ButlerAlumDad

You obviously have no idea of travel costs. Airplanes, charter busses, hotel costs, travel with tutors, etc. Fans traveling down the street or even down the I-90 is different than fans traveling to Illinois or Iowa or Cinci.

What is not understood is you have to be invited to the party and 1 good year in the entire basketball history of the school doesn't get an invitation. Will UB fans be willing to park 3 miles away and bus to games in the middle of winter like at Syracuse? Even Fordham. Other than to tournament games do UB fans travel and occupy arena space? Does UB have the budget to fly teams to away games? The MAC is a bus & truck and fits UB's athletic budget. Buffalo is not a medium or large media market. It is a small market.

He also took O'Field and Graham who decommitted from UB when Hurley left

Evans was the big name. I felt he was wrongly trashed on the message boards for leaving. How did it work out? Here is an ASU quote... SHANNON’S CAREER IN NUMBERS: Shannon Evans II closed his Sun Devil career as one of the best two-year players in Sun Devil history. He joined James Harden, Jahii Carson and Bobby Lazor as 1,000-point (1,023) Sun Devil two-year scorers, and is the top free throw shooter in Sun Devil history, making 222-of-263 (.844). Among two-year Sun Devils also finished in top-10 in scoring average (15.7/eighth), field goals (317/ninth), free throws made (222/sixth), and assists (256/sixth). His 95 three-pointers made and 256 three-pointers attempted in 2017-18 both ended fourth on the ASU single-season three-point charts.

here's last years overall link: the new report will be issued around May 1 after all seasons conclude. this is overall not specific for tournament teams... (As a member of the press, I receive releases marked Embargoed until XXXX)

NCAA publishes them privately and they are allowed to be released., There's a reason I wasn't specific as to where they ranked. I believe FLJ has quoted the placement for the women. UB men has used the excuse for the poor graduation stats because of JUCO and transfers out of the program.

sorry my sarcasm didn't come thru. I believe he's academically eligible. Could he stay eligible? on the men's side (bottom 10% GPA in the NCAA Tournament)? Yes, on the women's side (top 10% GPA in the NCAA Tournament)? No! If he's in WNY his mom will keep on top of him about grades as will his aunt!. I'm certain of that.

on the men's team. His only recent offer is Detroit. He still holds a few others I believe.

Then someone needs to keep John Orogun (2020) in contact. Too bad they pulled the offer for Joe Jones (Greg Oden's brother).Sad to say, though UB finished for the 1st time as a top 25 team, its nowhere near a top 25 program.

A good coach recognizes skill sets. Recruiting services are surprised he has no offers. As he never has played as a true 3 development is necessary. He has the defensive skills, drive and desire. Yes, coaches have talked about stashing him away at prep to learn positions. Doesn't Mack have a brother on UB Football though nowhere near the NFL stars skill levels? Watching him go up against highly recruited players and then earning MVP made him low-mid major worthy IMO. I also think his family got talked into the wrong AAU program. He was at RAP. If he played for CR, Castle or RENS he would have been noticed. Same for the local kids on CGE. At least Rice offered Julien. Ebuka has no D1 offers yet either though lots of interest.

Not so much this year. Geographically it fits. Butler can recruit against all schools though they are selective in fitting a system and shy away from 1 and done. There is also an unwritten policy, "no visit, no offer". The don't over recruit... "Creaning". They are last in the Big East in recruiting budget and still don't have a practice facility. UB according to coach JW & coach? BH were really counting on Hastings signing to be a Bull not a Bulldog. What I found different until Cleveland was the Butler team is a family. For the 1st time I saw "Family Team Unity" among the parents at UB though it was on the women's side. At Butler we as parents traveled together, socialized, and 15 years later still are in touch. Teammates still are going to weddings, etc. and Brad Stevens is now organizing the get togethers for the team members that played for him. He took over after Joel Cornette's untimely passing.

