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Hey, folks. I hope you don't mind hearing from a Northwest Missouri State University graduate here. I apologize in advance for the length. I bolded a couple of TL;DR passages. It doesn't sound like I need to spend a lot of time selling you on Ben McCollum; and truthfully, I probably couldn't bring myself to do it. Losing him (and I realize it will, at some point, become inevitable) is going to hurt. But this is what I wanted to say to you. If we are going to lose Ben, I feel strongly that THIS is the job. It's a perfect fit for him and the school. He never brought Division I talent to Maryville. But he helped develop one (Ryan Hawkins) into a guy who took his COVID year to help lead Creighton to the NCAA Tournament and another (Trevor Hudgins) who signed a two-way deal with the Houston Rockets. I never got the sense that he was even looking at how many stars a kid had. He wants kids capable of running his system. Toughness on defense. Good shooters on offense. And intelligent on both ends. I suspect ALL KINDS of those kids fall through the cracks on the east coast as schools hunt for the next freak athlete. I cannot promise you he would stay forever, but I know he stayed in Maryville longer than I ever thought he would. He turned over his entire starting lineup after between the first and second national championship. He didn't leave when all five starters were gone from the title team. He rebuilt and won another national championship two years later. COVID cost him one, but he picked up his third the following year. He lost Ryan Hawkins to Creighton after that one. That would have been another reason to leave. But he stayed. And won his fourth the following year before losing Trevor Hudgins to the Houston Rockets. He had to leave at that point. But he stayed. I know this guy, like all of us, is going to do what is right for his family. And that could mean taking a higher paying job at some point. But I genuinely believe that he is just as likely to decide that a healthy environment is more important for his family than a bigger paycheck. Thank you for indulging me. Good luck in your search.

Come on ADMA, let's wrap this thing up before the weekend. I'm getting a touch nervous that we didn't land McCollum on his visit. The stats and strategy discussion is exciting, but his philosophy is just as intriguing to me. He outright refuses to recruit "moody" players or "energy vampires" as he calls them. That would be quite a change for our roster (and fanbase 😂). From the fantastic 2021 profile of him in The Athletic:

Thanks both for the insight. Any chance we could get you to transfer in as fans if Coach McCollum ends up here? 😂

They aren't all like this, but this is a possession from the Final Four a couple of years ago. Every one of those guys can shoot the three (except number 4), but they pass up multiple shots to get a better one and the ball doesn't stop moving. And here is a shot chart during the 18-19 season, which is pretty typical of what we've seen over the last several years... hardly anything in that mid range area... lots of good shooters shooting 3s and shots around the basket.

The Bills are getting a new stadium. In the current stadium, there are four large video boards: 33.5 foot by 164 foot video board, installed in 2014 2x 33.5 foot by 60 foot video boards, also installed in 2014 14.5-foot by 191.5-foot video board, installed in 2007 As of now, the Bills video board is one of the oldest in the NFL. The Cowboys (2009), Washington (2010, new boards being installed now), Jets/Giants (2010), Titans (2012), and Texans (2012) are the only teams that have an older scoreboard. The 49ers, Eagles, and Cardinals also had their displays installed in 2014. By the time the new stadium is finished in 2026, the old stadium's video board will be 12 years old and likely obsolete by NFL standards. There has not been an announcement as to what the video boards will be in the new stadium, but it's likely they won't be the existing ones. The video board at UB Stadium is old enough to drive this fall, and is useful for seeing absolutely nothing. Attempting to watch a replay, which the 2007 video board was equipped to handle, is impossible and you would be better off pulling out your phone and watching ESPN+. The state of New York gave a private university $20 million for stadium renovations, but nothing for us. However the Bills stadium is set to be given to the State of New York once the new stadium is built. How can we get these old video boards to Amherst? Tripathi is on the Board of Directors for the Erie County Stadium Corporation (PDF). A rough render of what this would look like for the largest of the video boards. The shorter but longer one could be installed along one of the sidelines or in the 300's for out of town scores. The two smaller ones could be installed in the south end zone corners.

I would say a top flight DII coach is better then a low major head coach. Oats was a high school math teacher before UB... Area ties don't mean much. There like bonus points at the end of a test. I have no idea what your pont is about cancel culture.

Is it a joke that you end every post with “ Go Bulls! Let’s Go Buffalo,” because the dichotomy between that ending statement, and the negativity of every one of your posts is incredibly humorous. It’s stand-up comic worthy

Thank you for sharing. I am getting too far ahead on this, please forgive me, but the shot chart shows a philosophy that should be appealing to Jones / Blocker. as they were two of our better 3pt shooters this past season, so perhaps you are able to convince them to stay. MAC Regular Season 2022-23 If you add one or two more players to the mix who can shoot the 3 / plus implement a system that gets these players more open looks - our offensive efficiency should improve materially. Couple that with a more emphasis on defense - and I think you got makings of a very solid team.

They need to hire the Iona logistics guy, he was waiting in a limo at the airport with a contract in hand, had already pickup up the guy’s wife and kids, bought him a house and moved them in 6 hours after FDUs loss!

