By Bill Koch
Enquirer staff writer

Oscar Robertson urged the University of Cincinnati basketball players "to evaluate themselves as basketball players and see where they are in the circle of life" when he met with them Monday night for the first time as the school's interim coach.

The former UC great talked to the players for about 15 minutes in their Fifth Third Arena locker room, six days after athletic director Bob Goin asked him to serve as interim head coach during head coach Bob Huggins' suspension for drunken driving.

Huggins is expected to return Aug. 27.

Robertson, who also plans to meet with each player individually, told the Bearcats they need to grow up in a hurry because of Huggins' situation and the attention it has brought to the program.

"With what's gone on, you can't go out here, especially on campus, and be sort of isolated," Robertson said. "Everything that happens they're going to think about the situation with Bob and the team. If they go out and get a parking ticket and someone finds out about it, they're going to bring that up.

"I told them, 'You've got to think that. You've got to grow up. Sometimes in life you're able to grow up yearly, but this will make you jump three or four years. Now you're into a situation where you've got to think and react a whole lotdifferently.' "

Robertson, a member of the National Basketball Hall of Fame, urged the players to examine the way they played last year.

"Did they give it all they had last year or did they not do that?" Robertson said. "Or do they think they could have done a lot better? Those are questions they have to ask themselves.

"I could answer those things, but I'd rather for them to answer those things."

The Bearcats went 25-7 last season and lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The UC players, most of whom already knew Robertson from his periodic visits to practice during the season, were receptive to his message.

"He was a great player and a legend in the game," junior forward James White said. "It's always good to have a player that's been there before and done the things that you hope to achieve to come in and talk to you about just life and basketball in general.

"Basically he talked about what we need to do to become a better team and help Huggs as much as we can when he comes back. And to help ourselves, as far as getting our degree and in basketball."

White said Huggins' suspension hasn't had a great impact on their summer because the coaches aren't around that much during the summer anyway.

"It's made us come together more," White said, "and take it upon ourselves to do the things that we need to do as working on our games, getting in the weight room and getting to class.

"I still have a great deal of respect for Huggs. People make mistakes."

Senior forward Jason Maxiell said the hardest thing about the suspension has been fielding questions about it.

"It's only been difficult when I'm going out and people come up to me and ask 'is your coach coming back?' " Maxiell said. "There's nothing we can really say because we haven't talked to him. It's been hard but we've got to work through it. He's human just like everybody else."

Robertson said he's happy to be helping out while Huggins is gone but that he has no interest in becoming a full-time coach.

"Some people think I'm going to be coaching, which I'm not," Robertson said. "This is Bob's job, and he's got his team here."

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E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com