By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Robert Whaley was already looking forward to next season as he sat in the locker room at Nationwide Arena in Columbus after the University of Cincinnati's loss to Illinois on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

UC head coach Bob Huggins shares his thoughts with Robert Whaley during their game against the University of Illinois in the first half. (Gary Landers photo)

"As soon as I came off the court, I looked at Scott and I asked Scott , was he ready?" Whaley said. He was referring to Scott Greenawalt, the Bearcat's assistant strength coach, with whom Whaley plans to spend a lot of time preparing for next season.

If Whaley, a 6-10 center, who had perhaps the most disappointing season of all the Bearcats, is serious about committing to a productive senior year, he could be one of the keys for UC as it reloads for next year.

After returning from his 3 1/2-week hiatus, Whaley played only briefly in the Bearcats' two NCAA Tournament games and didn't look much better than he had before he left.

But that's not to say a summer of hard work and dedication couldn't change that. How many UC fans believed that Tony Bobbitt would be as productive as he was this season after watching him struggle during his junior year?

"We need someone who can make the kind of commitment that Kareem (Johnson) and Tony made," said UC coach Bob Huggins.

Whaley should be one of those players. And if Chadd Moore becomes another, the Bearcats may be able to solve their problem at point guard. Moore was hobbled this season with a bad back and didn't play well when he had the chance. But he showed flashes of being able to run the team as a freshman and was a highly-rated point guard upon arriving at UC two years ago.

"We need somebody who can get us in our offense," Huggins said. "We haven't had anybody get us in offense all year."

Forward Jason Maxiell, a second-team all-conference selection who led UC in scoring and rebounding, returns next year for his senior season to anchor the front line. Eric Hicks also returns, along with forwards James White and Armein Kirkland.

Asrangue Souleymane, a 6-8 center from the Central African Republic who was redshirted this year, could be a shot-blocking and rebounding specialist.

UC loses three seniors off this year's 25-7 team.

Two of them - Bobbitt and Field Williams - were among the Bearcats' three leading scorers. The other is center Kareem Johnson.

Williams finished his career as UC's career leader in 3-point shooting percentage at 40 percent.

"We're losing two of our best shooters," Whaley said. "We really, really need shooters."

Nick Williams, who shot 36.5 percent from 3-point range, could take up the slack in that area. So could incoming 6-3 freshman guard Vincent Banks, who averaged 23 points and six assists this season for Laurinburg Prep (N.C.) Six-foot-6 swingman Roy Bright, who averaged 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots at Mt. Zion (N.C.) Christian Academy, could also make an impact next season. Bright is one of 22 players selected to play in Wednesday night's EA SPORTS Roundball Classic in Chicago.

UC has two scholarships to give for next year. One of those was formerly held by swingman Mike Pilgrim before it was determined that he was an academic non-qualifier. The Bearcats could award that scholarship back to Pilgrim or they could give it someone else.

"I don't know what our team is going to look like next year," White said, "but with the components that I see we have right now, with Eric and Max coming back and me and Armein, we've got a chance to be real good."

In addition to their 16 conference games in their final season in C-USA, the Bearcats will play non-league home games next year against Detroit-Mercy, Valparaiso, Wake Forest and Xavier. They'll play Miami, probably at U.S. Bank Arena, and will play at Dayton. And they're expected to play next year in the Las Vegas Classic.

UC'S PROJECTED ROSTER FOR 2004-05

Name	Class	Pos.	Ht.	PPG	Hometown
Eric Hicks	Jr.	F	6-7	7.0	Greensboro, N.C.
Armein Kirkland	Jr.	F	6-8	6.0	Tyler, Texas
Jamaal Lucas	Sr.	G	6-3	0.4	Corpus Christi, Texas
Jason Maxiell	Sr.	F	6-7	13.6	Carrollton, Texas
John Meeker	Sr.	G	6-1	0.5	Troy, Ohio
Chadd Moore	Jr.	G	6-2	3.2	Huntsville, Ala.
Asrangue Souleymane	Fr.	C	6-8	NA	Bangui, Cent. African Republic
Robert Whaley	Sr.	C	6-10	5.8	Benton Harbor, Mich.
James White	Jr.	F	6-7	7.9	Kensington, Md.
Nick Williams	Sr.	G	6-4	6.7	Arlington, Texas
Vincent Banks	Fr.	G	6-3	NA	Atlanta, Ga.
Roy Bright	Fr.	6-6	F	NA	Durham, N.C.

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E-mail: bkoch@enquirer.com