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Ask and ye shall receive!!

The NIL is here: https://nickelcitynil.com/

Expect an announcement tomorrow on NIL from UB.

With the commitment from Mighty our roster looks as follows: Guards: Dunn, Fulcher, Sabol, Boldin, Akot Wings: Wilson, Mcveigh, Michaels, Batchelor, Jackson Bigs: Mighty, Oboh That gives us the following class breakdown: Freshman (4): Michaels Oboh Jackson Akot Sophmores (4): Sabol Boldin Wilson Mcveigh Juniors (2): Fulcher Batchelor Seniors (2) Dunn Mighty That leaves us 1 scholarship left. Hard to predict today with 1 spot left to fill but here is my guess at starters for next season as of now: PG: Dunn SG: Sabol SF: Boldin PF: Batchelor Center: Mighty I would like to see staff fill the last roster spot with a grad transfer who can start immediately and provide some veteran leadership and some scoring ability especially off the dribble. I really like the direction this team is headed and I am looking forward to next season. I think this team is much improved from last year and I think this team will be filled with the type of players this coaching staff covets and we will see a clear identity to this team next year. You heard it here first, their identity will be the ability to shoot the open shot, their effort on the defensive end and their willingness to share the ball. After last years team this will be a much welcome. This team is going to surprise some people, especially with their ability to shoot and in my opinion they will be scrappy on the defensive end. Lets hope the staff can bring in one more solid piece to build on what they have started. Go Bulls!

I don’t see Bradford redshirting. In today’s game there’s no time for that. Kids want to get on the court asap so they can portal. Based on the reviews, this kid has a chance to start.

My crew at Trainwreck Sports is already getting involved with supporting UB athletics through NIL.

https://ubbulls.com/news/2024/4/25/football-nickel-city-collective-launches-as-nil-collective-for-ub-student-athletes.aspx

Good name, easy NIL possibilities with Mighty Taco To add, he was offered a scholarship from Vermont when he was coming out of highschool, likely from current UB assistant coach tibbs

All five of the directors are doing the work for the collective for free. They are donating their time and effort. There is no need to wait for the 990 to check for salaries. Three of the five are former UB athletes. So when can they expect your contribution?

I’m not down on the collective, I’m down on the decision makers running the athletic department. This is just another avenue for Alnutt and co. to light UB supporters money on fire. Last year I paid $275 per season ticket per home win and I’m supposed to be fired up about a monthly subscription to increase that? If the collective opens an avenue to support for the next coach that comes in I’d sign up. The 13 scholarships are filled and none of them had other D1 scholarship offers, much less NIL offers. Donating money this year (for MBB) is going towards a bidding war that no other D1 schools are participating in

With the final commitments from Mighty and Bradford our roster looks as follows: Guards: Dunn, Fulcher, Sabol, Boldin, Akot, Bradford Wings: Wilson, Mcveigh, Michaels, Batchelor, Jackson Bigs: Mighty, Oboh That gives us the following class breakdown: Freshman (5): Bradford Michaels Oboh Jackson Akot Sophmores (4): Sabol Boldin Wilson Mcveigh Juniors (3): Mighty Fulcher Batchelor Seniors (1) Dunn At this point we are out of scholarships it appears. My guess at starters for next season as of now with the information we have at this time: PG: Dunn SG: Sabol SF: Boldin PF: Batchelor Center: Mighty We have an improved roster in many ways, most glaringly athleticism and depth. Having a full roster for this staff to utilize will be huge. Last year was awful and we are all ready to move on. I like the direction this team is headed with the roster. The new collective NIL will allow us to compete moving forward in the current day mess of the NCAA. There are a lot of new faces on this team, it will take some time to establish our identity and to determine the players roles. I am excited to see it play out and am anxious to see these new players to see if any of them are the diamonds in the rough we are looking for. I think we will know this summer when reports trickle out about the team, or maybe it takes till early in the season but reports will come out of a strong players performance. Remember early in CJ's career the rumblings of his play and then him dropping 17 points in Cameron Indoor his freshman season. I am hopeful one of these players will be a

How about...Calvin Cage 😮‍💨

I’m with you man! keeping the negativity to a minimum until we at least know what this group looks like on the court.

Can someone share any rankings or other offers?

I have joined you in the HOF!

I will be signing up as well.

I think you are under estimating some of the Canadians and freshman UB has coming in I don't think it's taking what UB can get I would bet that a few of them had other opportunities as well that just weren't publicized

Staff is going after what they can get with the hand they have. There is currently no compelling reason to come to UB for basketball. At least Buffalo is close to Canada for some of these guys so you take what you can get and hope their game translates to winning in the MAC.

Show me where they hurt you

716 MVP, I did email for more information about the Donated Securities and Donor Advised Funds options.

Not a surprise with the Cage news.

Must have an experienced player who’s proven for this last spot. Grad transfer would make the most sense.

