For two years, Eugene Land pretty much had given up on playing basketball again, especially at the University of Cincinnati.

        “I thought I had worn out my welcome,” he said. “So I hadn't even tried to contact anybody here. I wasn't even thinking about it.”

        But the Roger Bacon High School graduate is officially back with the Bearcats, two years after dropping out of school and more than three years after he last played organized basketball.

        Land, a 6-foot-7 forward, is listed as a senior, because this is his fifth year since enrolling at UC. He will apply for a sixth year of eligibility as a medical redshirt.

        Ohio's Division II high school player of the year in 1998, Land said he has spent much of the past two years rehabilitating his right knee, which he injured during the summer 2000. He underwent surgery for reconstruction of the anterior cruciate and posterior cruciate ligaments.

        He started taking classes at UC in the fall quarter of 2000 but left school. Land has neither hung around UC nor been seen at summer-league games the past two years.

        “It was too painful for me,” Land said Tuesday. “I was missing it. It was ugly for me. The only thing that was keeping me going was my son (14-month-old Maxwell Anthony).”

        During the summer, Land ran on a treadmill and was cleared to play basketball.

        He called former Bearcat Donald Little, who said there was open gym that day at Shoemaker Center. Land showed up.

        Before the day was over, Land was on the phone with UC coach Bob Huggins.

        “Huggs said, "We could have you in school by Monday.' That was a Wednesday,” Land said. “I was in school on Monday.

        “When Huggs said he wouldn't mind having me back, that lit my whole world up again. This is where I want to be. This is where my dreams are. I love this place.”

        Land enrolled in one summer-school course and spent time trying to take care of incomplete grades from 2000.

        “He has done everything he's supposed to do to be eligible,” said Bruce Ivory, associate athletic director for academics and compliance. “His grade-point average is acceptable. His hours are acceptable.

        “Every time we asked him to do something, he did it. So I'm not overly shocked.”

        Land has been wearing a brace during open gym and conditioning. He said he is not comfortable with his knee yet.

        But he's not content to be just another player on the roster. He expects to contribute to the Bearcats.

        “I've been at this point in college basketball already,” Land said. “I want to be somebody who's making a difference. I'm hungry. I'm ready to do things.

        “I'm really happy to be here. I'm elated. But that's all suppressed by me knowing how much work I have to do to be a help out here.”

        Land is living in a dorm with the rest of the players while his son and girlfriend live off campus. He said his life consists of basketball, school and family. Nothing else. That is a contrast, he said, to his life as a college freshman.

        Land averaged 3.2 points and 1.7 rebounds during the 1998-99 season. He was dismissed from the team for fall quarter his sophomore year after an arrest on shoplifting charges.

        He rejoined UC for practices when winter quarter started but redshirted that season because UC had Kenyon Martin, Jermaine Tate, Pete Mickeal and Ryan Fletcher.

        Then he was hurt the following summer.

        “To me it's all one story,” Land said. “It never ended.”

Land returns to UC basketball team UC's Kirkland has broken jaw

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