8 hours ago, punttheball said:

I have no idea where the truth lies in respect the this situation.

But if all of these reports are true, how and why did it take so long for Brannen to be removed? Also, where are the asst coaches, trainers, managers, media or anybody else that may have witnessed any abusive behavior? Shouldn't they be called out for not reporting it? And if they did report it, why did the AD not address it?

 Maybe the transfer portal is to blame for making it easy too easy to transfer?

 

The current AD at UC didn't officially start until Jan 1st, 2020... Which would be after the incidents mentioned above by Cumberland. 

Concerns were raised by this past year's team in October and Cunningham immediately reprimanded Brannen. Those details are outlined and logged from August to December in the above article by Andy Wittry. 

About a month before the season ended, players again voiced concerns and an investigation was launched. Findings led to Brannen being put on administration leave. Outside legal counsel then confirmed the findings and Brannen was officially let go for cause. 

You have to consider that UC was on the hook for $5.25 mil if Brannen was let go without cause. UC took all of the proper steps and did everything by the book before parting ways. It's a process. 

I think the transfer portal is terrible for college hoops and gives the student athletes an easy out, but if John Brannen was managing and leading his team properly, I don't think we would be having this conversation. Cumberland interview confirmed similar incidents occurred with 2 different groups of players in his 2 seasons at UC. At that point, it's obviously a coach and culture issue and not "soft" players, IMO. 

On 5/11/2021 at 1:22 PM, Voice of Reason said:

This keeps getting worse for Brannen. I said a month ago he should settle for anything he could get. That amount decreases with every report as this goes on. In addition he is killing his opportunities in coaching. UC might pay some amount to avoid legal fees. Again, Brannen should take what he can get along with no more disclosures and move on.

There are two sides to every story.  One of his former players at NKU, Drew McDonald just came out in support of Brannen.  Said he was in contact with players and coaches from UC and nothing they did at UC was different than what they did at NKU.  Said if he had it all over to do again, he would go play for Brannen again.  
 

https://local12.com/sports/uc-bearcats/former-nku-star-mcdonald-voices-support-for-his-former-coach-brannen-cincinnati-norse-bearcats-college-basketball?fbclid=IwAR2NYUFYXEfArymEgUHM4vPgiBy6BOpYSuJscftBDVkOIJJdbaua_snaWps

1 hour ago, bjknku02 said:

There are two sides to every story.  One of his former players at NKU, Drew McDonald just came out in support of Brannen.  Said he was in contact with players and coaches from UC and nothing they did at UC was different than what they did at NKU.  Said if he had it all over to do again, he would go play for Brannen again.  
 

https://local12.com/sports/uc-bearcats/former-nku-star-mcdonald-voices-support-for-his-former-coach-brannen-cincinnati-norse-bearcats-college-basketball?fbclid=IwAR2NYUFYXEfArymEgUHM4vPgiBy6BOpYSuJscftBDVkOIJJdbaua_snaWps

Skinny is an open Brannen supporter. Of course he's not going to try to interview a UC player that actually went through these past two years. Key part you left out:

Did you think or hear that those practices got ramped up at all at UC from what you did at NKU?

"I can't speak first-hand with what happened"

From the Cumberland article with Justin Williams:

Was it strange being around some of those UC players these past couple of months, when all of this turmoil was going on in the background with Brannen and the eventual coaching change?

"To be honest, last year, some of those guys were upset with the way I was acting and what I was saying. But the more I was explaining why and they saw what was going on, the more they started realizing who Brannen really was. Then they started telling me I was right. They even started asking why I came back for my senior year in the first place if I could read him that good.

.....Now that the other players finally saw it, they realized I had been fighting for what I believed, what I thought was the truth and fighting for Bearcats basketball. Then they all saw it happen again this year.

Even with the fans. The fans couldn’t even see it. If he told the fans this, he was doing another thing. One thing people never appreciated about Cronin is that Cronin cared about the fans and made sure we went out every game and played for the fans, made sure we fought. Brannen, it was all about himself."

Cumberland never had any issues under Mick, FWIW.

"You saw what people thought about me last year when all of this was happening. It was his word versus mine. And I had been there for three years by that point. That’s what hurt me. I felt like he was talking bad about me and fans were believing that. It was wild. Why didn’t Cronin ever have any problems like that with me? Cronin never had to kick me out of practice. Never had a problem with my character. Nothing. 

....I’ve been a winner. I won at Cincinnati. And that last year Brannen shows up, and suddenly my character changes, I’m a bad guy, I lose games, I don’t play some games? It really wasn’t a fun year."

