McBulls

Just found this while checking up on him- like to follow up any former recruits who are in the portal: https://mobile.twitter.com/AlamoCityHoops1/status/1124402355292790785

https://mobile.twitter.com/okonscoutnews/status/1124805741762744321

https://mobile.twitter.com/WisBBYearbook/status/1124103651390369792 Big time get! Two huge pick ups so far from a Whitesell! He may take a while to pack on muscle, but man is he skilled and long!!!

Arizona is already at 14 signed players for next year. Not sure how they have room for him.

Really hope we land him. Think he would start for us all year and really gives us an athletic big who could rebound, defend, run pick and roll sets with and has pretty polished post moves.

https://mobile.twitter.com/scottybscout/status/1121236361636458496

https://mobile.twitter.com/scottybscout/status/1120021817182134272

Looking at the JUCOs with ties to Buffalo: Reese, Hamlet ranked well. James Jones was third team all-American. Rojas and Allen top 10 ranking. McKinzie with high major interest. Even Sean Miller Moore with some high major interest. No shortage of talent associated with this program of late.

Agreed. Would love to land these two to shore up our front court for next year and the future. Combo forward (Agee or Rojas, for example). Athletic wing guard. PG or combo, preferably an incoming freshman to develop behind Jordan/Segu.

Who knows- lots of very strong offers, internet says Marquette getting involved. But I agree- would feel much better about our big man concerns with these two. Think he and White would be great gets.

https://mobile.twitter.com/WisBBYearbook/status/1119652538108739585 https://247sports.com/Player/David-Skogman-46058779/ I guess this staff was hard at work after all.

Would be a great get. Proven production though at a slightly lower level. More back to the basket and pick and roll. Seems very athletic. Not sure how his skill is facing up/shooting from outside, and unclear how he would be potentially switching matchups on the perimeter as we tended to do this year. But certainly would be a great way to fill a need and go a long way towards shoring up a the roster to compete for a MAC crown again.

Interesting takes: https://watchstadium.com/news/breaking-down-college-basketball-coaching-hires-best-worst-hire-biggest-surprise-04-19-2019/ Last section re: search firms. Same firm we hired to represent us also retained by Georgia St., the landing place of Rob Lanier. COI, no? Estimated cost: $75k.

Our search wasn't the disaster that St. John's is in the midst of, but I would argue it was poorly executed. We hired an internal candidate after a significant delay. Our recruiting class bailed during this transition- aside from Andre Allen, the decisions were announced deliberately, well into the search. A more decisive move to ensure continuity (Whitesell or He Who Won't Be Named) may have prevented some of the defections. Our coaching hire was announced on the Saturday of the Final Four. The press conference was Monday. This prevented any appreciable networking/interviewing of assistant coaches at the prime event for such wheeling and dealing each year. As such, we are still down an assistant coach, and just hired our second. It also prevented us from regaining any recruiting momentum (hired during a dead period). Lastly, we wasted resources hiring a search firm only to select an internal candidate. This, alone, is damning. IMO, the decision (internal vs. external) needed to have been made months prior. Oats was walking- we all listened to "Gonzaga of the East" but he always added "leave for stupid money." Stupid money was surely coming this off-season. ADMA was not prepared. Love that Whitesell has the support of our returning players. I will accept the supposition that he is a superior basketball mind to Hodgson. Time will tell if he was the right selection. But the coaching search was poorly executed and cost us precious momentum, even if he ultimately proves to be the right man for the job.

Not releasing from a LOI and asking recruit to wait several additional days to speak with new coach first are very different things.

Granted.

Happy with the hire. Irate with the process. The optics of this make UB look amateur. If you were sold on Whitesell, why involve a search firm and make a big deal about casting a wide net? You had him here for four years. His support from the players didn’t magically increase over the past 10 days. Even if, as DC suggests, ADMA did his due diligence and had an epiphany, that initial hesitation may ultimately cost us an entire recruiting class. Outside candidates who applied can’t be happy with the process, and likely feel as though they wasted their time and energy in interviewing. And peering from above this certainly looks like we settled for an internal candidate after being rebuffed by the outside options. One would think this weakens Whitesell in finding assistant coaches and in re-recruiting our own players and recommits as opposed to naming him decisively from the outset. Ultimately I like the hire and will support Whitesell. I still have hope we’ll maintain the core, find some bugs, and compete for a MAC title next year. I have lost all confidence in Mark Alnutt, however, and feel embarassed by the entire process as an alum (x2). Unless we hear of mitigating factors I think that MA’s job should be in jeopardy over his handling of the past two weeks.

