By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Bob Huggins looks at Roy Bright and sees his type of player.

"He brings great athleticism," the University of Cincinnati basketball coach said. "He's kind of like some of the old guys that really attack the glass. He's not a great pure shooter, but he makes enough shots that people have to come and guard him. He plays really hard."

Bright, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound forward-guard from Mount Zion Christian Academy in Durham, N.C., was one of two players who signed a letter of intent with UC on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period.

The other was Vincent Banks, a 6-3, 185-pound guard from Atlanta who's now playing at Laurinburg (N.C.) Institute.

Bright is ranked among the top 50 players in the country by most recruiting services and was rated as high as No. 15 by PrepStars.

"He brings the type of approach we try to instill in kids," said Andy Kennedy, UC's recruiting coordinator. "He won't have any trouble fitting in at Cincinnati. That was one of the main things that was very attractive to us."

Banks averaged 31.4 points, seven rebounds and five assists last year at South Atlanta High School and was named Georgia's Mr. Basketball.

"He's like Field (Williams)," Huggins said. "He can really make shots. He's got a good intermediate game, too. He can take a bounce or two and create a shot."

UC will wait until next spring to fill its final scholarship.

WORK TO DO: Two exhibition games have shown Huggins what needs to be worked on to prepare for the Nov. 22 season opener against Akron.

"We've got to spend some time on zone offense before the 22nd," Huggins said. "We'd like to continue to work with trying to pick people up and press a little bit, and we don't rebound the ball."

On the plus side, UC has demonstrated that, unlike last season, it has plenty of options on offense.

"We have more guys who can score," Huggins said.

Huggins said Nick Williams, Field Williams, Tony Bobbitt, Jason Maxiell, Rob Whaley and Armein Kirkland have the potential to score 20 points on any night.

HELP FROM MOORE: Chadd Moore's play at point guard Tuesday was an encouraging development for a UC team that wants to spend the season running and pressing. But after logging 25 minutes Tuesday night, Moore received an epidural shot Wednesday morning and did not practice Wednesday afternoon.