A new, 6-foot-wide banner hangs near the lower corner of the wall behind the Cincinnati student section, tucked in a place that makes it easy to overlook.
The red rectangle has the words ''NCAA PARTICIPATION'' in white across the top. Below it, one number: ''2011.''
''I would have never noticed that if you hadn't pointed it out,'' coach Mick Cronin said, glancing at the wall before practice recently.
The recent addition is dwarfed by more historic memories - the 1961 and 1962 National Championship banners are more than twice as large and have their own spotlights, for instance. But the new one might be as significant as some of those that surround it.
It suggests No. 21 Cincinnati is back to basketball prominence.
The Bearcats won 26 games last season and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005, when Bob Huggins' career in Cincinnati was about to crash and burn, taking the program with it. Cronin returned to his hometown a year later to try to rebuild something precious to him.
He's brought it full-circle.
The Bearcats are ranked in the AP Top 25 preseason poll for the first time since 2003. For the first time since Huggins' ouster, the basketball program is part of the national conversation in a positive way.
''I take a lot of pride in that,'' said Cronin, who left Murray State to take on the rebuilding. ''It was more personal to me. It's home. It's my team. So I felt an obligation when I debated: Do I take the job? Professionally, is this a smart move? What's your percentage or chance of actually making it work? Not good, but it's your team.
''And if it's your team, you're in the position to go fix it.''
It's taken a little longer than some hoped, in part because of what Cronin faced. The school pushed Huggins out over its national reputation for getting in trouble, including the coach's drunken driving arrest. It needed to improve the basketball team's academic results. The school had already missed one year of recruiting and was no longer a place to go and win.
''We had no choice but to take our time and rebuild our academics and the image of the program because that's what I was hired to do,'' Cronin said. ''I wasn't hired to just go grab every talented guy I could to win as fast as I could.''
It was tough getting anybody at first. Cronin started rebuilding the program out of a temporary office - the school was undergoing a major renovation for its move into the Big East - that had as its biggest amenity a small refrigerator with turkey sandwiches.
''Crazy times,'' he said. ''I think back and shake my head.''
Huggins' supporters turned against the program and stopped supporting the team. The Bearcats moved into one of the nation's toughest basketball leagues and played in a half-empty arena. Senior forward Yancy Gates, who grew up in Cincinnati, signed on for what he knew would be a difficult rebuilding.
''It was a tough road,'' Gates said. ''It was a lot to learn.''
They've finally reached their destination. The Bearcats are expected to be competitive in the Big East with a lineup that returns its four top scorers: Gates (11.9 points, 6.9 rebounds), senior guard Dion Dixon (11.6 points), junior point guard Cashmere Wright (8.9 points) and sophomore guard/forward Sean Kilpatrick (9.7 points).
Gates embraces the expectations.
''It's big for me,'' Gates said. ''Almost all I watched was UC basketball growing up. It was always a top team. For me to be part of bringing it back - a lot of people don't get an opportunity to do that in their home city.''
Cronin compares it to reaching the top of a mountain.
''For me, to be honest with you, it was a long road,'' he said. ''It took a lot out of me. You stay focused and keep your head down and keep climbing, that's all you can do. But that being said, it was wearing on me, no question. So I needed to make sure I recharged my batteries this summer. I had to allow myself some time to relax.''
Gates thinks the program has to take one more step before it will be fully recovered: Win consistently.
''We had an older group last year, when we kind of made that turn,'' he said. ''I think getting the young guys into it, we'll be able to make it full-circle. That way, it's not just a last-year thing or a this-year thing. It will be next year, and the year after that. It can't just be a couple of years, then a falloff.''