We’re just going to hire Whitesell again

Efficiency isn’t a scheme or a roster building strategy. Efficiency is the goal of all offensive schemes, McCollum just runs one of the best offenses in the country. It’s predicated on spacing the defense, this is done via “gravity”, making defenders stick to their man. They have to do this if they’re worried about you making a shot or cutting to get a shot when they help off. McCollum’s offenses largely force this via pick and pops off of ball screens, it’s not the only way to run offense, but it’s the way he runs his. Ball screens are a lot less dangerous if there is no pop threat, which Jack doesn’t present. He doesn’t have the skill to shoot or make a play off the bounce in a pop scenario. He does have good hands and finishes pretty well and he has a strong motor on the offensive glass. I’m not saying he’s a bad player but he just doesn’t really fit the mold of what McCollum does. I’ll also say playing a big man out of fear of the opposing team’s big man was a microcosm of what drove me nuts about Whitesell. Some coaches force mismatches and will make you match up with them. Other coaches will acquiesce and match up with the opponent. I felt Whitesell fell in category #2. I feel McCollum is in category #1. Oats was in category #1. Famously he saw DeAndre Ayton and Dusan Ristic and met that with Jeremy Harris (as opposed to leaning on more two big lineups with Perkins/McRae/Smart) who cooked them offensively. Then on the defensive end he schemed to help Harris with Clark/Jordan/Caruthers cheating off their men to help over the top on entry passes and dig down when Ayton put the ball on the floor.

If the coach is McCollum then I see Jack becoming a MONSTER player in that system.

If Ben ends up coaching the Bulls, I will for sure become a fan and follow the team. I doubt I make it to very many games though. 🤣 He's taken the NW program to heights that I don't think any of us could have imagined in our wildest of wild dreams, so he deserves the chance to move on and prove himself at the next level... I will definitely be rooting for that success to continue when and wherever that may be.

I think if he comes here and restarts our winning tradition, this place will be all candy and rainbows. But even my rose-colored vision would really, really like to see this search wrapped up so we can actually start dreaming on what's to come.

If Coach McCollum is Mr Positivity, he better not hang out with this group 😂🤣

Most likely the Associate HC at North Texas will get the gig. Will be a huge push locally for that, but anything can happen for sure.

Could easily be a bit of both. Coach A wants time with fam, and School wants time for coach B. The sky isn't necessarily falling.

If you make the jump from DII I think you just have to grow interesting facial hair and take on the gritty "average joe" persona to make it work.

I did my Cohen breakdown a week or so a go. Not sure if want to scroll back.😂

Here is comparison to Oats UB 2018-19; Oats Alabama (2022-23) and UB (2022-23) The percent of 3pt attempts to total is about the same for Oats and NW Mo St. NW Mo St has even fewer far 2s than Oats. Maybe at D1 level you have to attempt a few more Far 2's as you have more size down low than at D2.

I don’t need him in Buffalo I just want it announced. It’s disgusting that this department still doesn’t make decisions based on my personal desires 😡

Man I am glad I did not know about JW getting fired for 10 days. Glad that 9-9 in MAC play will get you fired now a days. Really, there was talent it just underperformed for the last 4 years. The names we are hearing seem to be good. The big fear is we will get someone from left field that is no where near as impressive on paper as the names we have seen. I am fine if the silly blue color shirts go away, I just want to see the hustle come back, too often the D looked disinterested…. ready to turn the page, just want to see who’s name is o. The next page…

I live in Maryville, MO, home of Northwest Missouri State University. I see the questions, so I thought I'd give a little insight on what you will see offensively if Ben becomes your next coach. They don't play fast, but they play efficient. NWMSU has led or been near the top of all levels of college basketball in offensive efficiency the last several years... points per possession. You will see a lot of player and ball movement, ball screens, and some isolations when there are mismatches. NWMSU's scoring has typically come from getting to the basket and/or making 3s... you don't see a lot of mid range shots taken. They will take the break off of a turnover or a long rebound if it's there, but they don't really attempt to push the ball off of made baskets. You will probably never see a guy come down the court and immediately pull up off the dribble, but that doesn't mean his teams are always trying to run clock... they'll take an early shot if it's a good shot. He doesn't want players turning down shots or penetration when its available. I've always been kind of a push the ball guy... play fast, but NW plays with some of the prettiest unselfish ball movement that makes it just as fun to watch. He's had exceptional point guards that can score and control the pace during his time in Maryville, so that will probably be a key for him to make happen wherever he lands. On the defensive end, his teams always guard hard... the intensity and intelligence that his teams play defense with is exceptional. We hate to lose him, but it is inevitable that we will... you're getting a good one if he ends up as your coach.

Worked well for LL. about 10x his salary in 6 years? Not bad.

Hiring a D2 guy, even one with his record, looks bad to some observers. Like hiring the winningest D3 football coach.

This. We've seen what good a fast pace is when you don't have the personnel capable of carrying it out for a full 40 minutes or a coaching staff incapable of keeping a team disciplined in that system. By all means if Nate Oats comes walking back through the door let's keep doing it but i've soured on the idea of keeping that the identity regardless of the HC.

Yep, know that feeling. https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2019-01-22-20-northern-illinois.html

It isn’t the same there are a lot more Division I basketball schools over 300 than Division I football schools over 100. Ben McCollum isn’t that young he is middle aged. John Beilein had connections here and plus Canisius College was in no position to be picky with the low money they were offering. This UB candidate Ben McCollum is more a Canisius College replacing Reggie Witherspoon candidate than a UB candidate. But UB spends like Canisius College so here we are. John Beilein also had Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and no NIL or transfer portals to deal with. UB spending $500,000 only to hire potentially a Division II basketball coach with no area ties and no understanding of the UB program is concerning. Nate Oats started as a assistant to Bobby Hurley so he had a understanding of the workings of a Division I UB Bulls basketball program so it isn’t the same. UB Bulls basketball went from the top of the mountain in the lowly MAC basketball to begging Division II coaches wonderful what could go wrong? UB is taking all the risk on the potential Ben McCollum hire I say no if it was my choice which it isn’t. The Ben McCullom is just a wreck less potential hire because of cancel culture around UB and some of the UB Donors anything but Alabama basketball insanity you don’t run a winning big time Division I basketball program like that. But what do I know I was only in Division I college basketball with the Canisius Golden Griffins in my opinion. UB Horns Up! Go Bulls! Let’s Go Buffalo