By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

With the University of Cincinnati Bearcats desperate to locate a reliable scoring threat, Steve Logan showed up Sunday and reminded them just how much they miss him.

Logan completed his UC career last season as the school's second-leading scorer behind Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson, but watched the Bearcats begin preparations for Tuesday night's game against fifth-ranked Oregon in East Rutherford, N.J.

Selected by the Golden State Warriors as the first pick of the second round in last summer's NBA draft, Logan didn't sign a contract after he discovered during summer-league play that a foot strain he had played with his senior season was hampering him.

"I felt a step slow," Logan said. "There were some moves I couldn't do. I knew it was because of my foot, so I let the organization know what was going on."

Logan said he has spent the last five weeks rehabbing his foot. He returned to Cincinnati from his Cleveland home to get into playing shape, hoping to convince the Warriors that he can still play at the level that made him a consensus first-team All-American last season.

"This is a difficult thing to go through," Logan said. "I've never been injured in my life to the point where I had to sit out and rehab. The timing was just awful."

Logan, 22, played in 135 of the Bearcats' 136 games during his four years at UC. But when he left, he found the injury hindered his ability to elevate and cut.

Logan said he had agreed to contract terms with Golden State, but that he and the team both agreed not to sign until he rehabbed.

Now, Logan says he's healthy and eager to get back into shape.

"This is the best place for me to come and work out because of coach Huggins and the workout facilities," Logan said.

Logan plans to work out at UC for about three weeks, and will occasionally practice with the team.

When he's finished, he said, Golden State officials will make a decision on his status.

"It's been tough," Logan said. "I pray to God every day. Even on the bad days, I learn something about this experience. I'm a basketball player. That's what I do, but that's not what I am. People don't seem to understand that. Everywhere I go, it's always about basketball all the time, to the point where it gets frustrating."

NOTE

Freshman Armein Kirkland, who seemed to excite UC's coaches with his play against Xavier, was on the floor for only seven minutes during the Bearcats' 65-62 win over LaSalle on Saturday.

"We couldn't match up with them (defensively with Kirkland in the game)," Huggins said. "We weren't going to play a 2-3 zone."

Another freshman, forward Eric Hicks, played 19 minutes, his longest stint of the season, and nearly as long as he had played in UC's first five games combined. Hicks scored three points with four rebounds and three blocked shots.

"He kept the ball active for us," Huggins said. "And he did a better job of defending around the goal."