39 minutes ago, Walter said:

Skinny is an open Brannen supporter. Of course he's not going to try to interview a UC player that actually went through these past two years. Key part you left out:

Did you think or hear that those practices got ramped up at all at UC from what you did at NKU?

"I can't speak first-hand with what happened"

From the Cumberland article with Justin Williams:

Was it strange being around some of those UC players these past couple of months, when all of this turmoil was going on in the background with Brannen and the eventual coaching change?

"To be honest, last year, some of those guys were upset with the way I was acting and what I was saying. But the more I was explaining why and they saw what was going on, the more they started realizing who Brannen really was. Then they started telling me I was right. They even started asking why I came back for my senior year in the first place if I could read him that good.

.....Now that the other players finally saw it, they realized I had been fighting for what I believed, what I thought was the truth and fighting for Bearcats basketball. Then they all saw it happen again this year.

Even with the fans. The fans couldn’t even see it. If he told the fans this, he was doing another thing. One thing people never appreciated about Cronin is that Cronin cared about the fans and made sure we went out every game and played for the fans, made sure we fought. Brannen, it was all about himself."

Cumberland never had any issues under Mick, FWIW.

"You saw what people thought about me last year when all of this was happening. It was his word versus mine. And I had been there for three years by that point. That’s what hurt me. I felt like he was talking bad about me and fans were believing that. It was wild. Why didn’t Cronin ever have any problems like that with me? Cronin never had to kick me out of practice. Never had a problem with my character. Nothing. 

....I’ve been a winner. I won at Cincinnati. And that last year Brannen shows up, and suddenly my character changes, I’m a bad guy, I lose games, I don’t play some games? It really wasn’t a fun year."

And Cumberland and Brannen were like oil and water from the start. Of course Cumberland is negative on Brannen. See, that argument goes both ways. Sounds like Cumberland was the leader of the mutiny.

Honest question, If Brannen was winning at UC would this situation be taking place?

33 minutes ago, punttheball said:

And Cumberland and Brannen were like oil and water from the start. Of course Cumberland is negative on Brannen. See, that argument goes both ways. Sounds like Cumberland was the leader of the mutiny.

Honest question, If Brannen was winning at UC would this situation be taking place?

He did win at UC, so the answer is yes.

3 hours ago, bjknku02 said:

There are two sides to every story.  One of his former players at NKU, Drew McDonald just came out in support of Brannen.  Said he was in contact with players and coaches from UC and nothing they did at UC was different than what they did at NKU.  Said if he had it all over to do again, he would go play for Brannen again.  
 

https://local12.com/sports/uc-bearcats/former-nku-star-mcdonald-voices-support-for-his-former-coach-brannen-cincinnati-norse-bearcats-college-basketball?fbclid=IwAR2NYUFYXEfArymEgUHM4vPgiBy6BOpYSuJscftBDVkOIJJdbaua_snaWps

This isn’t “another side” to the story... You’ve got one former Brannen player, that didnt play for him at UC, speaking in defense of him...

Where are the rest?

22 minutes ago, punttheball said:

And Cumberland and Brannen were like oil and water from the start. Of course Cumberland is negative on Brannen. See, that argument goes both ways. Sounds like Cumberland was the leader of the mutiny.

Honest question, If Brannen was winning at UC would this situation be taking place?

From the same interview/article:

At least initially, Cumberland shouldered the brunt of the blame for that disconnect from the fanbase and media. That perspective was then reinforced when he followed it with some public disapproval of Brannen on social media early this past season, further drawing the ire of Bearcats fans. But in the wake of Brannen’s dismissal and the reported circumstances surrounding it, many of Cumberland’s actions have been framed in a new light.

I've known Jarron since he was in middle school. Played for my wife's uncle on a stacked NKY Celtics team that also had Thad Moss and Carson Williams. Also developed a pretty good relationship with him from covering him a lot during his time at Wilmington, especially his Jr/Sr year.

Jarron gave Brannen a fair shot from the start and defended the new coach, despite his family not being a fan of the hire and telling him not to go back.

Once workouts and the season started and he got to know the real John Brannen, that's when his body language and mindset completely changed. The culture and philosophy that Brannen preached during the recruiting process was a completely different direction from what he told players on 2 different teams during the recruiting process. 

Jarron is not someone who had a problem with putting in the work to get better. Mick's practices were extremely demanding and intense.

14 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

This isn’t “another side” to the story... You’ve got one former Brannen player, that didnt play for him at UC, speaking in defense of him...

Where are the rest?

To be honest, I do not follow college hoops like I used to. To me it did not seem like Brannen was winning  as much as UC is use to winning. I could be wrong about that for sure. What was his record for his 2 seasons at UC?