All true. But lack of experience (not just Hodgson) shouldn’t entirely disqualify a candidate. Nate Oats only head coaching experience was at the high school level. Hurley had never been a head coach prior to his stop here. Further, having experience doesn’t mean that the coach is necessarily good at game management. Whitesell had a losing record every year at Loyola in the MVC. Lanier was fired after four disappointing years at Siena. I’ll leave my thoughts on Fife alone, as we’ll have to agree to disagree on the success of his tenure as a head man. I guess I’m just saying I think that prior HC experience is simply one variable to consider, and I don’t think it is the most important one. Xavier: Skip Prosser- Mack, total experience before taking over: one HC season. Butler: Barry Collier through Brad Stevens: no prior HC experience. Gonzaga: Monson and Few- no prior experience. Either way, I’m sure once I hear the name and our new coach says all the right things at the press conference I’ll come around.

BB, usually I agree with your thoughts. Every coaching search is a bit different, however. In this case, all administration had to do was aim for continuity. There was nothing broken about the current trajectory of Buffalo basketball. Our roster, even assuming Hawkins selecting Alabama, was loaded for next season again. Gonzaga, Xavier, and Butler weren't built through intermittent rebuilds. IMO, Alnutt should have known months ago: Whitesell or Hodgson, Hodgson or Whitesell. Take your pick. Salvage the talent you have in place, continue winning, continue attracting recruits to Buffalo. Our commits, save Allen, seem to have been ok waiting for a coach to be named... to a point. We've surpassed that, and lost an entire recruiting class in the interim. We've had a candidate seemingly (who knows if this is spin or truth) pass given the tempo of our search. https://twitter.com/BillyWilliford/status/1114300249345089536 But if you read the comments below, it worries me to see Larry Regan (Will's father) describe this search as a "dumpster fire." He usually is an avid UB supporter. I think this is an AD trying to make his name/mark on the program instead of making the simple but less sexy move. I would gladly be mistaken, but I fear we'll look back in two years just as Akron does now wondering, "where did our dynasty go?"

No respect despite doing a good job? What constitutes a bad job at NIU? Going winless? That “attack” was mild- imagine the vitriol if he delivers Montgomery-esque results in Buffalo.

That exchange is absurd for an assistant coach and possible Bulls candidate to engage in. I can’t imagine why he would even be lurking unless he thinks he may be our guy. How exactly does he think this will play regardless of where he winds up coaching? Hi- I’m Dane Fife. I quit my last mid major job because it was too hard to win at. I’m back at a P5 school, my comfort zone. Buffalo and other mid majors should settle for mediocrity because of the available resources. When we of Blue Blood heritage stoop to grace you with our coaching wisdom, you should be thankful for .500, if you’re so lucky. Oh, and by the way, I’ll engage fans in twitter throw downs- and not with relevant facts, but to make fun of the number of followers they have.

Agree. I’ve defended Oats decision to leave, and I don’t expect (nor want) anything for the fans beyond his published comments. But to not address the players? C’mon, Nate.

https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/sports/columnists/graham-couch/2016/02/13/couch-column-dane-fife-msu-indiana/80338014/ I think I like Murray, but would ultimately be happy with a number if the options mentioned. Especially if we get at least a litttle continuity (would Whitesell stay?) A few funny lines from Fife about his gig at IPFW. He describes losing a recruit... to nobody. As in kids would rather not play college basketball than go to to IPFW.

Agreed. Take a look at coaching trees of even the titans of college basketball- most have one really impressive name and a series of mediocre disciples. Also agree that coaching is more than X’s and O’s. Maybe Oats wasn’t the brains, as some suggested, but his overall system worked and he must have had some strengths. Sign me up for another guy who doesn’t do X’s and O’s but wins 32 games next year.