Big 4 Hoops Blogger

I think the UB win over WKU is going to look much better at the end of the year than it did on Wednesday night.

Barstool was alerted to the video of Williams falling and getting an assist by Dean Wendel. Video now has 5 million views. At the end of the day, it’s crazy to see UB be involved in something that went viral. Seems like Williams is embracing it so good for everyone involved. Sorry for all of the posts!

It’s the good and bad of the internet. They saw our post, knew it was something they could get a lot of attention for and shared it as their own. One could argue that Bullet Points and UB athletic department should get credited. It’s a gray area with the internet. Normally, respected outlets will credit content that’s not their own while lesser outlets, blogs and personal accounts of non-public figures don’t. Obviously, Barstool wasn’t watching the game lol I do give them credit for their later video because someone probably alerted them to that after their original post. Once they tweeted that, they struck gold. Funny thing is, I was the one who originally shared the Brian Kelly “accent” video last week that went viral. I was lucky though because Twitter shows where videos originate from. Not so lucky with pictures.

Barstool was alerted to Connor Williams after being tagged in a quote tweet from a post the Bullet Points account originally made.

Postgame show live with Kevin Massare and myself right now:

This game was always going to be a toss-up but it's now shifting from one in which Buffalo had a slight advantage to one where WKU is now favored. Need Segu and Mballa to step up tonight!

I find this disappointing. I understand Buffalo is a very difficult market for UB to operate in but I was hoping there was an opportunity to take advantage of their dream 2018-19 season. I guess that wasn’t the case afterall. I still believe in schools creating their own opportunities but recognize the risk associated with that and the limitations UB has from being part of the SUNY system.

Thanks for the insight. That’s a perspective I’ve never really had anyone go into detail about before and I appreciate the deeper understanding of how they operate.

A successful athletics department doesn’t just run the programs at a school. The best are also great at raising money. Alnutt has been able to do that for football. The question is, was he successful at capitalizing off of basketball’s success following their Top 25 season? This is where Whitesell and all of this enters the equation. If he’s all that they could afford, that means they barely elevated themselves from a budget perspective following four NCAA Tournament seasons in 5 years which seems hard to believe. If that is the case, fine but then you’d have to question how they weren’t able to raise more money for basketball after increasing community interest. Truth is, we’ll have to wait and see what happens. Maybe, UB takes off again this year in MAC play and Whitesell brings them back or maybe they’ll flop and we’ll be saying “what if” but we’ll all be pointing to the day Whitesell was hired as the turning point of the program.

I’ve had specific sources talk to me about the subject so I’m confident there were alternative options. The fundraising part was obviously massive. The question is how hard UB actually pursued their options? Another question would be: Why did they go out and pay for a search firm that recommended coaches most likely demanding $500,000+ a year instead of hiring their internal candidate that they could’ve extended right away if that was truly the direction they wanted, could afford and would keep the team together? Like I said earlier, it is what it is. I don’t hate Whitesell and want him to be successful at UB. I understand the logic of why he was hired and what he brings to the table. I’m just explaining that both sides of the conversation have legitimate points and that hiring Whitesell wasn’t as simple as many have made it seem.

That’s fair. Didn’t think of it that way. Obviously, they were going to be more aggressive with Oats than anyone else. All of the candidates that the search firm recommended would’ve come with larger price tags than what Jim Whitesell ended up taking in my opinion.

I believe this part is incorrect. Nate Oats signed an extension with UB worth $831,000 per year. Jim Whitesell was hired shortly after and gets paid $361,000 per year according to his wiki page. Other articles mention a $300,000 base salary and up to $100,000 in annual additional compensation. Plus, UB had the buy-out money from Oats bolting from Alabama. I also know there was a group of boosters willing to donate a high sum to increase Oats extension beyond what it was reported at.

The UB program is still in a great spot and has the potential to be solid for years to come. Taking the long term approach could work out in their favor and make financial sense. But with that said, it still feels like the last few years have presented a missed opportunity. Fundraising and increasing their budget will be key if they ever want to be a “player” on a grander scale. Being a consistent top 100 team is a great goal for a MAC program but I think many on this board were hoping for more. Considering the apathy the Buffalo community has for UB athletics, the only real way the Bulls will ever generate consistent fan interest is by taking a step forward performance-wise on a yearly basis. It sucks but that’s the reality.

*Speaking on behalf of others* I think the frustration for many is that they heard Nate Oats “talk the talk” and are disappointed the athletic department didn’t follow suit, instead opting for the cheapest, safest option to keep their roster in place. Obviously, we understand why they went that route. Although extremely difficult, people have seen programs like Butler and Loyola elevate their brands in short time and in Butler’s situation, with multiple different coaches (mostly internal promotions) and were hoping UB would get an added boost beyond consistently being a top 100 team (which is easier said than done). in the past 15 years we’ve seen Davidson, George Mason, VCU, Loyola, Butler, St. Mary’s, San Diego State, Creighton, and Wichita State all elevate their programs to A10 level status or better. Whether realistic or not, I think many were hoping UB would develop into one of those type of programs with the athletic department deciding to be more aggressive and capitalizing off of winning NCAA Tournament games in back-to-back years. I think many were expecting to become a consistent top 75 team with special years elevating them to even higher levels.

Most likely at this point but there’s still some hope. If they can make the tournament this year, that could potentially be enough of a boost to help recruiting wise moving forward.

That last line is laughable. It used to be an honor to make a bowl game. Now, it's a holiday trip for any average team. I like the airtime it gives smaller programs but it's almost harder *not* to make a bowl game now than it is to go bowling.

One other point, the UB administration is not getting rid of Whitesell anytime soon so most of this talk is pointless. He's going to get another year regardless of what happens this season. The soonest I could see him feeling any pressure is following the 2022-23 season if they're below .500 with their inexperienced roster.

I think Jim Whitesell has had a disappointing tenure *so far* as UB head coach but still think he can fix the ship. What makes it incredibly hard to judge him is that he's off to one of the best starts by any coach in program history but replacing the best head coach Buffalo has ever had. So the question is, do we judge him based on UB's historical precedent (which he'd be doing great) or by where the program was when he took over? (obvious regression) Then you have to factor in that he took over a re-building roster but had two of their highest recruits of all-time. That's why opinions are all over the board. With what he inherited and the transfers he brought in, anything short of an NCAA Tournament appearance this year would have to be considered a disappointment based on his two predecessors instant success coaching the Bulls. They don't even need to be a high seed. Just get in and be somewhat competitive and that'll buy him good will with the fanbase. The worst case scenario is if they fail to make the MAC Finals and he's forced to deal with another rebuilding project next year. Then, the momentum from Oats will officially be gone and they'll need to figure things out.

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Appreciate it! We love breaking down their bigger games when we’re able to. Have an interesting poll for those who want to vote.

Kevin and I preview the St. Bonaventure game for Trainwreck Sports:

Hey guys, Kevin and I previewed the upcoming Buffalo/St. Bonaventure game for Bullet Points! Make sure to check it out and give your thoughts.

St. Bonaventure ranked 25th in Coaches Poll.

St. Bonaventure is a very good team and should win the Atlantic 10 but do have some legitimate concerns. Like Buffalo, they have a short bench and can be stagnant at times. They’ve already have two double-digit comebacks against Canisius and Clemson. They get off to slow starts far too often. They should be a tournament team no matter what but it’ll be interesting to see what they do against UConn and Virginia Tech.