The 2024–25 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

during the

2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 4, 2024. The regular season ended on March 16, 2025, with the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament that began with the First Four on March 18 and ended with t ...

. The Bearcats, led by fourth-year head coach Wes Miller, played their home games at Fifth Third Arena in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

as second-year members of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

Previous season

The Bearcats finished the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

22–15 and 7–11 in Big 12 play to finish in 11th place in the conference standings, thus earning the 11th seed in the 2024 Big 12 Tournament. They defeated

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

in the Big 12 tournament before losing to Baylor in the quarterfinals. The Bearcats were invited to play in the NIT, where they defeated

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and Bradley before falling to Indiana State in the quarterfinals.

Offseason

Coaching staff changes

Former assistant coach Josh Loeffler accepted the head coaching job at Loyola.

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

assistant

Tim Buckley Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. He began his career based in folk rock, but subsequently experimented with genres such as psychedelia, jazz, the avant-garde, and funk paired with his ...

was hired as an assistant coach. Jake Thelen previously Director of Player Development/Assistant Coach accepted the head coaching job at

Covington Catholic High School Covington Catholic High School (abbreviated CCH or CovCath) is a private, Roman Catholic, high school for boys in Park Hills, Kentucky, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Bishop Francis William Howard and Brother George Sauer, and is part ...

. Former UC graduate assistant Jaylen Stowe who was an Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at High Point was hired as an assistant coach.

Departures

Due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, the NCAA ruled in October 2020 that the 2020–21 season would not count against the eligibility of any basketball player, thus giving all players the option to return in 2022–23. Additionally, any players who have declared for the

2024 NBA draft The 2024 NBA draft was the 78th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft. Unlike recent years, the 2024 draft took place over two nights. This was the first NBA draft to be held on multiple nights since the draft ...

—including seniors, who must opt into this year's draft—have the option to return if they make a timely withdrawal from the draft and end any pre-draft relationships with agents.

Incoming transfers

Recruiting classes

2024 recruiting class

2025 recruiting class

Preseason

Big 12 Preseason Poll Pre-Season All-Big 12 Team ;First Team ;Second Team * Player of the Year: Hunter Dickinson, Kansas * Co-Newcomer of the Year: Jeremy Roach, Baylor &

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first ...

, Kansas State * Freshman of the Year: V. J. Edgecombe, Baylor

Roster

Schedule and results

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Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2024-25 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball seasons 2024–25 Big 12 Conference men's basketball season, Cincinnati 2024 in sports in Ohio, Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball 2025 in sports in Ohio, Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball 2025 College Basketball Crown participants, Cincinnati