I'll allow it.🤣

That is 'mighty' good news! Sorry couldn't help myself.

So one scholarship left, it would be fantastic if they can get someone that has shown they can score/bucket getter Teams coming together nicely. I like the make up. Just seem to be missing a scorer

I heard Jay Wrights wife is looking to get him out of the house more

Zach Filzen (D3 HC), Sean Smiley (D3 HC), Ikenna Smart (NBA Video Coordinator), Brock Bertram (HS Assistant)

It will be interesting to see who they bring in to replace him. Maybe someone with an ounce of knowledge and experience.

Nothing short of embarrassing to lose an Assistant coaching at his alma mater to a much smaller program. What a train wreck.

I am not sure if you saw former UB Ice Hockey player and assistant coach Tunney Murchie at wrestling matches.

Some generic commitment quote with a pic of Long in a Hampton jersey, Cage in Hampton gear, and presumably the Hampton HC

Gotcha. Any jist of what it said? If true, we'll be losing our commitment from Quintin Cooper who was personally recruited out of DC by Cage. This is not ideal. Cage isn't necessarily a superstar coach, but he was the most passionate guy on the bench and his UB connection meant something. But there were times that myself and others noticed him looking frustrated with GH3 and everything. I'd understand him bailing on what may be a dead man walking staff and taking the opportunity to move closer to home. Wonder when they'd get around to making this public?

Well that stinks.

Alnutt & Co. have to go.

Alyssa Latham (Syracuse) transfers to Tennessee. How does this relate to UB? Well: Danny White is hired at UB, he hires Felisha Legette-Jack. Danny White leaves UB, (goes to UCF,) and is hired at Tennessee. Felisha Legette-Jack is hired at Syracuse and portals half our team to Syracuse over a year or so. Mark Alnutt hires Becky Burke, who had a brief stop at D2 Charleston where they played Glenville State, coached by Kim Caldwell. Burke grabs two Glenville State players (Stone and Winfield) as transfers in her first season at UB. With Burke leaving USC Upstate, one of her players (Harness) transfers to Marshall. The following year Caldwell is hired at Marshall. Now we’re in this off-season and Danny White fires the Tennessee coach and hires Caldwell. Burke signs her old player (Harness), who just played for Caldwell at Marshall, from the portal. And now Caldwell signs FLJ’s star freshman (Latham) to Tennessee. The Circle has been completed. Everybody has taken somebody and has had somebody taken from them.

I wonder if Becky Burke put in a good word for him.

Another player from Canada! Didn't get much playing time in two years at BC. BC just picked up Chad Venning from Bona.

Armani Mighty - 6'10" C from Boston College. Has a visit to Towson and the Buffalo on Monday

Well if he's an all league player next year, how many on here will continue to defend this 3 win leader? This guy can play. Plain and simple. So could Sy. Those guys were/are good. They were not put in a position to be successful this past season due to things that were out of their control. They were playing on a team that was losing to Robert's Wesleyan until a couple minutes left in the game. It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever witnessed as a UB fan, alumnus, former athlete and reasonably knowledgeable person when it comes to sports. It was indefensible if you actually watched the 40 minutes of that game live.

Nice feature articles on Lopez and KLW. I did not know Lopez was still on the Argentina U19 national team and will practice with the national team this summer. In the articles both players are committed to improving their game. KLW has to improve on her 12-18ft shooting. Teams played off late in the season packing the lane with true post presence now that shot will be there. Lopez weakness was her 3pt% and being sped up, not establishing pace. I'm sure they will be fun to watch in the fall. https://www.ubspectrum.com/article/2024/04/kirsten-lewis-williams-ub-womens-basketball?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_featured https://www.ubspectrum.com/article/2024/04/i-felt-like-this-had-to-be-my-place-paula-lopez-on-her-first-year-as-a-bull

That last line made me laugh more than it should have

My view is similar to you, I will be optimistic and hope for the best come November when we find out for sure what type of team we have. Right now I have the view that Batchelor will be an improvement over what we saw from Adams, Dunn will be an improvement as primary ballhandler, the returning players will be better than last year, the bench is deeper and they will play better team ball. We will see what they do with last two scholarships, but I believe the team will be better. That said I support those who are less optimistic than I am and have no problem with them expressing their view. I am glad that they care enough to stay interested and contribute.

Honestly, we have about as much knowledge of what the guys will do as if we had a bunch of 3 and 4 star recruits. Until everyone gets together and rotations are set you don’t know. EMU was going to be really good when 4 star went to EMU, they were a dumpster fire. Segu and Williams, arguably our best recruits ever, on paper, underperformed. Nate is now in the NBA so obviously talent wasn’t the problem. Nobody knows so I’m going to be optimistic until they give me a reason not to. We won 3 games last year, I don’t think I want those top 7 back for an encore.