In Cincinnati for a good cause, Kansas basketball coach Bill Self,others discuss Big 12

ANDERSON TOWNSHIP – A number of well-known sports figures gathered at Coldstream Country Club Monday for a golf tournament benefiting the Joel Cornette Foundation, raising money to combat sudden cardiac arrest.

Cornette, a former St. Xavier High and Butler Bulldog basketball player died at age 35 nearly seven years ago from coronary artery disease. Cornette's Foundation studies heart health in athletes.

Several of the players were also cognizant of the University of Cincinnati soon starting play in the Big 12. Among the attendees were Kansas basketball coach Bill Self, UC coach Wes Miller, ESPN College GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit, Fox Sports football analyst Brady Quinn and former NFL/ESPN host Mike Golic now currently with Draft Kings.

Naturally, that was a topic of conversation among the notables teeing it up Monday.

Kansas coach Bill Self talks Bearcats

The two-time national championship coach of the Kansas Jayhawks appeared in Cincinnati despite having to catch a late afternoon flight for his team's tour of Puerto Rico through the first week of August. His relationship with the Cornette's comes through Jordan Cornette helping Notre Dame beat his Illinois team in the NCAA tournament in 2003.

Self knows Wes Miller from playing his UNC-Greensboro team at Phog Allen Fieldhouse (74-62 Jayhawks) in 2019.

"It's a great league for Cincinnati to be in and it's good for the Big 12 that Cincinnati's in it," Self said. "I've known Wes a while and I'm excited about the direction he'll take the program. I think it's good for Cincinnati but it (Big 12) is highly, highly, highly competitive. In basketball, there are no nights off! Their program will grow because of our league and our league will be better for it as well."

Long-time Bearcat fans may remember Self's first encounter with UC in 2000. The Bob Huggins Bearcats had lost national Player of the Year Kenyon Martin to a broken leg. They were assigned to Nashville in the NCAA tournament where they beat UNC-Wilmington in round one, but were upset by Self's Tulsa squad the next round.

"The 'Minus Kenyon Martin' game," Self recalled. "Cincy got the shaft. They should've been a (number) one seed. They got to be a two-seed. We should've been a three or four-seed and we got a seven. They played us in the second round and we played pretty well that day."

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit

The ESPN college football guru now lives in Cincinnati where his youngest son, Chase, plays quarterback at St. Xavier where the Cornettes played. Their foundation hits home as another son of Herbstreit's, Zach, recently had a heart scare as a tight end at Ohio State.

As for the upcoming Big 12 season in Cincinnati, Herbstreit's comment of "no off weeks" was similar to what most pundits have said.

"I was looking at their schedule and you tell me, when is there a 'gimme'?" he said. "There isn't. I think they're going through it in a year where you're transitioning in a new coach. I'm excited because the Big 12 is one of the big boys. I think UC plays a great level of football. But now, I'm anxious to see Coach (Scott) Satterfield's first year. He's going to have a chance to build now and start to really learn what it's going to take to win at this level."

Fox Sports analyst Brady Quinn

The former Notre Dame/NFL quarterback has ties to the Cornettes through South Bend. He also is now an analyst and radio host at Fox Sports, who does some of the Big 12 football slate.

"There's no cupcakes!" Quinn said. "I think the defense Cincinnati traditionally has is ready for it, but it's got to be ready though. It's a high-octane, high-powered offense week in and week out. There's such a wide variety too of styles of play. Texas, Kansas State, Oklahoma,, now Cincinnati, BYU, it's going to be an interesting year. A lot of people think Texas is going to run away with it with all of that talent, given it's their last year. I'm not necessarily sure I feel that way."

Quinn, like many, is also a big fan of Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark as the league just added Colorado and could be adding more to the stable of stars.

"Yormark is the best commissioner in college football," Quinn said. "Nobody has been able to navigate with this ever-changing landscape in college football the way Brett Yormark has. To be a school in the Big 12 right now, you've got to feel pretty good about where you stand."

Jordan Cornette

The younger brother of Joel Cornette was a basketball player like his brother. Jordan played for Mike Brey at Notre Dame between 2001-2005. Through his connections, the tournament has included Kentucky coach John Calipari, former Butler coach and Celtics GM Brad Stevens and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley.

He knows his way around the hardwood and recently was able to visit Coach Miller's Bearcats at UC.

"There's a lot of depth there and there's no easy games," Cornette said of the Big 12. "But, I was around Coach Wes Miller's group this summer. I got to see how they were acclimating. It's a pretty impressive group. Coach Wes Miller has a Top 25 basketball team. It's going to be interesting if they get eligibility from those bigs, they're going to have great depth in the frontcourt."

Cornette was referring to 6-foot-10 Temple transfer Jamille Reynolds and 7-footer Aziz Bandago from Utah Valley. Both played against the Bearcats last year and are awaiting NCAA word on their eligibility for the coming season. The Bearcats do return 6-foot-11, Viktor Lakhin and 6-foot-9 Ody Oguama as starters in the post.

Big 12 basketball slate

Dates haven't been released yet but the Bearcats will host UCF, Houston, TCU, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Texas in Fifth Third Arena, with the first five being home-and-home matchups and the latter four as one-offs.UC's four road-only games are at Baylor, BYU, Kansas and Texas Tech.

Big 12 football slate

UC's Big 12 gridiron opener is Sept. 23 when Oklahoma comes to Nippert Stadium. The first Big 12 road game is Sept. 29 at BYU at 10:15 p.m. ET. Iowa State comes to Nippert on Oct. 14, Baylor on Oct. 21 and UC's at Oklahoma State Oct. 28. Nov. 4 features a home date with UCF, UC's at Houston Nov. 11, at West Virginia Nov. 18 and home vs. Kansas Nov. 25.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Here's what Bill Self of Kansas, ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit say of Big 12