Someone hacked Cincinnati Bearcats guard Jizzle James’s Instagram account Tuesday, May 20, with a post leading his followers to believe he planned to depart from UC and declare for the NBA draft.
It ended with, “After prayer, reflection and conversations with my loved ones, I’m proud to announce that I will be declaring for the 2025 NBA draft and chasing the dream I’ve had since I was a kid.” It then thanked Cincinnati and said, “Go Cats forever.”
Upon trying to verify the information in the post with many University of Cincinnati sources and his father, former NFL star Edgerrin James, they all confirmed the post is fake and someone hacked his account. James took down the fake post later in the day.
Either way, the last day to declare for the NBA draft was April 26, about a month ago.
James quickly announced his return to Wes Miller and the Cincinnati Bearcats on April 9 in an Instagram post that ended showing the back of his uniform (No. 2 is back).
No. 2 Jizzle James back for Cincinnati Bearcats season No. 3
James returns for a third season with the Bearcats after leading the team in scoring his sophomore season at 12.7 points per game and dishing out a team-high 124 assists. James shot 40% from the field, 29% on 3-pointers and 77% from the free-throw line.
His season high was 25 points in a home win over Utah and a road loss at Iowa State. James hit in double figures in 25 of his 35 games. He returns for 2025 with fellow guard Day Day Thomas and forwards Tyler McKinley and Halvine Dzellat from this past season’s squad.
New transfer Bearcats include Kerr Kriisa from Kentucky, Sencire Harris from West Virginia, Jalen Haynes from George Mason, Moustapha Thiam from UCF, Jalen Celestine from Baylor and Baba Miller from FAU.
There could be more additions. From the high school ranks, UC has McDonald’s All-American Shon Abaev on the way and point guard Keyshuan Tillery. Both are ranked among ESPN’s top 100 prep players.