Cincinnati Freshman Shon Abaev Named One of College Basketball's Top 50 Newcomers

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats basketball team had one star land on ESPN's top-50 newcomers entering the 2025-26 season. Freshman wing Shon Abaev got the nod as Cincinnati sits just over a week away from tipping off regular-season games.

Paul Biancardi thinks Abaev will help Cincinnati's lagging offense compared to a strong defense.

"Cincinnati was a subpar offensive team a year ago, finishing 100th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency -- and that's where Abaev could really make an impact," Biancardi wrote. "He gives coach Wes Miller a legitimate scoring threat with terrific positional size at 6-foot-8 and a flamethrower mentality. He is Cincinnati's second-highest-ranked recruit in program history, behind only Lance Stephenson."

Abaev had an up-and-down pair of exhibition games to start his Bearcats tenure. He dropped 15 points against Michigan 10 days ago, but fell to earth in a 2-11 shooting performance against Arkansas (seven points in the game).

Abaev tracks as a clear day-one starter for the team and should be a major impact player throughout his freshman season.

"I think we have a ton of confidence in Shon's ability to have a great freshman year," Miller said on stage at Big 12 Media Days. "We've seen it in our summer, in our preseason, you know. And so is he going to have a night where he shoots the ball successfully every single time that he steps on the floor? No, that's not going to happen, but it was good to see that he was able to do it in his first exhibition.

"I think what these guys would say, and what we'd say as a staff, we expect Shon to have nights he shoots the ball well and make shots and scores. That's what he does naturally. What we've been most impressed with, though, is his work ethic. He's come in with a very humble, work-minded approach that has earned the respect of his teammates on this stage, and because of that, he's going to continue to have a lot of positive nights for us as we get into real games."

UC tips off its 2025-26 season next Monday at 7 p.m. ET against Western Carolina.

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