The team meal was at a Ruth's Chris Steak House in Texas in March after the Bearcats flew to Fort Worth for the American Athletic Conference (AAC) tournament.
Cincinnati was the No. 1 seed.
But the tournament never happened. It was canceled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The novel coronavirus outbreak wiped out the entire postseason.
Ten months later, the pandemic has altered everything and created a 2020-21 season unlike any other UC head coach John Brannen has experienced or could have imagined.
"It's more challenging than I probably anticipated, and for them (the players), at that age, that can be hard," he said on Tuesday.
Cincinnati (2-6, 0-3 AAC) has lost five straight, with three of those loses coming by five or fewer points. It's the toughest stretch Brannen has had since losing seven straight at the end of the 2015-16 season when he was a first-year head coach at Northern Kentucky University.
Brannen and the Norse finished 9-21 that year.
This season, Brannen's second at UC, has included a host of unprecedented challenges both on and off the court that have pushed Brannen and his players to their limits mentally.
