Big 4 Hoops Blogger
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Posts posted by Big 4 Hoops Blogger
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1 hour ago, MuchMany said:
You seem very excited about Ohio. Good luck to you guys in the upcoming season.
I’m always excited about Ohio and Buffalo hoops. I think the Bobcats are a 20+ win, top 100 team heading into next season.
As for UB, I can’t wait to see how Halcovage does year one and how he rebuilds the Bulls program. I’ve always thought that both schools should be in the top five of the MAC on a yearly basis with Akron, Kent and Toledo.
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16 minutes ago, rma said:
Eh he used a phantom UB offer as leverage to get a bigger paycheck at his current school. I’m not rooting for him.
I have no issue with not rooting for him. I personally have no interest in where his career goes from here but do think he’s a decent head coach.
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16 minutes ago, trueblue32 said:
Sure, they retained one all-MAC player who like all of our remaining players can't transfer without having to sit out. AJ Brown is a good freshman they retained, I'll give them that. I'm not sure who else on their roster was worth throwing NIL money at
Sure he might turn out well. He also sat at Maryland behind Patrick Emilien (among others) who didn't have a future at Maryland and two years ago averaged 5.2 PPG on a 5 win WMU team.
I guess my point is $100,000 is a lot of money to be throwing at a roster that looks like the 3rd best roster on paper in the MAC, and they're not the only ones still looking to add.That’s fair. Obviously, I don’t know if the 100k number is true or how they choose to allocate their funds if that indeed is the case. We’ll just have to see how everything plays out.
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1 hour ago, rma said:
He would also need to be formally offered the UB job, too. Not just his agent saying that he was offered the job to get more money from YSU.
My prediction is that the better job never comes. We’ll see if I’m right or wrong.
Let’s not dismiss Calhoun now because he didn’t want to come to UB. He’s a solid coach and has done well at a program that’s very difficult to succeed at. Predicting the better job will never come sounds like wishing him a bad future.
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52 minutes ago, trueblue32 said:
Good for them if that's the case, but really this just says to me that NIL isn't even really worth worrying about that much if a mid-major scrounges up $100,000 and all it nets them is Shereef Mitchell and Ike Cornish.
What about roster retention? Ohio just kept their entire team in place and added two solid guards into the mix. They’re also likely to add another big man soon. Boals has mentioned that a big part of the job now is re-recruiting your own players at the end of every season due to the transfer portal. You better believe that NIL is just as important in that regard as it is to adding new talent.
And let’s not just downplay Cornish and Mitchell. Cornish in high school would’ve gone down as the highest ranked recruit in UB history. Just because it didn’t work out at Maryland doesn’t mean he’s not a solid transfer for a MAC program. We would be hyping him up a ton if he was coming to Buffalo.
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1 hour ago, trueblue32 said:
Eh they beat out Bonaventure, Grand Canyon, and George Mason for Cornish. They beat out Bradley, Nebraska Omaha, and North Texas for Mitchell. That's fine, Ohio is a good mid-major program, that doesn't scream spending big bucks to me. High major benchwarmers have to go somewhere if they're being squeezed out by mid-major up transfers. Unless they've announced NIL deals since committing I don't think this is what the differentiating factor is. Boals has been pretty open about being an old man yelling at a cloud since the NCAA tournament.
Fair point and you’re right that the list of schools involved weren’t tremendous. Ohio was in the running for talented Monmouth transfer Myles Foster (went to Illinois State) and is pursuing another former Top 200 recruit out of UCONN and Texas A&M. The point is that Boals is being aggressive. I didn’t want to post this because it’s unconfirmed but there was a rumor that Ohio’s collective has raised $100,000 for basketball. That’s not nothing if true…
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1 hour ago, rma said:
Yeah, Youngstown State is really up there when it comes to NIL collectives, facilities, and budget.
The reasoning was “why would he leave a job for another similar situation at UB when he can wait for something better?”
His contract ended up getting re-worked. Calhoun has also already had success with the portal at YSU which is an awful job.
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This is a quote on Bobcat Attack allegedly from Jeff Boals regarding the transfer portal while talking to fans at a caravan event:
Unsurprising insight from caravan event in Pickerington:
Players in the portal are driven by dollar signs. "And big men are more expensive than anyone else." -- Jeff Boals.I read somewhere that it was rumored Ohio had a decent chunk of change in their collective for basketball. They recently added a former 4-star Maryland transfer and 3-star Creighton transfer.
Pair that together with UB being relatively quiet on the portal front and it makes you think. Jerrod Calhoun was rumored to not be interested in the job once he heard about the Bulls NIL situation. I think this is going to play a bigger factor going forward than many posters on this board want to admit.
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5 hours ago, ukbro00 said:
As a UB donor, I would 100% much rather invest in facilities, transport, and player experiences (trips, food, equipment, etc.) than NIL.
