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“After testing the waters of the NBA Draft process and talking with my family about my future, I have unfinished business with the Bearcats,” Cumberland said in a team release. “I'm coming back for my senior year.”
Like a growing number of players across the country, Cumberland chose to explore his pro prospects with the knowledge he could return to UC.
He took part in the NBA G League Elite Camp but was not invited to the NBA Draft Combine earlier this month.
Now Cumberland is sure to be a centerpiece of new coach John Brannen’s first UC team.
Brannen took over the Bearcats in April after long-time coach Mick Cronin left to take the same job at UCLA.
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In the coaching change, UC lost top recruit Samari Curtis but gained Jeremiah Davenport.
Curtis, who was named Ohio's Mr. Basketball after setting Xenia's all-time scoring record and leading the GWOC in scoring three seasons in a row, opted out of a letter-of-intent to play for the Bearcats and later signed with Nebraska.
>>Curtis: ‘Couldn’t ask for more’ from Cornhuskers
Davenport, a 6-7 wing who starred at Cincinnati Moeller, signed with his hometown team two weeks ago after a season at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va. He was originally a Wright State recruit.
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