Big 4 Hoops Blogger

Great information, unfortunately 247 is missing a few things. Ohio signed a 247 3-star, Top-250 player earlier this year, AJ Clayton. He reclassified from 2022 to 21' and was getting looks from all of the big Ohio schools despite being from the middle of nowhere. https://247sports.com/player/aj-clayton-46102825/ The transfer portal also plays a big role in this and it's often hard to quantify a newcomer's value. Take for instance, Jason Carter from Xavier to Ohio. He was a star in the MAC but an average contributor at Xavier. What will he be like back on the Bobcats? One last tidbit after not seeing this mentioned anywhere, Ohio also added a Rivals Top-150 (#135) verbal for 2022 in Aidan Hadaway who chose the Bobcats over Georgia. Right now, it appears to be a two-way recruiting battle in the MAC between UB and OU. https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2022/aidan-hadaway-276103 Neither has a distinct advantage over the other as long as Boals and Whitesell remain.

You have the right to that opinion but I also have many connections to the program as well and know multiple people that have admitted multiple times to me that the coaching search was botched from the beginning. Maybe Hodgson wasn’t ready for the job at that moment but I can promise you they didn’t enter their coaching search thinking Jim Whitesell would be their guy. All of that said, I’m fine with Jim Whitesell leading the way and excited about the future of the program.

Also, there’s more to the story about how everything went down with Hodgson when Oats bolted for Alabama. He wanted the UB job but was basically told he wasn’t being considered so he did what the majority of assistants do, followed Oats to Bama. He shouldn’t of made it known that he was already contributing to Bama when he was still technically on the UB staff but everyone involved in the situation knew what was happening. This board knows my preference was for UB to hire Hodgson. Whitesell is alright but I believe UB would be just as good as they are now with Hodgson as head coach. Everyone questioning how Hodgson would do during in-game situations forgets how weak UB has been in crucial moments in late game situations the past few years so I don’t think there’s definitive proof that Whitesell is necessarily better in those situations. We don’t know how it would be with Hodgson because we’ve never had the opportunity to watch how he would handle it.

Hodgson isn’t coaching Blue Collar U because he had other Alabama obligations that he needed to figure out and he didn’t know if he would be able to attend their first game in Columbus. That’s why he handed off coaching duties. Hodgson was originally listed as their head coach and is leading the way in practice. He was also responsible in recruiting everyone to join Blue Collar U.

Obviously you guys know I'm biased given my attachment to Ohio and Buffalo but I don't see that being the case. I thought BOTH the Bobcats and Bulls were the favorites going into the offseason and still believe that. Look at Mark Sears numbers when Jason Preston missed games due to Covid protocols last year. He's going to be a force. Averaged 8.5 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds in 19 minutes per game for the season and averaged 14 points, 7.5 assists and 5 rebounds in five starts. Sears is a more than capable starter and will be on an All-MAC team within a few years. Losing Preston is definitely a HUGE loss for OU but more-so from a depth perspective. Both teams should be co-favorites. Especially with the Bobcats returning Dwight Wilison, Ben Vander Plas and Jason Carter transferring back from Xavier. UB is probably the most talented team in the MAC but they need to put it all together under Whitesell. Last years tourney run was encouraging but they haven't had a complete season since Nate Oats left.

Hey guys, It's an exciting time to be a UB fan with their season tipping off tonight against Dartmouth. Despite all their new faces, I think it's safe to say that the majority of us are pumped about the talent on their roster and what they could develop into moving forward. As most of you already know, I created a bunch of content for 'From the 300 Level' last year. I enjoyed it but decided to move on to Bullet Points. We have a bunch of connections and want to become a go-to source for UB athletics. I published my Bulls season preview earlier this morning: 2019 UB Bulls season preview I encourage you guys to check it out. It includes our Bullet Points season preview podcast, a one-on-one interview with Jim Whitesell and my in-depth breakdown of the UB roster and their expectations for this season. Enjoy!

They're a much better team than what the preseason prognosticators predicted. Losing Kirk was addition by subtraction. Jordan Dartis is back and finally healthy. Preston and Vander Plas will be solid for the Bobcats as well. Imo, they're not a threat to win the MAC East but a team you can't take for granted any given night. Jeff Boals (Ohio alumnus) is an up and coming coach and recruited two top-250 players (Ben Roderick, Marvin Price) within a month of getting hired. Give him a few years and the Bobcats will be one of the top threats to UB in the conference. But for now, it's the Bulls conference to lose.

I think it's pretty safe to say he'll get his waiver approved. Hardnett's former coach at Cincinnati bolted for UCLA. We're dealing with technicalities right now. It probably hasn't been formally approved but I'm guessing it'll only be a matter of time. However, I don't have any inside information regarding this. I do trust Kevin with his sources though.

He just updated his instagram profile picture with him wearing a UB jersey so that definitely seems like a strong possibility.

I’d probably recheck your information on Ohio commit Ben Roderick. 247 has him as their 167th best prospect in the country (composite rankings) and the 5th best player in Ohio. He was getting looked at by Xavier, Butler and Ohio State but didn’t receive any offers from them. He’s listed as a 3 star recruit who’s coming off a season in which he averaged 27.5 points per game in Columbus on his way to being named the Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year. 247 Recruiting Rankings Then they have him listed at 222nd in the nation on his recruiting page. https://247sports.com/Player/Ben-Roderick-46038554/ That’s two top 250 players committing to the Bobcats in a pair of days. There’s quality players available. Buffalo needs to go find them.

I doubt it'll be a 3-4 year rebuild for for the Bobcats. Boals is already bringing talented recruits into Athens for campus visits. They'll most likely have a down year once again next year but shouldn't be in the cellar for too long. There's a ton of talent in Ohio and Boals is hitting the Columbus area hard. They should return to normal within 2-3 years.

