CINCINNATI — Former Bearcats athletes Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner and Nick Van Exel are each slated to graduate from the University of Cincinnati on Friday, the university confirmed to The Athletic. Both are expected to attend and walk in a commencement ceremony inside Fifth Third Arena.
- Gardner, who played football for the Bearcats from 2019-21, earned his degree in interdisciplinary studies.
- He left Cincinnati after three seasons to declare for the NFL and was selected No. 4 by the New York Jets in the 2022 NFL Draft, the highest-drafted Bearcats player in program history.
- Gardner was a two-time first-team All-American at Cincinnati and helped lead the Bearcats to the 2021 College Football Playoff, becoming the first Group of 5 program to do so in the four-team playoff era.
- The Detroit native was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and a first-team All-Pro in 2022.
Nick Van Exel will return to Cincinnati this week for his graduation. (Aaron Doster / USA Today)- Van Exel played two seasons for Cincinnati men’s basketball from 1991-93, starring as a member of the 1992 Final Four team and Elite Eight run the following year.
- He was named to the university’s James P. Kelly Athletics Hall Of Fame in 2018 and also earned his degree in interdisciplinary studies.
- After starting his collegiate career at Trinity Valley Community College, Van Exel averaged 15.2 points and 3.6 assists in his two seasons with the Bearcats.
- He went on to play 13 years in the NBA for six teams, and made the All-Star Game as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in 1997-98. Van Exel has spent the past decade-plus as a coach and scout, including the past two seasons as an assistant for the Atlanta Hawks.
I really graduate college next Friday😅🙏🏾
— SAUCE GARDNER (@iamSauceGardner) July 26, 2023
What else to know
HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series, which is chronicling the Jets this preseason and premieres Aug. 8, is planning to send a camera crew to Cincinnati with Gardner to document Friday’s ceremony.
Required reading
(Top photo of Sauce Gardner: James Black / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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