Cronin Is Named Coach at Cincinnati

Former assistant Mick Cronin was hired as coach of Cincinnati on Thursday night, leaving his post at Murray State, where he was 69-23 the last three seasons.

Cronin, 34, left Cincinnati to join Rick Pitino’s staff at Louisville in 2001-01, before moving on to Murray State.

Cronin will be introduced at a news conference today.

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Mississippi hired former Cincinnati interim coach Andy Kennedy as its coach, Athletic Director Pete Boone said.

Kennedy was to be introduced at a news conference today in Oxford, Miss., Boone said.

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Bob Huggins is apologizing to no one.

“I don’t think I’m a bad guy,” he deadpanned.

Huggins made the comment during a news conference to introduce him as the new coach at Kansas State.

Huggins, 52, who turned Cincinnati into a national power during 16 sometimes-stormy seasons, signed a five-year contract with the Wildcats. It’s the most controversial hire in college basketball since Texas Tech hired Bob Knight five years ago.

Huggins was out of work for a year after Cincinnati President Nancy Zimpher refused to extend his four-year contract rollover after his arrest and conviction for drunken driving in 2004.

Cincinnati cited the arrest as the culmination of many problems.

Huggins also had been criticized for his players’ low graduation rate and for several off-court problems involving players.

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Weber State hired Randy Rahe to replace the fired Joe Cravens as coach. Rahe was an assistant coach at Utah the last two seasons.

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South Carolina kept alive hopes of defending its National Invitation Tournament title with a 65-62 victory over host Cincinnati.

The Bearcats (21-13) were without seniors James White and Jihad Muhammad, who were declared ineligible. No reason was given, but some Bearcat players hinted afterward it was because of academic issues.

Tre’ Kelley finished with 21 points for South Carolina (21-15), which will play Louisville in Tuesday night’s semifinals in New York. Old Dominion plays Michigan in the other semifinal.

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David Zellmann scored seven of his 21 points during a decisive 12-0 run in the second half to lift Winona State (31-4) to an 83-73 victory over Stonehill (27-7) in a Division II national semifinal game at Springfield, Mass. Winona State will play defending champion Virginia Union (29-6), a 68-63 winner over Seattle Pacific (26-6), in Saturday’s championship game.