sportscliche

I just watched the Bryan Hodgson presser at Arkansas State and I must admit he makes an impressive performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oVyXjRYW-g And has added longtime UB assistant Jamie Quarles to his staff: https://astateredwolves.com/news/2023/3/29/jamie-quarles-named-a-state-mens-basketball-assistant-coach.aspx Was also wondering if Hodgson was responsible for recruiting Jeenathan Williams?

Sure do appreciate how magical the 2017-2019 teams were. Not sure we'll ever get back there again, but it was great to experience it.

Exactly this. It's certain that the program's recent visits to the NCAA Tournament were a big component of the recruiting pitch. If there is a quick exit in Cleveland, some of the players (likely the guys posting their personal accolades on social media after losses) might get antsy and look at their options.

I'd expect several transfers out of the program as well. I heard that on average most D1 teams lose around 3. If the Bulls bounce out early in the MAC tournament you gotta figure at least that many will bail.

It's seems inconceivable that the pool of basketball analysts is so small that this woman is the best ESPN could come up with.

Gawd, what awful basketball. Hard to watch. What a shame that this program has fallen so far, so fast.

+2. I have long-term concerns: If chemistry on this team is as bad as it appears, how many of the underclassmen will still be here next season? How will the team's current performance affect recruiting? I'm probably overreacting. It just feels a little perilous at the moment.

Anyone recognize these guys? Oats, Hodgson, and Adam Bauman courtside before the start of the Alabama-Florida game in Gainesville. The Tide were unable to hold onto a 21-point first half lead and lost in double-overtime.

Weather prevented us from making our connection in Miami. No flights to the Bahamas available until Monday. American Airlines sent us home before the trip even started. We are very, very disappointed, but glad we are not stuck in an airport somewhere. 😞 Truth be told, this was shaping up to be an expensive trip. The hotels near the stadium are pricey and there are significant taxes and fees. We'll have to see if they will hit us with cancellation fees. This strikes me as a somewhat problematic venue for a bowl game, given the costs, logistics, and hit-or-miss weather. I'd imagine it's well off the radar for most students. No Ueber there and we understand the taxi drivers enjoy ripping off tourists. Will be interested to read experiences of others who were able to attend.

This is an excellent point. If this team stumbles through the MAC regular season, which seems likely, then manages to put together a miracle string of wins in Cleveland, which seems highly unlikely, then what? The seeding in the NCAAs will be ugly, setting them up for a possible thrashing on national television. I'm not sure I'd want to see that with the magic of the last season still fresh in my memory.

Penn is a real threat to win the Ivy League. This is not a disaster loss but, wow, not a good look out of the gate. Especially with all that talent in Tuscaloosa.

Even on the minimal pro basketball salary, he will enjoy a very high standard of living in Hungary. I found the people to be pretty friendly; a surprising amount of English spoken in Budapest.

I recognize a few faces here:

Talk about a high-achieving organization with a single point of failure. Unplug the key person (HC) and it all unravels pretty quickly. Really tragic considering all the time and energy that went into building it. Not sure what the solution is -- UB Is not the first and won't be the last -- except to caution about not getting too emotionally invested in events and circumstances over which you have absolutely no control. Looks like the new HC will have quite a project on his hands. Wonder if interest from the WNY community will fade during the rebuilding years ahead.

I pick up a real good vibe from Segu. He appears to be all about team. We sat behind the UB bench in Tulsa for the ASU game and — despite his non-existent minutes — was probably the biggest cheerleader, waving his arms trying to pump up the crowd. Team before personal glory — exactly the kind of player the departed coaching staff would have recruited.

Some perspective on what might be considered Alnutt's lack of urgency in making a hire: As of today, UCLA has not had an official head coach for 91 days. And counting.

I’m pretty sure you were in Tulsa, as were we. How many legitimate UB fans would you estimate were there? Legitimate = spectators wearing UB gear. My guess is around 500, give or take a hundred. A decent turnout I’d say, given the distance from WNY and travel logistics.

As a possible scenario for the future, take a look at current Akron coach John Groce. Started by working his way up as an assistant over a ~15 year span, then eventually landed his first HC position at MAC school Ohio U. In terms of post-season success at Ohio, Groce has done better than Oats at Buffalo. In his second season, the Bobcats upset Georgetown in the NCAAs as a 14-seed. In his fourth season, he took Ohio into the second weekend, ie. won two games and earned a spot in the Sweet 16. Lost to UNC in overtime. He was that season's hot mid-major coach and got poached by Illinois. In his 5 seasons in Champaign-Urbana, he made the NCAA field just once. After Illinois fired him, he came back to the MAC with Akron. Not saying the same will happen with Oats at UA, but it's representative of coaching trajectories in the mid-majors. When coaches build up a program to the point where it can compete with P5, they invariably leave for more money. The departed program will suffer a setback and revert to the mean. That's why there is so much parity in the MAC and the other mid-majors (exception being WCC and Gonzaga). It's self-limiting in the same way as pro sports, except the salary cap is implicit instead of a league rule. I hope you are right that Buffalo continues to move forward in spite of the coaching carousel, but I think it's unlikely.

A few thoughts... It makes complete sense financially. Worst case, Oats gets fired after a couple of seasons and still makes a generational fortune. Far more loot than even a lengthy stay at UB. So it’s the right thing to do if financial obligation to family is paramount. We all know there’s more to life than money. Especially when you have a ton of it. There are plenty of examples of insanely wealthy people who are thoroughly miserable. Will a family with roots in the upper Midwest adapt and be happy in the culture of the Deep South? It’s hard to imagine that transition will be seamless. And it’s gotta be so much harder with a young family. If things don’t work out on the court (historical precedence suggests that is more likely than not) and the endless social events with the Bama boosters become unbearable, will they draw sufficient contentment by checking their bank balance? I have heard it said many times that recruiting is — by far — the most important component of coaching at the D1 college level. Game management is important too, but it’s not nuclear physics. Hodgson has been on the bench at every game and I’d like to assume he’s been paying attention. He clearly knows how to recruit and must be connecting with the players. In my mind, he’s the first choice.

As Charley Chan once said: “When money talks, very few are hard of hearing.”

Don’t think so. We were standing at the tunnel and watched the players go in. Looked pretty subdued, sorta like they had just won a conference game that they were supposed to win.

As a member of the Blue and White club back in 2015, I was given verbal confirmation by the UB ticket office that I had tickets reserved for the 2015 NCAA tournament in Columbus, Ohio. Travel day approached, but my follow-up phonecalls and emails were not answered. They eventually balked on me as well as many others in a similar situation. I no longer bother with UB tickets. We've had pretty good success with StubHub.

I never quite understood why Greenberg is perceived as some sort of coaching genius. In 16 seasons at South Florida and then VA Tech, his teams managed to make exactly one NCAA tournament where they won exactly one game. I think he represents the “edgy” take in those pre-game and halftime rap sessions. Sorta throw out a contrary opinion just to make things interesting.

Me too

More than a little uncomfortable. The hyped-up teams have a nasty habit of flaming out in their first game. This makes for great TV, as all the networks drop what they're doing to zoom-in on the upset in progress. It's the under-hyped teams -- the ones that don't seem to get much attention -- that seem to win games.