Maybe the new coach will look at him though he would need to change from a 5 to a 2/3 or small 4. He held Louisville's 5 star recruit totally in check and outplayed him when COH defeated Lawrence Woodmere last weekend. He has a few D2 offers, no D1s. Lots of upside IMO if a strong coach can tame his temper.

Hawkins just announced he will be announcing at 9pm CT tonight on his instagram account. Up until Wednesday he only had 2 offers, UB & Arkansas. Wednesday afternoon he received an offer from Alabama.

Sorry, forgot to list Rob as local though I believe UB would be a stepping stone for him. All one needs to do is look up state salaries here and compare with state schools with big time programs. No NYS employee has a 7 figure salary.

disagree!!! With knowledge! It was during Arklepane's tenure.

I'm not Bucky! I'm the parent of a former high-major D1 participant and a current highly recruited 3 sport female who elected not to continue sports at the next level. I was also a member of UBAAC (University of Buffalo Athletic Advisory Council) transitioning the school back into D1 and considered a major donor to UB. Last year the men's team had the 3rd lowest GPA in the NCAA tournament field. This year's numbers haven't been released. On the other hand, the women were in the top 10% GPA of tournament teams.

What the fans want and what the school and SUNY may want are 2 different things. UB is maintaining the minimum number of sports to qualify for D1. http://www.buffalo.edu/ubnow/stories/2017/04/UB-sports-reduction.html. Without a huge donor gift including the field house, football was on the way out that would have forced UB to leave the MAC. Alumni Arena is a poor facility for big time hoops though better than every other school in the area. It was built as a multi-purpose building.

There is an old expression... "The real power hides behind the throne". "Wild Oats" was the frontman screaming, yelling and "F" bombing his players on the court. Whitesell was calm and collected calming them down and strategizing. Hodgson kept up the encouragement. After Marshall left I believe UB lost the bench ability to develop the players without the 2 years of JUCO or post grad prep experience. I'll give him 2-3x as long as "Spoon" lasted at Alabama meaning in 3 years he'll be back at a low mid-major. Oats is not Bruce Pearl or Brad Stevens. I sadly witnessed Todd Licklitter leave my son's squad at Butler after tournament success including a sweet 16 taking a few assistants with him to Iowa (including the current Butler HC LaVall Jordan and current AHC Jeff Meyer. The "Butler Way" didn't work there and they were out in 3 years whereas Butler continued their winning ways after the promotion of an assistant coach including consecutive Final Fours and transformation from the Horizon league to the A-10 and now to the Big East.

If UB wants long term i.e. "Spoon" then you need where local ties are strong i.e.: Battle, McDonald, Jacob, Nwora, and assistants like Gamble

Rob is indeed active on the recruiting trail. He is often in this area and signed talent Bryan could not. i.e. Davonte Gaines 6'7" SF Health Sciences. At the moment I waiting to see what John Orogun will do. He's the 6'11 C UB offered as a Sophomore while at Park.

Sites rarely update once a player makes a commitment. For many that are great juniors due to peaking early you don't get a true picture later on. Gordon Haywood was a **

he was 3.5 and made almost no real impact on the court. not a game changer

Who? Noah Williams is a ***, Glover **, Tujaute Williams **, Grant **, Thomas **, Agee **, Hawkins ***. All according to Mike Liebert Verbal Commits.

UB with JUCO players had enough experience to deal with MAC players. UB doesn't get 4star talent out of high school, and not too many 3 stars either unless they go the JUCO route. Also, the Pacers were hot on CJM. I have a personal opinion that his leaving as well as a possible BH departure was not as recent as it seems. Marshall stopped calling recruits he was after a few weeks before his departure was announced.

Don't downplay the rest of the staff and their roles. Did UB do anything unique? IMO individuals were allowed to play "playground" ball. It worked with this group. JW strategized the defense and again IMO was the bench coach. "Wild Oats" was the screamer.