19 minutes ago, Walter said:

From the same interview/article:

At least initially, Cumberland shouldered the brunt of the blame for that disconnect from the fanbase and media. That perspective was then reinforced when he followed it with some public disapproval of Brannen on social media early this past season, further drawing the ire of Bearcats fans. But in the wake of Brannen’s dismissal and the reported circumstances surrounding it, many of Cumberland’s actions have been framed in a new light.

I've known Jarron since he was in middle school. Played for my wife's uncle on a stacked NKY Celtics team that also had Thad Moss and Carson Williams. Also developed a pretty good relationship with him from covering him a lot during his time at Wilmington, especially his Jr/Sr year.

Jarron gave Brannen a fair shot from the start and defended the new coach, despite his family not being a fan of the hire and telling him not to go back.

Once workouts and the season started and he got to know the real John Brannen, that's when his body language and mindset completely changed. The culture and philosophy that Brannen preached during the recruiting process was a completely different direction from what he told players on 2 different teams during the recruiting process. 

Jarron is not someone who had a problem with putting in the work to get better. Mick's practices were extremely demanding and intense.

Fair enough. You are obviously more informed than I on this subject.

Like I said earlier, Brannen made his own bed with his approach to his team. It is best for everyone involved that he is no longer UC's coach.

4 minutes ago, punttheball said:

To be honest, I do not follow college hoops like I used to. To me it did not seem like Brannen was winning  as much as UC is use to winning. I could be wrong about that for sure. What was his record for his 2 seasons at UC?

Brannen was 32-21 in his 2 years with a shared regular season conference championship in year 1 and a conference tournament championship game appearance in year 2.

Cronin was 59-12 in his final 2 seasons at UC.

Brannen's first 2 seasons were worse than any of Cronin's final 9.

14 minutes ago, punttheball said:

To be honest, I do not follow college hoops like I used to. To me it did not seem like Brannen was winning  as much as UC is use to winning. I could be wrong about that for sure. What was his record for his 2 seasons at UC?

Sorry Deuce, I did not mean to quote you. Meant to quote VOR.

No matter how much contradictory "evidence" is presented...the thing I keep coming back to is watching the man walk off the court when the game wasn't over yet.  That is telling, on so many different levels, to me.  And why it's going to take a whole lot more than an NKU player who wasn't on UC's squad to sway my decision.

14 hours ago, Walter said:

Skinny is an open Brannen supporter. Of course he's not going to try to interview a UC player that actually went through these past two years. Key part you left out:

Did you think or hear that those practices got ramped up at all at UC from what you did at NKU?

"I can't speak first-hand with what happened"

From the Cumberland article with Justin Williams:

Was it strange being around some of those UC players these past couple of months, when all of this turmoil was going on in the background with Brannen and the eventual coaching change?

"To be honest, last year, some of those guys were upset with the way I was acting and what I was saying. But the more I was explaining why and they saw what was going on, the more they started realizing who Brannen really was. Then they started telling me I was right. They even started asking why I came back for my senior year in the first place if I could read him that good.

.....Now that the other players finally saw it, they realized I had been fighting for what I believed, what I thought was the truth and fighting for Bearcats basketball. Then they all saw it happen again this year.

Even with the fans. The fans couldn’t even see it. If he told the fans this, he was doing another thing. One thing people never appreciated about Cronin is that Cronin cared about the fans and made sure we went out every game and played for the fans, made sure we fought. Brannen, it was all about himself."

Cumberland never had any issues under Mick, FWIW.

"You saw what people thought about me last year when all of this was happening. It was his word versus mine. And I had been there for three years by that point. That’s what hurt me. I felt like he was talking bad about me and fans were believing that. It was wild. Why didn’t Cronin ever have any problems like that with me? Cronin never had to kick me out of practice. Never had a problem with my character. Nothing. 

....I’ve been a winner. I won at Cincinnati. And that last year Brannen shows up, and suddenly my character changes, I’m a bad guy, I lose games, I don’t play some games? It really wasn’t a fun year."

And your not a Brannen fan, as evidence by your posts.  Again, there are two sides to every story.  

Sounds like the practice that is in question where players were puking while running suicides at 6am in the morning came after many were at a Meek Mill concert and partying until 2am that morning.  

That's all just social media scuttlebutt but an interesting side to the story I haven't seen anywhere.

1 hour ago, CincySportsFan said:

No matter how much contradictory "evidence" is presented...the thing I keep coming back to is watching the man walk off the court when the game wasn't over yet.  That is telling, on so many different levels, to me.  And why it's going to take a whole lot more than an NKU player who wasn't on UC's squad to sway my decision.

I am with you. I said at the time that happened it is one of the worst things I have seen a coach do on any level. That crossed over everything a coach tries to instill in a team every day in team culture and chemistry.