Big 4 Hoops Blogger

If Kentucky is willing to pay his MASSIVE buyout, I think Oats would bolt to Kentucky in a second. It's a true blue blood with unlimited resources and a ton of history. Perfect timing coming off a Final Four appearance. Could get interesting soon.

Looking back, it's clear that Adam Cohen and Ben McCollum were really good candidates. Calhoun... Who knows the real story with him... My UB sources now seem to indicate he wasn't really part of the discussion despite a few Twitter accounts throwing his name out last year.

What I can say is that I'm of the belief Buffalo thought they had a really good chance to land Cohen when they originally let go of Jim Whitesell and that something happened that they either didn't anticipate or he changed course after gathering more information.

Tahj Staveskie averaged 10.5 ppg, 4.5 assists and 4 rebounds per game as a freshman at Canisius and was a big reason the Griffs were picked to finish 3rd in the MAAC preseason poll. He only played in two games last year due to an injury. The rumor is that he either didn't rehab it properly or something happened that prevented him from returning. The injury was not supposed to be season ending so it either worsened or he chose to sit out games as some Canisius fans speculate. On the surface, he would be a quality transfer for UB and would probably instantly slot in as their starting point guard.

Zxavier Long is more of a hustle guy. 7 ppg and 6 rebounds as a sophomore but missed all of last year. Would be a decent add if healthy.

These aren't the type of guys UB would've targeted in the past with Oats but wouldn't be bad pickups considering where the program currently is. It's hard to get experienced transfers right now with our NIL situation. Gotta take what you can get! 

(Don't know if the rumors of them being interested in UB are true or false)

59 minutes ago, TheCommish said:

they constructed the best team they could afford. We have zero NIL. How will they build the roster without going the HS route and hoping for the best.

The high school route was their strategy last offseason. They've been actively pursuing transfers since the portal opened. The NIL situation is getting addressed as well.

These are all reasons why I said recently that I have some optimism about their program heading into the future despite what happened this past season.

1 hour ago, MuchMany said:

We're adding four HS seniors and a sophomore and losing a senior and four juniors as it stands. Two open spots remain. Not sure I'm seeing any evidence of the strategy you describe.

There's a difference between what they want to do and what they're actually able to do. They know their roster wasn't properly constructed this past season.

38 minutes ago, UBinMD said:

Understand that, but that buyout could have been bigger and they also should have spent on a better candidate. We were in a position to actually start at a plateau point and then advance forward. JW offered some stability and likely preservation of the roster, but it basically caused us to stay at that plateau without moving up. I also am not talking about BH, I am talking about a competent HC with a winning history where UB would have been a step up and then he could have advanced to that next level.

It didn't happen, so here we are.

Yea, you're absolutely right. I'm not sure Oats would've signed an extension with a much larger buyout though when that could've been a deterrent from other schools pursuing him.

The buyout money definitely should've been used for going after a bigger coaching candidate though.

Have heard that Halcovage has gone into this offseason with a slightly different team building mentality. He arrived at UB last year with the intention of building the program through young players and development. I think he's aware that he needs more veterans on this team. Whether or not he'll be successful in convincing experienced players to transfer to UB is another story.

13 hours ago, UBinMD said:

Guaranteed the feeling isn’t mutual. ADMA really messed up that buyout. Should have set us up to hire a $1 million coach. 

To be fair, Oats signed that extension fully aware that he was likely leaving in the near future. He was doing the athletic department a favor with the buyout but UB chose to promote a cheaper internal candidate rather than spend big money on an up and coming outsider.

Had a quick little interview with Pete Lembo following practice today.

1 hour ago, TheCommish said:

How’s the NIL collective coming along?

The recent talk was that they were close to establishing one but were undecided about going public about it.

37 minutes ago, UBinMD said:

Unless the P5 teams think it’s a problem, it won’t change. If they do, it will change but it will be geared to benefit them the most 

There's several leaders within P5 programs that think some of these issues need to be addressed as well. The biggest problem is that the NCAA is powerless. They tried to force 2nd time transfers to sit out a year but that was struck down in court.

I don't think the majority of the P5 schools care about the money aspect but I do believe there's some anger about the unlimited transfers and players attempting to use NIL against in ways that are detrimental to their own schools.