This is how I choose to look at it. Buffalo's search was far from pretty and most likely didn't go according to their original plan but ended up yielding the best possible result for their program in the short term. I was in favor of the continuity route. That's why I originally vouched for Bryan Hodgson. I thought he could preserve their recruiting class and keep their roster intact. It looks like Whitesell has done a great job with their current players, we'll see if he can get any of their signees to reaffirm their commitments to Buffalo. I think everything will work out for the Bulls program. That said, let's not believe everything they preached during Monday's press conference. Alnutt was definitely looking for a bigger fish in the sea. He didn't suddenly have an epiphany and decide to go with Whitesell. There's more to this than what's been discussed but it would be stupid for UB to reveal any of that information.

I'm with you on that. The hope is that Whitesell can convince them to stay because they want to be part of the program, which certainly seems possible.

This is spot on analysis. Texas Tech forward Tariq Owens was originally an Ohio University signee under Jim Christian. Owens wanted out when Christian bolted for Boston College. The Bobcats didn't immediately release him and were given some grief as a result, ultimately letting him go shortly later.

That's completely fine. You're entitled to your opinion. I will add that I've never spoken to Bryan Hodgson once in my life. I did believe hiring him was the right choice but I also thought they had a great list of finalists if the names reported were accurate. I think Dane Fife, Luke Murray and Rob Lanier all could've turned out well. In fact, I think Jim Whitesell will do just fine. My column is focused more on how the search was botched, not who they actually hired.

First off, I want to let you all know that I believe Jim Whitesell is a great basketball mind and has a tremendous opportunity in front of him. He has previous D1 coaching experience and will be prepared for the challenges he's about to encounter at Buffalo. My article is focused on Buffalo's "botched" search. From what I know, things did not go according to plan. We can all debate about what that means for the future of their program but we need to acknowledge, this was far from a smooth process that went as poorly as possibly. That reflects on Alnutt, not Whitesell. He might not be the man I expected for the job but he should be given every opportunity by the fanbase to prove himself. It all starts now with trying to fill their five open scholarships. LINK: Buffalo conducts uninspiring search, hiring Jim Whitesell

First off, I want to let you all know that I believe Jim Whitesell is a great basketball mind and has a tremendous opportunity in front of him. He has previous D1 coaching experience and will be prepared for the challenges he's about to encounter at Buffalo. My article is focused on Buffalo's "botched" search. From what I know, things did not go according to plan. We can all debate about what that means for the future of their program but we need to acknowledge, this was far from a smooth process that went as poorly as possibly. That reflects on Alnutt, not Whitesell. He might not be the man I expected for the job but he should be given every opportunity by the fanbase to prove himself. It all starts now with trying to fill their five open scholarships. LINK: Buffalo conducts uninspiring search, hiring Jim Whitesell

There's a massive difference and I've covered both teams. The Mastodons have some of the worst resources in the country. Despite that, their current coach Jon Coffman has gone 95-66 during his five years there, getting a former 4 star transfer from Purdue (Bryson Scott) and has developed John Konchar into one of the top mid-major players in the country and has taken them to the NIT once and CIT three times. Buffalo is much better in every aspect of building a program. Dane Fife is very highly regarded in Indiana with many believing he'll one day be a head coach at a P5 program. He did very well establishing Fort Wayne as a D1 program. Tony Jasick turned them into a winner and John Coffman has turned them a consistent winner. Fife would be a very good hire for the Bulls. That said, the best thing on his resume is serving as an assistant coach at Michigan State.

Hey guys, I didn't think I would be back so soon but the big Nate Oats news broke and I had to write down my thoughts. My column includes my reaction to Oats heading to Alabama and why I believe Bryan Hodgson needs to be named Buffalo's next head coach. LINK: Oats bolts for Alabama, Buffalo should target Bryan Hodgson

As many have already suggested, I believe Buffalo should hire Bryan Hodgson as their next head coach. LINK: Oats bolts for Alabama, Buffalo should target Bryan Hodgson

LINK: Big 4 Update: Madness comes to a close for the UB Bulls Guys, It was an incredible ride for the UB Bulls this season, one in which fans will be talking about for a long time. I had a great time covering Buffalo and the rest of the Big 4 throughout the winter. I recap their year and what's ahead for UB in 2019-20 in my final Big 4 Update of the season. Thanks for being receptive of my column and checking out my content throughout the year. I had a lot of fun doing this and look forward to continuing the blog next fall.

LINK: Big 4 Basketball Update: Buffalo earns six seed, awaits Arizona State/St. John’s winner The Bulls deserved a five seed but in the end, it won't make much of a difference. I would almost rather them be a six taking on Arizona State/St. John's than be a five taking on Murray State. Ja Morant is the real deal and I'm glad UB avoided him.

LINK: Big 4 Update: Buffalo will be fine despite being under-seeded I'll say this once to get it off my chest, Buffalo was under-seeded. There's no debate about it! But, none of that matters now. The Bulls have a favorable first round matchup regardless of who wins the Arizona State/St. John's matchup. I am worried about Texas Tech in the second round. They're a very talented, defensive oriented team. I detail the upcoming NCAA Tournament and more in my weekly Big 4 Update.

Despite what Lunardi says, I believe Buffalo HAS to be a 5-seed. There's NO WAY they can be worse than a six. If so, that would be highway robbery. Here's the link to my story with comments from Nate Oats with his thoughts. LINK: Nate Oats pleads Buffalo’s case heading into Selection Sunday

LINK: Nate Oats pleads Buffalo’s case heading into Selection Sunday Nate Oats comments on where the Bulls should be seeded in the NCAA Tournament. LINK: Sights and sounds from the Bulls MAC Championship victory