By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Time is running out for John Meeker.

If Meeker, a walk-on guard on the University of Cincinnati basketball team, doesn't score eight points in at least one of the Bearcats' final two regular-season games, he will have his head shaved as payment for a pre-season bet he made with UC assistant strength coach Scott Greenawalt.

Here's the deal: Meeker, who calls himself the Human Victory Cigar because he usually plays only in the final few minutes of games that UC wins comfortably, scored a career-high six points against Florida A&M last year.

While he was lifting weights one day during the preseason, he bet Greenawalt that he would beat his career high by scoring eight points in a game this season.

He was so confident that he offered to let Greenawalt shave his head if he failed. And if he makes it, Greenawalt, who already has a shaved head, agreed to grow his hair back.

"I looked at our team and I thought I'd have a lot of opportunities to get in," Meeker said Sunday.

If Meeker, a junior from Troy, Ohio, fails to score eight points in a game during the regular-season, but does it in the post-season, Greenawalt said he would still grow his hair back.

But at this point, it appears that Meeker is about to become a Human Victory Cue Ball. Both of the Bearcats' final two games - at DePaul on Thursday and at home against Memphis on Saturday - figure to be closely contested, limiting Meeker's opportunity to play.

He has not logged any playing time in seven of UC's last nine games, and in the two games in which he did see action, he was on the floor for only one minute and two minutes, respectively.

"It's my fault that I haven't gotten the eight points," Meeker said. "I've had my opportunities."

He played seven minutes against Texas Christian but failed to score. He scored two points against Akron, Elon and East Carolina, but otherwise has been shut out. He has played a total of 47 minutes this season.

It hasn't helped that Meeker is 0-for-5 from the line this year after going 9-for-12 last year.

If he doesn't get the eight points this week against DePaul or Memphis, the plan is for Greenawalt to shave Meeker's head a week from today in the UC weight room.

It won't be the first time Meeker has been shorn. As a senior on the Troy High School football team, he and his fellow seniors shaved their heads as a gesture of solidarity.

"I told myself I would never do it again," Meeker said, "but here I am." Meeker concedes that the odds aren't in his favor as the season nears its end, but he's not giving up hope.

"It'll be a good sign if I get in those next two games," he said. "I'm not going to rule it out."

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E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com