Jerrod Calhoun’s first week at Cincinnati has given the Bearcats a solid early foundation, with back-to-back wins over American University, 79-53, and Green Bay, 81-64.
It hasn’t been flawless, but there’s already enough to like as the non-conference schedule keeps rolling. The biggest early bright spot has been Collins, who has looked every bit like the kind of addition Cincinnati needed.
Through two games, Collins has put up 27 points on 50% shooting, plus six steals, six assists and only two turnovers. He arrived as a three-time transfer, beginning at Virginia Tech, then going to Vanderbilt before landing with Calhoun at Utah State. In his lone season with the Aggies, Collins averaged 17.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting 48.7% from the field.
That kind of production matters for a Cincinnati offense that has already shown signs of moving in the right direction. Utah State finished last season as the nation’s 30th-most efficient offense, while Cincinnati sat all the way down at 238th. So far this season, the Bearcats are up to 111th, a jump that suggests this group can score enough to be a real factor as the year goes on.
There’s still a long way to go, of course, but the early returns point to an offense that can do more than just scrape by. Last season, Cincinnati went 8-5 in non-conference play, with results that included a 74-64 win over Georgia State, a 74-62 win over Dayton and a painful 64-56 loss to Eastern Michigan.
The competition hasn’t exactly been brutal yet, and Green Bay and American won’t tell the whole story. Even so, there has been a clear defensive edge in the first two games. Cincinnati has held opponents to just a 37.3% field goal rate.
The real challenge is coming fast. Minnesota, Georgia, Boston College, Xavier and Clemson are all on the early schedule, and those games will say a lot more about where Calhoun’s team stands.
For a program chasing its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019, these are the kinds of tests that matter.