Cincinnati Opens Three-Game Exhibition Slate Against Ohio State on Oct. 7

Jerrod Calhoun's first Cincinnati team faces Ohio State, Illinois and Oakland in October exhibitions, with two roster questions hanging over the preseason.

The first Cincinnati Bearcats roster built by new men's basketball coach Jerrod Calhoun has been at work since early summer, combining practices with a brief exhibition trip to the Bahamas before a three-game October preseason. The overhaul is nearly total: walk-on Grant Darbyshire is the lone player back from a year ago, with the rest of the 15-man group new to the program.

The schedule opens Wednesday, Oct. 7, when Cincinnati meets Ohio State at 3 p.m. in the CareSource Invitational at the Lindner Tennis Center in Mason. A home date with Big Ten opponent Illinois, a national semifinalist last season, follows Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. at Fifth Third Arena, a start time still listed as tentative. Oakland, which has made four NCAA Tournament appearances since 2005, closes the slate Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.

Two players remain question marks. Guard MJ Collins, who led Calhoun's Utah State team at 17.5 points per game, is still awaiting an Ohio court's decision on a fifth year of eligibility after appearing in the Bahamas exhibitions. Javontae Campbell, a fifth-year transfer from Bowling Green who averaged 18.7 points there, had a foot injury discovered during a physical and may be sidelined until roughly the start of January. The school has declined comment on both until they are cleared.

Calhoun addressed reporters Oct. 1 and made clear he wants outside competition. "We need to go play somebody else," he said. "We have a lot of things to get cleaned up." He added that whatever the team shows against the Buckeyes should look far better 30 days later, and that the Bearcats need as many repetitions as possible against three stylistically different opponents.

Among the unusual arrangements, Calhoun invited Ohio State's staff into Fifth Third Arena to watch Cincinnati practice, with the Buckeyes granting the same access in return. Calhoun called the setup unconventional but said he enjoys observing other programs, having visited Kentucky and Alabama in recent weeks. He and Illinois coach Brad Underwood share a background on Bob Huggins' staff at Kansas State.

Andy Katz's Power 44 on NCAA.com, which maps to the at-large tier of a 76-team 2027 NCAA Tournament field, rates the exhibition opposition highly: Illinois sits at No. 4 and Ohio State at No. 24. Cincinnati checks in at No. 41, one spot ahead of Xavier at No. 44, with Big 12 peers Houston (11), Kansas (15), BYU (21), Iowa State (23), TCU (30), Texas Tech (31), West Virginia (32) and Baylor (40) also listed.

Calhoun arrives from Utah State, which reached the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two seasons. Cincinnati's last NCAA Tournament game remains a March 2019 loss to Iowa in Columbus under Mick Cronin. "Year one is difficult, but we have the talent to be pretty good," Calhoun said, adding that "exhibitions are more about yourself" and "we'll see how we play."

The staff has rotated players through informal on-court media sessions rather than formal press conferences. The Oct. 1 availability featured guards Akai Fleming, a Georgia Tech transfer, and Trevian Carson, a North Dakota State transfer, both double-digit scorers at their previous schools. Fleming, versatile enough to play three positions, said every game will be taken "like it's a Final Four game." Carson, a 6-foot-3 Des Moines native who shot 37.5% on 3-pointers and 80% at the foul line after starting at a community college, said: "Pressure is a privilege, for sure."

On the women's side, coach Katrina Merriweather's team went 11-20 last season while relying on freshmen and managing injuries, beating No. 11 Iowa State at home but losing to Miami University and Xavier on the way to a losing non-conference record. Caliyah DeVillassee, the top returning scorer at 14.5 points per game, is one of seven sophomores back, including Dee Alexander, who battled early injuries. The women host Georgetown College in an exhibition Oct. 28, open the season Nov. 4 against East Texas A&M and face Miami (Ohio) and Minnesota in the Cancun Challenge on Nov. 26-27.