Watch: Cincinnati's Mick Cronin returned to the sidelines Sunday
Cincinnati basketball coach Mick Cronin, recovering from an unruptured anuerysm suffered earlier this season, returned briefly to the Bearcats sideline before their final regular season game Sunday morning to honor senior forward Jermaine Sanders on senior day.
Cronin was diagnosed with an arterial dissection and been ordered by doctors not to coach or appear on the sidelines during games, according to Fox Sports.
He will not return to coach Cincinnati even if the team makes it to the NCAA tournament this season.
In a rallying speech to the crowd before the game that elicited loud applause, Cronin asked Bearcats fans to "keep fighting for these guys," and said the team still had "a long way to go" still in the season.
• Madness begins early in wild Saturday for bubble teams, favorites, more
Last month, Cronin told The Sporting Newsthat one of the most difficult elements of not being able to coach was being unable to be there for Sanders, a senior forward averaging 4.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
“This is about Jermaine Sanders. He’s our lone senior. That’s the hardest part of this for me, is I’m really close to him,” Cronin told The Sporting News. “I’ve got great respect for him as a human, because he stood for all the right things for four years. So not being able to coach him, it just sucks. I don’t have a better adjective.”
The Bearcats defeated Memphis Sunday 77-65, improving to 13-5 in The American Athletic Conference and earning the three seed in next week's AAC men's basketball tournament. Cincinnati will play Temple in the quarterfinals on Friday.
You can watch Cronin's remarks below:
