I played psychological games with my teammates,” Buford said. “If I felt like practice needed to be jump-started, I'd initiate something bad or good, just to get guys upset or playing hard.”

        Today would be Senior Day at the University of Cincinnati — if the Bearcats had any seniors.

        Instead, when they play host to Houston (6:05 p.m., Shoemaker Center), the only person being introduced with his parents before the game will be student manager Mark Berger.

        UC coach Bob Huggins said this is his first seniorless squad.

        Buford, an analyst on Bearcat television broadcasts, said the void of leadership this year is “very apparent” in close games.

        Before their senior year even started, Buford, Jones and their senior classmates sent this message to teammates: Don't mess up our last chance. Those Bearcats went to the Final Four.

        “Seniors understand there's no next year,” Huggins said. “They have such a greater sense of urgency and a greater sense of purpose, and they pull the other guys along. Certainly the finality of the whole thing sets in.”

        When Kenyon Martin left UC, he not only took with him a slew of points and rebounds, but also a commanding locker room pres ence.

        “Kenyon came to play every day, whether he was tired or had a bad day,” junior Steve Logan said. “Everybody listened to him because you were afraid if you didn't he was going to snatch you up. That's how much impact he had on a person.”

        Huggins kind of anointed Logan and sophomore Kenny Satterfield as the team leaders in the fall because they were the most experienced players.

        Buford said it's not always enough for a player to work to improve his own game; he needs to include teammates. When he played at Akron, Buford said, he had the keys to a gym and would regularly call teammates for midnight shoot-arounds.

        “What you've got to realize is, you can have greater personal success if you bring your teammates along with you,” Buford said.

        “I don't think there's a guy on this team who everybody will follow. I think there's a guy who's been playing outstanding basketball, and that's Steve Logan. But I don't think the guys have bought in to Steve Logan. There are qualities to his game and the way he approaches the game that a lot of the guys on the team can learn from.”

        Buford said that means getting teammates to shoot free throws on an off day. Play H-O-R-S-E. That's how chemistry develops, he said.

        One issue with this UC team: Every player was cast in a new and expanded role this season.

        Individually, almost every Bearcat has struggled during a stretch. Logan got off to a slow start. Satterfield and Leonard Stokes have had r tough times. Jamaal Davis is going through one now.

        It is, perhaps, more difficult to be a leader when you're concerned with your own situation.

        “That's real hard,” Logan said. “When you're a leader, your team's got to believe in you. Earlier in the year, I didn't show them anything to believe in. So I showed them that I was going to keep working hard.”

        Logan said there have been three players-only meetings this season, one initiated by him, one by Satterfield and one by Stokes.

        “If you're going to be a leader of any team, you must know what the coaching staff wants and be able to impart that to your teammates,” Buford said. “You can't have the coaching staff constantly being the ones who get on the players. There needs to be something coming from the players. Players tune out coaches sooner or later.”

Houston frontline productive UC misses senior leadership

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