The University of Cincinnati announced Thursday that Kennedy has been promoted to associate head basketball coach, a title previously held by Dan Peters, who left UC last summer to coach under Thad Matta at Ohio State.

"I've always felt like it's an honor to coach here," Kennedy said. "I'm the right hand to one of the greatest coaches in college basketball. I try to take it like it's a learning opportunity and really try to broaden my scope so that when I get my opportunity, I'm ready for it."

Kennedy, 36, is in his fourth year at UC and his second as recruiting coordinator, a position he'll continue to hold. He was credited by UC head coach Bob Huggins for maintaining the Bearcats' recruiting efforts this past summer while Huggins was under suspension.

"I've got the utmost respect for him," Huggins said. "In all honesty, he's the guy who has kind of held things together for us."

Last spring, Kennedy, a native of Louisville, Miss., and a former star at Alabama-Birmingham, was the leading candidate for the head coaching job at Southern Miss but was passed over in favor of Larry Eustachy.

"I'm like every assistant in the country," Kennedy said. "You get into coaching because you want to be a head coach. When and where that happens, unfortunately, I can't control. But I'm very happy here. I'm working for a guy that I'm learning from daily. I like Cincinnati. My family likes Cincinnati. It's a great program that fans are passionate about. Those are hard to find."

With the addition of assistant coach Frank Martin, who's more involved in recruiting than Peters was, Kennedy will be able to spend more time coaching. He'll shift this season from coaching the UC big men to working with the guards.

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com