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SUNY has been waiving a lot more application fees recently, including a blanket waiver* for a couple of weeks in 2023. That's probably what's increasing that number. I had no interest in the other university centers but a free application might have changed my backup plans. SUNY schools were the only schools I actually paid an application fee for, so I only applied to the two I visited. Despite the UAlbany campus' attractive prison aesthetics, they got some of my hard earned money. *Waiver is only for New York residents which is quite a decision since New York has a 3.8x the number of reasons to attract out of state students here. Maybe eventually those in charge will open their eyes and decide to change course. 🤷‍♂️

From looking at the charts, the applications and admissions recently have risen. The yield rate (percent of admissions who actually go on to attend) has fallen. One possible interpretation is that there has been a spike in interest from qualified/superior students who normally wouldn’t have considered UB, and in fact ultimately decide not to attend UB. Just because the admission rate is up, doesn’t necessarily mean that UB is getting less selective. UB’s admissions rate may be rising because more qualified students are bothering to apply to UB…a cohort, which beforehand wouldn’t have applied. The drop in the percent of applicants (and admitted and attending) who provide SAT scores camouflages what is really happening.

I don't have any info as to how the coach search went behind the scenes, but if Alnutt's coaching target list didn't appropriately factor in the money requirements, that's just as much a failure as him not having a list at all. You or I could put together a list of pipe dream basketball coaching candidates as much as anyone could - it's his job and his staff's job to understand realistically how much money UB needs in its athletics coffers to pay that person's (and their assistants', etc) salary. If Alnutt and staff completely misjudged the cost of a basketball coaching staff in 2023, that's just as much an indictment as anything else with the search, in my opinion.

https://www.buffalo.edu/provost/oia/facts-publications/factbook/student/applications-admitted-and-enrolled.html Note that I'm referring to less selective in terms of acceptance rate, which isn't a 100% comprehensive view of selectivity. The incoming freshman class in 2022 actually had higher submitted SAT/ACT scores than the 2013 incoming freshman class, but the percent submitting those scores went from 84% in 2013 to 33% in 2022 so there's a bit of selection bias there which makes it an inaccurate comparison.

Jumping in on the convo you’re having with @BasketBull…wasn’t Halcovage something like our fifth option? After this coach and that coach used us or declined us? So while I don’t think firing Whitesell was the wrong move, I definitely think Alnutt overestimated UB basketball. He was selling the UB glory days of Hurley/Oats meanwhile it was clear we lost that luster and no one wanted the job. In saying all this I realize that Alnutt is not a good salesman. Which is a vital role of an AD.

How is this a "rebuilding" year? What does that mean? I keep reading this on here. Every year is a "rebuilding" year now that everyone transfers out after each year. It's not a "rebuilding" year, it's a winless year to date. It's not as if we can look at the freshman and think that they'll be all-mac 2-3 years from now. It's incredibly unlikely that any of them will be here 2-3 years from now, at least not in the current ncaa model. Even if they are here, this is a winless team right now. That is incredibly hard to stomach. The bench suited up 10 guys the other day, and 2 guys didn't get into the game, including one of their top 5 players. That's not a good sign for the remainder of the season.