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Sporting News, The, Dec 23, 1996 by Steve Harrison

And Cincinnati? Will the Bearcats reach their potential? In June, Patterson was justly optimistic. "Me, Danny and Damon," he said. "We'll have a lot of weapons. Well have to play together. Kentucky could."

Two weeks ago, after the Bearcats lost to Xavier, Huggins was justly dour. "Unless things change ," he said in the Cincinnati Enquirer, "we're going to get beat a lot. I don't want to spend three hours with them (practicing), with their attitudes the way they are."

Is a national championship within reach for the Bearcats? With a team built around junior college players, history says the odds are against them.

The Great Hope--or Hype? When Patterson emerged from Independence (Kan.) C.C., he was tabbed as Cincinnati's next Herb Jones. Four games into the season, he has a very long way to go.

Steve Harrison is a free-lance writer based in Baton Rouge, La.