Shon Abaev Named to Elite Freshman List Ahead of 2025-26 Season

Plenty of hype surrounding the freshman.

Cincinnati Bearcats recruit Shon Abaev of Fear of God Athletics guards Newport, Kentucky's Taylen Kinney of RWE at the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. | Scott Springer/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats have one of the most highly touted freshmen in the country this coming basketball season in wing Shon Abaev. Sports Illustrated's Kevin Sweeney named Abaev to his list of 15 freshmen fans will know by the start of March Madness.

Abaev fell into the "Impact Starter" category as one of the 30-best players in the Class of 2025 and the second-highest-rated UC recruit of the 247 Sports era.

"Few in this class have more scoring upside than Abaev, who has filled it up at virtually every level of youth basketball," Sweeney wrote. "While he likely won’t be given the same freedom offensively at Cincinnati as he has had in high school and AAU, there’s a path for him to make an instant impact in what feels like a make-or-break year for Wes Miller and the Bearcats. And while he’s not a primary ballhandler, he could benefit from a touches perspective from the summer dismissal of starting PG Jizzle James."

Abaev checks all the boxes from a mentality and approach perspective to meet this expectation.

He's been grinding all summer in the Bearcats' gyms. His favorite places to be on campus.

"At a young age, my mom and dad always pushed me to work hard every day, working out three to four times a day, even when I didn't feel like it; I didn't have a choice," Abaev said to Dan Hoard about the work ethic instilled at a young age. "They always would make me go to the gym. But then, when I got older, it just became a habit. So now it's like when I tell people I work out three to four times a day, not including like team practice with the team, they look at me crazy, but now it's normal."

Cincinnati fans get to see him in action for the first time on Nov. 3 against Western Carolina.

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