I know the landscape nationally has changed a bit, but these NIL collectives end up hurting the schools. It is only a short term boost if they can get a better recruit, but the program doesn't have too many long-term benefits. For example, if a donor usually gives $500,000 a year to the basketball program, but is now persuaded to give that $500,000 to the NIL collective, the school eventually runs out of money for itself. The one expiration to this is if the program reaches new heights and gets into a better conference and/or sells exponentially more apparel or tickets.At the mid-major level, the exception isn't likely. Let's put money and resources into the school, into the program and find recruits that want to win basketball games, not get paid enough to drive around in a new sports car.
I don't think anyone is saying UB needs to pay basketball recruits $50,000+ to sign with our program but it is possible to get kids a few thousand bucks through a collective with a little bit of effort.
The priority should be on improving facilities and making the program sustainable for long term success first and foremost but it's clear that Buffalo can't just ignore NIL's.
There are other mid-majors securing four star recruits and high level transfers. If UB wants to be among the top mid-majors again, they'll have to play the same game as everyone else. Woj comments in the video that if you're not willing to do what it takes, you're gonna fall behind. He even mentions that Bona has to figure things out as well.
The collectives aren't just about bringing players in but they can also play a pivotal role in keeping players at your program. There are mid-major players with agents and family members shopping their services to power programs in season. Schools with collectives can sometimes find ways to convince players to stay.
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Didn't know where to post this but thought it was relevant to UB and recent conversations on our board regarding NIL collectives and facilities. Woj is absolutely correct. It sucks to admit as a mid-major program but a huge part of recruiting now is paying up and taking a year-to-year approach. Will be interesting to see how we fill out our roster.
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4 hours ago, DocCas86 said:
I agree Ohio will be good. However, I believe Dwight Wilson, and Devon Baker may have used up their eligibility. I could be wrong.
Dwight Wilson will be a big loss for them. He was the Bobcats best player last year and a force in the post. Baker turned it on late but should be replaceable.
Ohio might have the best collection of guards in the MAC next year and I wouldn't be surprised to see them utilize four guard lineups at times.
They return Jaylin Hunter, AJ Brown (former top 200 recruit), Elmore James, Miles Brown and just added Maryland transfer Ike Cornish (former 4-star, top 115 recruit) and Creighton transfer Shareef Mitchell (former 3-star, top 235 recruit).
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20 hours ago, Jeseph said:
Solid addition for Ohio. Looks like he might have two years of eligibility remaining since he only played in six games his junior year at Creighton.
Former Top 250 recruit and Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year. Will be interesting to see where he fits in with the Bobcats guard rotation that returns Hunter/James/AJ Brown/M. Brown. Can sometimes be difficult projecting P5 backups transferring to the mid-major level.
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I don't know how many of you actively use Twitter but I'm always posting about UB sports and the Bills/Sabres. You can find me at @Mike_Bundt
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I don't know how many of you actively use Twitter but I'm always posting about UB sports and the Bills/Sabres. You can find me at @Mike_Bundt
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Hey guys,
We're back for another episode of Talkin' Big 4 Hoops tonight. John Snyder and myself will be joined by Kevin Massare around 6:30ish. We'll have a link to the live show below. You can also watch the replay of the entire episode after the fact.
We have some juicy news regarding the latest rumors surrounding the UB coaching search and give our opinions on where things currently stand.
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Hey guys,
We're back for another episode of Talkin' Big 4 Hoops tonight. John Snyder and myself will be joined by Kevin Massare around 6:30ish. We'll have a link to the live show below. You can also watch the replay of the entire episode after the fact.
We have some juicy news regarding the latest rumors surrounding the UB coaching search and give our opinions on where things currently stand.
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4 hours ago, DooleyBull06 said:
He must really wanna play for Paulus, otherwise this is random and a step backwards.
He had a huge decline in minutes and production this year under Michael Lewis. Niagara will offer him an opportunity to start again and be a key contributor on an improving MAAC squad.
I like the fit for him on the Purple Eagles. He wasn't a great player in the MAC but should be decent in the MAAC.
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1 hour ago, DaBulls99 said:
That’s not a collective. It’s the department educating the kids about NIL.
Wouldn't this be how UB is trying to help their student athletes acquire NIL deals? They have a Built In Buffalo NIL student request form.
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3 hours ago, ub2019 said:
Interesting video. Does anyone know what UB’s collective/NIL looks like compared to the rest of the MAC and mid-majors?
I don't know if UB currently has one but Ohio launched their NIL program last May:
Here's an idea of how it operates:
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I recently gave my thoughts on UB firing Jim Whitesell on Trainwreck Sports. Fast forward to the 12:20 mark for our coaching discussion.
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31 minutes ago, promotherobot said:
Speaking of TBT, not to get off topic here, but what are the plans this year? Is Buffalo going to be a regional location? and if so, where will they play? Alumni or maybe at the Flickinger Center at ECC Downtown?
It appears that only three of their regional locations have been announced at this time (Wichita, Louisville, West Virginia). I know there was speculation about Buffalo in the past and would think that's a strong possibility given Blue Collar's recent string of success.
Around the MAC
in Buffalo Bulls Basketball
Posted · Edited by Big 4 Hoops Blogger
Javonte Brown was a player that had visited Syracuse, San Diego State and Ohio this offseason. Former UConn and Texas A&M player who was a Top 125 recruit in high school. Intriguing addition for Western Michigan.