The Cincinnati Bearcats come into the 2025-26 season hoping to get back to the NCAA Tournament after missing The Big Dance for the past six years. It will be the program’s fifth season with Wes Miller at the helm as head coach, and he’s done well in terms of posting a winning record. But Cincinnati is set to be short-handed to start the year as transfer forward Jalen Haynes will be out due to a knee injury, as per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
Jalen Haynes recently underwent surgery for his knee injury, and it’s not clear when the transfer forward will be able to make his Cincinnati debut. The Bearcats open the season at home on Monday, Nov. 3 against the Western Carolina Catamounts of the Southern Conference.
Hayes was expected to play a major role for Cincinnati this season after transferring from George Mason. This past season, Haynes was selected to the All-A10 First Team and the A10 All-Tournament Team. The Bearcats had been bolstered in the offseason by several transfers.
Last year, Haynes appeared in 36 games for George Mason, all starts, at a little over 25 minutes per game. He averaged 14.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists with splits of 55.4 percent shooting from the field, 17.6 percent shooting from the three-point line and 60.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Haynes began his college career at Virginia Tech in 2021-22. He transferred to Tennessee State for the 2022-23 season, then transferred to George Mason in 2023-24. He ended up redshirting that year before making his Patriots’ debut last season. He currently has one more year of college basketball eligibility this year at Cincinnati.
In the meantime, Cincinnati will have to offset the absence of Haynes as they begin the upcoming season. Under Miller, the Bearcats have gone a total of 82-59, and 32-42 in conference play. When Miller took over the program, Cincinnati was still in the AAC. They have since moved to the Big 12. In the four seasons prior, Miller has led the program to back-to-back NIT quarterfinals appearances, and one CBC quarterfinals appearance.
Last November, Miller landed the commitment of Cincinnati’s second-highest ranked recruit in program history in Shon Abaev.
