Your Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team comes from 11 different states, with four from Ohio.
Coach Jerrod Calhoun hails from Ohio and has a degree from UC as well as coaching experience with Bob Huggins here and at West Virginia. The Naismith Hall of Fame and recent James P. Kelly UC Athletic Hall of Famer came to Calhoun's introductory press conference on March 25 to pass the torch.
Calhoun took Utah State to back-to-back NCAA tournaments. His mission here is to return UC to "The Dance," where their card hasn't been punched in over seven years.
Introducing 2026-27 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball roster
No. 0 Trevian Carson
The 6-foot-3 senior guard from West Des Moines, Iowa, committed to the Bearcats April 20. At North Dakota State, he was First Team All-Summit League, averaging 11.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Carson had 11 points and seven rebounds in an NCAA Tournament loss for the Bison vs. Michigan State.
No. 1 Elijah Perryman
Perryman is a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard from San Francisco who committed to the Bearcats April 20, following the Jerrod Calhoun staff from Utah State to Cincinnati. Perryman averaged 4.4 points per game for the Aggies, playing in all 36 games with one start. He shot 44% from the field, 30% on 3-pointers and 80% from the free-throw line. He dished out 10 assists in UC's final exhibition win, 97-58 over Oakland.
No. 2 MJ Collins Jr.
Eligible via an executive order from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Collins is a 6-foot-4, fifth-year player from Clover, South Carolina. He initially joined the Bearcats July 20 after participating in the NBA G League Combine. Collins started all 36 games at Utah State last season and averaged 17.5 points per game, shooting 45.7% from the field. He made 36.1% of his 3-point shots and 81% of his free throws. Collins had a high game of 40 points last Nov. 23 vs. Davidson, making 8 of 12 of his 3-pointers. He was UC's top scorer with 22 points in the exhibition win over Oakland.
No. 3 Javontae Campbell
The 6-foot-3, fifth-year guard out of Muskogee, Oklahoma, will be with the Cincinnati Bearcats this season, but since he arrived with an injury, he will not play. Campbell joined the Bearcats Sept. 6 from Bowling Green. Campbell averaged 18.7 points per game for the Falcons last season and was the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year, leading Division I hoops in steals.
No. 5 Akai Fleming
The 6-foot-4 sophomore guard from Marietta, Georgia came to the Bearcats from Georgia Tech May 6. He averaged 10.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game for the Yellowjackets as a freshman in the ACC. From the field, he shot 37.3%, going 32.9% on 3-pointers and 81.6% from the free-throw line.
No. 6 Myles Colvin
The 6-foot-5 senior guard Colvin was an early commit to Calhoun on April 10. He is UC's top leaper with a vertical of nearly 43 inches and played in an NCAA National Championship game while at Purdue. At Wake Forest last season, Colvin averaged 11.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, shooting 40.3% from the field, 36% on 3s and 87% from the foul line. Colvin is from Indianapolis.
No. 7 Amani Lyles
The 6-foot-9 fifth-year player from Columbus is UC's latest addition, coming Oct. 22. Lyles played four years with the Akron Zips and blossomed his senior year, averaging 14.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. He had nine double-doubles, shots 55.8% from the field, 37.3% from the 3-point line, and 71.6% from the free-throw line. He had 26 points in the NCAA Tournament against the Big 12's Texas Tech.
No. 8 Tyler Tejada
The 6-foot-9 senior from Teaneck, New Jersey, came to the Bearcats April 13 from Towson. Last season, Tejada averaged 17.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He shot 43.2% from the field, 29.1% from the 3-point line and 88.2% from the line. He was a double-digit scorer in UC's first two exhibitions vs. Ohio State and Illinois.
No. 9 Adlan Elamin
The 6-foot-10 sophomore from Arlington, Virginia, was one of the four Utah State Aggies to follow Calhoun to the Bearcats, coming in mid-April. Elamin averaged 6.7 points and 3.1 rebounds this past season, shooting 30% from the perimeter, 83% from the line and 44% overall from the field. He also had 26 steals and 16 blocks. Elamin had 13 points and seven rebounds in Utah State's NCAA Tournament win over Villanova last March.
No. 10 Tylen Riley
The 6-foot-3 senior guard from Las Vegas came to the Bearcats after leading Tulsa to the NIT championship game. Riley led the Bearcats in the Ohio State and Illinois exhibitions with 23 and 31 points, respectively. Riley started all 38 games at Tulsa last season, averaging 15 points and 4.4 assists, making Second Team All-American Athletic Conference.
No. 11 David Iweze
The 6-foot-9 sophomore forward from Roanoke, Texas, also comes by way of Utah State. He redshirted last season for the Aggies, but has been a key contributor off the bench in UC's exhibitions.
No. 13 Grant Darbyshire
The only returning Bearcat from Wes Miller's squad is 6-foot-2, fifth-year walk-on Darbyshire, a Cincinnatian who played high school ball at Sycamore. Darbyshire was on Kentucky's roster before joining the Bearcats last season.
No. 20 Eric Mahaffey
The 6-foot-6 junior from Cincinnati and Moeller High School played in the NCAA Tournament last season at Akron and was a teammate of Amani Lyles. Mahaffey transferred April 15. He averaged 7.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game and made the All-MAC Freshman Team as a redshirt freshman. Under new NCAA "5-for-5" rules, Mahaffey, in his third year, is a junior.
No. 22 Jayden Hastings
The 6-foot-10 senior center from Orlando is a big-body from Boston College who committed in late April. Hastings had 16 points and six rebounds in his exhibition debut vs. Ohio State. He averaged 6.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game and blocked 47 shots, just three fewer than Moustapha Thiam had for the Bearcats in 2025-26.
No. 32 DeShaun Vaden
A 6-foot-11 junior from Cleveland, Vaden is from Division III Mount Union where he played for current UC assistant Mike Fuline. He was the Ohio Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Averaging only 15.6 minutes per game, Vaden blocked 102 shots.
No. 35 Riley Allenspach
The 6-foot-11 senior from Charlotte came to the Bearcats from George Mason in mid-April. Allenspach averaged 13.6 points per game and 6.1 rebounds. Before George Mason, he played in the NCAA Tournament for Samford.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Meet Jerrod Calhoun's 1st Cincinnati Bearcats Big 12 basketball team