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Bryan Hodgson


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1 hour ago, MuchMany said:

Resources plus hard work is a highly effective combination from my experience. They're not always mutually exclusive.

How is #8 Kenpom Alabama not ranked atm? 

6 losses will do that to you (granted all against good opponents but no wins against top opponents either until last night) 

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14 hours ago, UBinMD said:

He just threw his team under the bus on X for their poor FT shooting so there is that… 

The convo has been about Oats. But I don't necessarily hate Hodgson calling his team out on X. Sometimes you come to your wit's end in private and have to make an example. Only those in the building know if it's the right button to push.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Currently has Arkansas State at 162 in KenPom as compared to 349 for GHIII and the Bulls. Bulls finished last year at 211 while Arkansas State finished at 287. Hodgson’s recruiting appears not to have missed a beat either.

https://247sports.com/player/rchaun-king-46128951/

https://247sports.com/Recruitment/josh-hill-158020/RecruitInterests/

ADMA severed all ties to the greatest era in Bulls basketball history! Hodgson is a local kid from Jamestown who is a die hard Bills fan. His story of rising through adversity of the foster care system is amazing. 

Edited by Chet
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42 minutes ago, Chet said:

Currently has Arkansas State at 162 in KenPom as compared to 349 for GHIII and the Bulls. Bulls finished last year at 211 while Arkansas State finished at 287. Hodgson’s recruiting appears not to have missed a beat either.

https://247sports.com/player/rchaun-king-46128951/

https://247sports.com/Recruitment/josh-hill-158020/RecruitInterests/

ADMA severed all ties to the greatest era in Bulls basketball history! Hodgson is a local kid from Jamestown who is a die hard Bills fan. His story of rising through adversity of the foster care system is amazing. 

Would you hire back a person to your company who when they left, while still your employee, was seen promoting a competitor?  That is what Hogdson did.  I would not rehire that person.

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10 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

Would you hire back a person to your company who when they left, while still your employee, was seen promoting a competitor?  That is what Hogdson did.  I would not rehire that person.

I mean.....looking at the results?  I would.

 

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Frankly at the time of hiring I wanted a head coach with more experience on their resume than Hodgson, but then we whiffed on all of those guys. We just ended up with the inexperienced coach with no connection to UB instead. Now I'd take Hodgson in a heartbeat lol

Edited by trueblue32
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I actually watched some of Arkansas at this past weekend because I saw his team moving up in the rankings and was curious

What I found was his teams looked a lot like what we watched the last couple years here at UB. The individual talent is there, but disorganized and chaotic 

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If we are putting out opinions out for hindsight - my pick would have been someone like Ben McCollum.  I think rather than hiring an assistant coach, I would prefer a head coach who has had a track record of success that is looking to move to next level.

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11 minutes ago, DocCas86 said:

If we are putting out opinions out for hindsight - my pick would have been someone like Ben McCollum.  I think rather than hiring an assistant coach, I would prefer a head coach who has had a track record of success that is looking to move to next level.

McCollum was my choice as well. I never considered Hodgson realistic, but I see the appeal especially in hindsight. Also thought Cohen was ideal.

Instead we got the worst of all worlds, no HC experience, no local connections. I've also been wondering about GH's only experience coming from a small Catholic school. I think there's been some culture shock for both him and the players.

Edited by MuchMany
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4 hours ago, MuchMany said:

McCollum was my choice as well. I never considered Hodgson realistic, but I see the appeal especially in hindsight. Also thought Cohen was ideal.

Instead we got the worst of all worlds, no HC experience, no local connections. I've also been wondering about GH's only experience coming from a small Catholic school. I think there's been some culture shock for both him and the players.

So as I look at BGSU vs UB for this year, here is what I see:

A seasoned coach in Simon who had success turning around Southern Utah vs an long time assistant and a different approach to constructing the team for this season.   Simon went with more veteran players, while Halcovage, (intentional or otherwise) went with a freshman heavy approach.   It is not surprising to me that the outcome is what it is - BG ranked around 200 vs UB ... well we all know.  I was pushing for more transfer portal guys last summer so that this current season could have been more respectable.  He did pursue Gordon and Panzo, both shooting close to 35% from 3, and would both have improved the team offensively.  In all likelihood, Halcovage gets another shot next season - I know there is little faith at the moment, but let's see what he comes up with over the summer.

