Wes Miller on Dan Skilling, State of College Basketball
By Keegan Nickoson | BearcatJournal.com
As Cincinnati and Baylor made their way through the handshake line, it came to a sudden stop. The Bearcats’ head coach, Wes Miller, took that time to embrace his former player, Dan Skillings Jr., following the Bearcats’ 67-57 win over Baylor.
Skillings spent three years in Cincinnati and was recruited as a high-ceiling wing out of Philadelphia who needed to be rounded into shape. He was one of Miller’s first recruits as the head coach of the Bearcats, and he oversaw much of his growth as a basketball player. The first two years of ups and downs and inconsistency, showcasing his elite athleticism, led to his junior year, when Skillings was supposed to be one of the more important players on the Bearcats’ roster and make his case to be one of the best players in the Big 12. He turned down offers from big-time schools across the country to return to Clifton to be a part of what Miller was building.
It was ultimately a difficult year for Skillings, who underperformed expectations as one of the many players who struggled, leading a preseason AP Top 25 team to a 19-16 finish and another tournament miss. Skillings entered the portal after the season as his time in a Bearcats uniform ultimately soured, leading to that moment postgame when he got to speak with the man who had invested so much into him.
“It will never sit right with me that Dan Skillings and Josh Reed don’t finish their careers here,” Miller told reporters following Wednesday night’s game. “They’re here for three years. They love being here. They were such important parts of our program. They grew up here… I don’t blame them at all. I blame all the dumb crap we’ve done in college basketball. It’s the adults’ fault. I don’t blame those kids at all. It is so stupid, and it’ll hopefully get fixed one day.”
Skillings finished with 10 points on 5-for-12 shooting from the field. He struggled to get layups to go in the first half, which was pretty indicative of how his time at Cincinnati went. The uber-athletic guard often made plays that made you say, “How the hell did he do that?” then on the next possession, you’d say, “Why the hell did he do that?”
Many fans view Skillings’ Cincinnati career through the lens of the latter, assigning him a big share of the blame for the Bearcats’ failure to reach their goal of an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025. That, combined with his social media presence and what seemed like a “flexing” of his NIL money amid the team’s struggles, left a bitter taste in most fans’ mouths.
Skillings was met with a loud chorus of boos when he was introduced as a starter and was booed every time he touched the ball on offense. Miller was clear after the game that he doesn’t view Skillings in the same light. He wished Skillings would finish his career as a Bearcat and believes that college basketball will return to a state where players can do just that.
“It won’t be the same as it was before, but we’ll get to multi-year contracts and buyouts, the same way coaches stay at the same school for prolonged years,” Miller said. “It’ll be the same. Like any industry that gets derailed, it’s a process to get there.
“I don’t blame these kids. I think it says more about Dan and Josh that they stayed here for three years during all this crap. But again, I don’t blame them. I pull for ’em, I follow their games. I just don’t wanna play against them or anything like that.”
For the game itself, Miller was a big beneficiary of the current landscape, as two players in their first year of basketball at Cincinnati after transferring combined for 32 points on 12-for-25 shooting. Baba Miller and Moustapha Thiam both continue to have solid conference play numbers, as Miller posted his eighth double-double of the season with 18 points and 17 rebounds.
Miller has consistently been one of the most aggressive offensive players in Big 12 play in terms of field goals attempted. Cincinnati hasn’t had a lot of success in the face of so many injuries, but Miller has turned into one of the best players Wes Miller has coached during his time leading the Bearcats, even if his current role isn’t exactly what he pictured when joining the team.
“I feel like any hooper in the world wants to be on the court as much as possible, so I’m very grateful, and I just wanna be out there as much as possible,” Baba Miller told reporters.
“We talked about how we collectively are gonna overcome,” Wes Miller said. “All the stuff we’re dealing with, and everybody’s just gonna be their best self, and we’re gonna play 40 minutes and stay together. I thought all these guys did this, but Baba knows this: I don’t care if we have 35 guys that can play that are ready to go. I still want him to be aggressive and get 17 rebounds.”
Jizzle James also had a stellar offensive night after his struggles in Arizona, combining for 10 points in two games. He made five threes, which ties the most he’s made since Feb. 15, 2025, against Iowa State, and was one short of his career high for threes made in a single game. It was also as many threes as he had combined for in the prior eight games he had played.
The Bearcats didn’t get home until late afternoon Monday after being stuck in Arizona due to the storms in Cincinnati. They were able to get a practice in on Monday morning after an off day on Sunday. Coach Miller said his team handled the hurdle like pros despite being bumped off their usual routine.
Maybe the extended time in the warm weather out West could serve as a reset for the Bearcats, who travel to No. 10 Houston on Saturday.