Ever since the final seconds of Cincinnati’s last game of the 2017-18 season ticked off the clock, the wait has been on. It’s felt extra long because of how that last game ended. A devastating collapse at the hands of Nevada in the second round of the NCAA Tournament washed away all the good of an otherwise stellar campaign and made the whole summer afterward taste sour.
The wait to get rid of that pain is finally over. This year’s Bearcats are in no way the same team as last season, so the wound left by a loss in the last game with Gary Clark, Jacob Evans and Kyle Washington will never fully heal, but at least there will be new Bearcats basketball to enjoy once more.