Cincinnati Bearcats basketball offers trio of players with famous fathers
Though they may have more to add to their current class, the neverending task of recruiting for the future of Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball continues this summer. Recently, a series of names have popped up that may be familiar to Cincinnati sports fans or just knowledgeable fans in general.
In a week's time the UC basketball program made offers to three forwards named Olajuwon, Henry and Starks.
That would not be a law firm.
Aziz Olajuwon is a 6-foot-6 son of former Houston Cougars and NBA Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon. DeMarcus Henry is the 6-foot-7 son of former Bengal Chris Henry and brother of Chris Henry Jr. who is committed to Ohio State football. Griffin Starks is a 6-foot-8 forward who has reached the height of his father Keith Starks when he was a Cincinnati Bearcats forward for Bob Huggins in his first two seasons as coach.
UC already has the son of NFL Hall of Famer Edgerrin James as Jizzle James is now a veteran for Wes Miller. Could more recognizable names be on the way?
Aziz Olajuwon
His father was billed as a 7-footer, but regardless of height was a member of the University of Houston's "Phi Slamma Jamma" teams and an NBA champion with the Houston Rockets. The son of "The Dream" is a three-star small forward. His high school numbers for his junior year at Fort Bend Clements (Sugar Land, Texas) were 19.9 points, nine rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. Early in his EYBL circuit this summer he was shooting 45% from the perimeter. Mamadou N'Diaye has continued his recruiting of Olajuwon after moving from UCF to Cincinnati and the Bearcats offered June 13. Olajuwon is also on the training camp roster of the U19 Canada basketball team. Hakeem Olajuwon played a season with the Toronto Raptors.
DeMarcus Henry
The Enquirer first covered DeMarcus and his older brother Chris Henry Jr. when they were junior high athletes at Withrow High School in 2021.
Chris Henry Jr. was offered by Ohio State less than a year later and is now a Buckeyes commit. The Henry boys moved in with former Bengal Adam "Pacman" Jones and briefly played football at West Clermont, before returning to Withrow.
Demarcus Henry goes up for a shot during his freshman year at Withrow at the 2023 LaRosa's Holiday Hardwood Classic.
DeMarcus Henry averaged 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds as a Withrow freshman forward. After both boys transferred to Mater Dei in Santa Ana, California, his most recent season saw him average 14.8 points and 6.9 rebounds. He now has a 247Sports four-star composite rating with offers from UNLV, Oregon and Ohio State who already has Chris Henry Jr. in the fold. Their sister Seini is also on the Ohio State women's basketball team.
DeMarcus Henry was offered by UC assistant Andre Morgan June 15.
Griffin Starks
By rating, the four-star 2027 power forward is ranked higher than Olajuwon or Henry. Starks has played at Newport High School, where he was briefly a teammate with Taylen Kinney before he moved on to Overtime Elite where he competed against incoming UC freshman Shon Abaev.
Griffin Starks averaged 10.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game as a Newport sophomore last season. Starks was also offered June 15. His father Keith averaged 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds over four seasons with the Cincinnati Bearcats playing two seasons for Tony Yates, then the first two seasons of the Bob Huggins run.
Other notable UC targets with familiar names
UC is on the offer list for five-star, 6-foot-6 Jaxon Richardson from Miami (Florida) just as they were for his brother Jase Richardson who wound up at Michigan State. They are the sons of former NBA player Jason Richardson who also played for the Spartans in the Big Ten.
Dontonio Wingfield played just one season at UC before turning pro. UC has offered his son Jalen Wingfield, a 6-foot-8, 225-pound power forward from the class of 2026 who is a four-star.
UC's local offers
The Bearcats return Tyler McKinley (Walnut Hills, Winton Woods) after his medical redshirt, but saw Rayvon Griffith (Taft) depart via the transfer portal to Kent State. The Golden Flashes originally offered Griffith when he was an eighth-grader.
In addition to Starks and Kinney, UC has offered Isaiah Mack-Russell who just transferred to Winton Woods from Toledo. He is a 2027 shooting guard.
Lakota West's Josh Tyson goes up and over Fairfield's Gabe Clemmons in the OHSAA Division I regional final between Lakota West and Fairfield March 9.
Josh Tyson of Lakota West also has an offer and is a 2027 guard. Kameron Mercer is in the 2028 class and has transferred from Winton Woods to Huntington Prep in West Virginia. Mercer is a 6-foot-4 guard with UC among his offers.
Cincinnati Bearcats/Dayton Flyers to play Nov. 11
After playing the last two seasons at "neutral" Heritage Bank Center, UC will host the Dayton Flyers at Fifth Third Arena for the first time since defeating the Bearcats in an NIT game in March 2010.
Dayton defeated UC at Heritage Bank Center 82-68 in 2023, with the Bearcats exacting revenge on the Flyers 66-59 last year.
Cincinnati Bearcats guard Jizzle James (2) hits a three-point basket against the Dayton Flyers at Heritage Bank Center Dec. 20, 2024. UC won the game 66-59.
Dating back to 1907, the schools have played 92 times. UC will have a return game at UD Arena in 2026-27 at a date to be determined.
UC's last game at Dayton was a 65-55 win in 2004.
Fans vote for UC uniforms
Sports marketers UNISWAG put on a fan vote and the Cincinnati Bearcats all-black alternate uniforms were voted the best in college basketball. The Bearcats wore them in last year's win over Dayton.
This story was updated to add a gallery.
