RecoveringHillbilly

I live in the Niagara Region and it's been trending this way for a while. No students on campuses this Fall, so most of the universities will not stage sports until early 2021 at the earliest. My wife is starting an M.A. program at Waterloo and it will be virtual. The USports aren't huge but it stinks for the players. Oceane Kounkou transferred home to play for Carleton U. but since WBB games are in the Fall/Winter, she will only get a delayed season. Canadian opinions of US/overseas travellers are low due to fear of increased numbers, so the borders are staying tight. I worked in Buffalo and crossed the Peace Bridge daily up until March 16th, haven't been back to the US and worked remotely since then, as I'd have to quarantine for 14 days coming back into Ontario. Doug Ford is opening areas in stages so it looks a lot like Cuomo's strategy. But it won't change the virtual college classes/no sports decisions. My step-son chose to go to UB this fall (engineering) and we are waiting to see how much of his program will be virtual, vs him commuting to North Campus for lab work.

At minimum, it would take $3Mil to even make the move, even if we gave the MAC long-term notice. Witchita St had to pay out $2.5 Mil to join the AAC. Marshall paid out $400k to leave the MAC for CUSA. Though, Temple had to pay $6 per their affiliate deal to leave MAC football.

https://ubbulls.com/news/2020/6/15/general-ub-athletics-puts-phased-plan-in-place-to-welcome-student-athletes-back-to-campus.aspx

Campus opening up for Fall http://www.buffalo.edu/president/from-the-president/communications/campus-fall-planning.html

Usually, the Buffalo Business First articles on UB are informative and totally accurate...not quite this time around. At least Alnutt gave some good information many of us have pondered. I figured the past sports cuts and our subsequent revenue boosts from championships, NCAA wins, and bowls, led to our department budget increases. Plus we do not have the enrolment issues the likes of which the Akron's and BGSU's face(d), requiring them to take on debt for campus improvements. Hopefully the conference's cost cuts are enough and stage 3 openings in WNY this week mean at least our area is treading safely. Cuomo said that some summer youth sports can begin July 6th with guidelines. Hopefully we get our money games (along with at least 1 win!), we can safely space fans in UB stadium, provide concessions in a safe way, and the high demand for live tv events (as we have seen in some recent events) means advertising revenue will still flow toward our media partners.

3 Star and a top TE in PA so says Rivals.com. From Blue Mountain HS in PA. A big boy at 6"5" 250, also plays Defensive End, baseball and track. Offers from 'a slew of CAA teams, other FCS, Army and BGSU.

One things for sure, we are getting back at Dartmouth for our sorry performance L at their hands in MBB... Williams the 3rd commit who had an offer from them too 👍

247sports Good size at 6'5", similar offers to Trevor Borland from the 2020 class. 28 catches and 6 TD's last season, and a 3 sport athlete.

The staff was teasing on twitter that a big body was coming in, here he is. Another 3 star with a name befitting Buffalo! 247 link

https://twitter.com/UBAthletics/status/1268199802036195329?s=09

Absolutely feasting on skill position commits! The staff is kicking up the team speed up a notch.

Huge! Having lived in Georgia in my youth I love when we can get some recruits out of a talent-rich state. Najja Johnson showed us even GA walk-ons can become a key player if they work hard. Jibrahn has the talent and work ethic..fingers crossed he stays 110% committed.

Great, more love from a big publication and now multiple outlets and betting sites picking us as the best in the MAC! 4th at QB is an amazing change after huge ?'s after last spring. 12th at WR/TE???...., boo...no worse than 10th. Nunn alone should be 2nd team All-MAC, and with Lefevbre's growth and Molinich/Bourassa blowing up LB's, we have deep TE's. 1st at LB is very cool, better than I can foresee. James P. and Kadofi Wright will be there but Athlon must have a 2 deep figured out. Special team just has to be top half of the league too, or we may have more close calls and deflating loses than expected.

An article from none other than Sully on Finegan's story and progress, from our flagship local station Channel 4: https://www.wivb.com/sports/university-at-buffalo-bulls/ub-punter-finegan-still-upbeat-after-his-crazy-year/

Based on his highlights you may be right. He has great hands and they may like him for returns and the short passing game, like Ron Cook was used last season. With all the RB's ahead of him returns could be his niche. We should be building singular, stronger special teams units and letting the RB's and DB's focus on their main roles.

A late addition for 2020, RB/CB Tahliq Battle from Christ the King HS in Queens. Big time recruits from there where we have several other offers. He has to develop at 5'7"180, only offers from us and Morgan St. A track kid so the staff must like his speed.

BN reporting the Big 4 schools will not yet open for athletes on June 1st. Worth the delay to see how WNY proceeds with Phase 2 reopening. SEC schools can open for athletes June 8th.

3-Star Recruit per ESPN and Rivals Rivals

Great commit! A perfect fit for 2021. It feels a bit like Will Regan, who we loved but went elsewhere. He could have a similar impact on the program as Regan's return produced, a key piece to an NCAA bid. His Coastal highlights show a little CJ in him, with his confidence from 3 and unorthodox shooting style from deep, but it works...no fix needed. If he is even 75% of what CJ brought, I'll take it.

Great news! We had to break out of the 2021 verbal schneid eventually, with too many other MAC schools having their own. They must see that relatives become stars here.

CFL draft starting now, Jack-Kurdyla slated as a high pick, waiting to see if he is in the top 3 picks as projected!

A few other sites pick BGSU, but Lunardi has largest audience, so good. Not to be outdone, ESPN's women's bracketology had Ohio in, with UB women among the next 8 teams out. FLJ still has national mojo.

And the point of these BN articles is "What if?". The reality was, we certainly were not well equipped, as you well know better than most having been there at that period. My point was choosing D3 over a higher level left fewer engaged than an alternative choice, though it is true some football was better than no football. There are examples of programs playing a year of only practices before playing, so that was my thought on how 1AA by '78 could work. And if they aligned with Yankee schools it may have brought a lot more interest. In much the way announcing The Run to D-1 and the season ticket push to satisfy MAC football requirements in the 90s, brought out fresh support.

Good insight from the former student athletes. But unfortunately choosing D3 left too few engaged alumni. The article seems to point to 1-A football, but 1-AA would have been more likely for us, having been established in 1978. We could have joined the Yankee Conference with UConn, UMass, Maine, BU, UNH, URI. After that we could have joined the MAC when Akron came on board in '92, better prepared for FBS. Or who knows, a full move up of programs to D-1 in the 80's and football success and a Big East invite in 1991..one can dream.

Another high-level FCS grad transfer, Brendan Pyne (LB) from Brown, was a walk-on at Colorado this Fall but transferred to a scholarship year with us. Younger brother is at Notre Dame, nice athletic blood lines too.