I went in-depth regarding some of the unintended consequences of NIL and the transfer portal and why it's absolutely vital that both be regulated in the near future. I also discuss why that's easier said than done with the NCAA being essentially powerless to do anything at the current moment. Let me know your thoughts!

Here's a video I made with an in-depth breakdown of the consequences of NIL and the transfer portal and why they need to be addressed by the NCAA.

Joe Manhertz has resigned as the St. Bonaventure athletic director after botching the handling of the Bonnies preemptively turning down a potential NIT bid. He never told their players until they found out watching ESPN. Manhertz later told students he didn't realize their fanbase cared so much about the NIT. Donors were pissed and people demanded he be fired. He was gone within a week.

Goes to show the difference between UB and Bona. Their AD was essentially forced to resign two years into his tenure because of extreme disgust over a potential NIT bid while Buffalo fans have been calling for Mark Alnutt's job for a few years now and it's not even a realistic possibility.

I'm not calling for anyone's job but it's just another example of how the money determines everything. Bona's donors got upset and Manhertz leaves within a week. Buffalo's donors and administration are apathetic regarding UB athletics and things remain with the status quo as a result.

45 minutes ago, DaBulls99 said:

Can we lock this thread unless it actually pertains to us? Feel free to go to their board if you want to oogle over BH. He’s not our coach. Time we move on. 

Seriously? People are enjoying this thread and posting because it's an interesting topic. Hodgson is a former UB assistant and many of the things he's doing at Arkansas State apply to what we believe should be happening at Buffalo.

17 minutes ago, Tee4three said:

Hot take: UB shouldn't try to overly catch up in regards to NIL (need to get something going though) because NIL and mid major basketball is more like a bubble that will fizzle out

They NEED to be ready for profit sharing and the potential to have student athletes as "employees". They should throw more resources into this to be able to hit the ground running. Which in my opinion will be a much bigger advantage than NIL is and ever will be 

I have some bad news for you if this is what you want...

The magic is about to run out for Arkansas State. They're down 15 in the 2nd half against James Madison.

Arkansas State survives a late Appalachian State rally to advance to the Sun Belt Championship, winning on a buzzer beater.

Arkansas State has a 39-29 lead at halftime over a top-seeded Appalachian State team that has defeated Auburn and James Madison this year. They’re getting it done on both sides of the court. We’ll see if they can hold on in the 2nd half.

Arkansas State destroyed Louisiana in the quarterfinals. They battle Appalachian State in the Sun Belt semifinals tonight at 6. 

On 3/5/2024 at 1:29 PM, trueblue32 said:

Agree with this and I also would imagine that the NIL deals people are hearing of in the first couple years are likely to the be the high end that gets offered at any point. If Akron supporters are paying $100k a piece to Ali and Freeman, are they seeing $100k in return for whatever business venture is paying them that? Akron reported an attendance of 2331 last game, and I'm supposed to believe those two are appropriately valued at a combined $200k? How many years of payments like that do Akron boosters want to make out of the goodness of their heart? Is the answer 0 if they don't make the tournament this year?

I do believe UB needs to get more organized on the NIL front, but I don't see any MAC school regularly posting a 6 figure salary cap. I think there's still a lot of settling to be done in the college landscape, with NIL and the portal being new, and kids still with extra years of eligibility from COVID. I don't think college sports will really ever go back to what it was but I feel like this is an NIL bubble that's about to pop, at least for mid-majors.

Recently found out some interesting information. Without going into details, I think UB is aware of what needs to be done to get their program back on track.

1 hour ago, everlast2504 said:

My downplaying wasn't so much as we don't need it. But more of we don't need a lot of money to compete. We don't need millions to compete with the top athletes because we aren't going to get them anyways. I feel the public looks at the top deals and thinks all deals are somewhere in that realm. When the reality is that at the top the money may be millions, but on average NIL deals are well well under 10k. That's if there is any NIL deal. 

A UB collective could probably have a fund well under $1 million and still be highly competitive nationally. Recruiting goes hand in hand with this too. UB needs to be self aware that we are still going after mid major talent, with the off chance of getting an under the radar player. Maybe pick off a P5 bench player who will want to get more playing time and maybe a little more money, or even a little less money. 

 

I agree with all of this. It honestly doesn't take a crazy amount of money to make it work at the mid-major level. Just need to compete with your peers in the MAC. Was shocked to hear Akron and Kent State don't have collectives in place.