 

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18 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

Would you hire back a person to your company who when they left, while still your employee, was seen promoting a competitor?  That is what Hogdson did.  I would not rehire that person.

I have first hand knowledge from multiple people involved with the UB program that Hodgson was told he wasn't getting the head coaching job prior to him leaving with Oats. He told them he was going to Alabama if he didn't get the position. The fuss people have made over this is about semantics and a lack of information of things already known inside the program.

Edited by Big 4 Hoops Blogger
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Potentially better results in year one doesn't mean its a better hire for the program.

I am still of the opinion that Hodgson should not have been hired.  And his performance at Arkansas State hasn't swayed my position.   We have known he is a strong recruiter.  That is why Oats felt it was so important to take him to Alabama on the private jet while he was still employed by Buffalo and have him talk with the players and recruits while in Tuscalusa.  He has brought in talent to his new team but his team doesn't play well, just as @Tee4three has said.  He has not shown he can coach and has spent hardly any time in his career coaching.  He has always been a recruiter.  We need a coach because we aren't going to be able to land and keep high level players in the program in the NIL era without looking the other way to behavior issues.  

The risk was too great with Hodgson.  

Did we end up with the right coach?  We won't know for some time.  It's possible the ship gets turned around but its also possible we missed and didn't get the right hire.

Missing on a hire doesn't mean that Hodgson was the right hire.  It just means he was one of many candidates that wasn't right for the job.

Like @DocCas86said, someone like Ben McCollum is what the program needs.  Someone who can coach the game really well, get the most out of their players, and also can convince players that though they have offers from programs at a higher level they should play for him.  None of those qualities Hodgson has shown except for landing players with offers to other programs.

 

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19 hours ago, Chet said:

Currently has Arkansas State at 162 in KenPom as compared to 349 for GHIII and the Bulls. Bulls finished last year at 211 while Arkansas State finished at 287. Hodgson’s recruiting appears not to have missed a beat either.

https://247sports.com/player/rchaun-king-46128951/

https://247sports.com/Recruitment/josh-hill-158020/RecruitInterests/

ADMA severed all ties to the greatest era in Bulls basketball history! Hodgson is a local kid from Jamestown who is a die hard Bills fan. His story of rising through adversity of the foster care system is amazing. 

Hodgson is doing exactly what many of us thought he would. Recruit at a high level and hope it all comes together. It's been shaky but you can see the improvement overall at Arkansas State. We won't know for a while if it's sustainable or will work long term there.

Given his ties to Buffalo, he probably would've had similar results here to what he's currently having down at Arkansas State. That program has very little history and he's already attracting four star recruits.

I was fine with Cohen, McCollum or Calhoun during this latest search. Hodgson was my top target but UB never considered him. Alnutt and others inside the UB program think he's immature, reckless and a poor "face of the program." He's not known for the X's and O's and there's been stories about other things behind the scenes while he was at UB.

Those are the reasons he was never considered. That said, I know UB was aiming for someone with a higher pedigree than George Halcovage III. I hope GHIII can turn things around but know for a fact he wasn't at the top of their list at the beginning.

Edited by Big 4 Hoops Blogger
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41 minutes ago, Big 4 Hoops Blogger said:

I have first hand knowledge from multiple people involved with the UB program that Hodgson was told he wasn't getting the head coaching job prior to him leaving with Oats. He told them he was going to Alabama if he didn't get the position. The fuss people have made over this is about semantics and a lack of information of things already known inside the program.

You mean in the time between Oats sitting in the athletic department staff meeting and then when the meeting ended immediately putting in his resignation before heading to the airport?  That is when Hodgson had the sit down to talk about his prospect of taking over Buffalo and learned he wasn't going to get the job?  All before he joined Oats at the airport?

I think you're off here.  

Why else would Hodgson have told recruits not to come to Buffalo if he doesn't get the job if he didn't believe he was going to get the job?

Buffalo was blindsided by Oats' departure.  There wasn't time to discuss the succession planning.  You're mistaken and it always seems you're errors end up making Hodgson look better.   Curious... when was the last time you communicated with Hodgson?

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9 minutes ago, dutchcountry7 said:

You mean in the time between Oats sitting in the athletic department staff meeting and then when the meeting ended immediately putting in his resignation before heading to the airport?  That is when Hodgson had the sit down to talk about his prospect of taking over Buffalo and learned he wasn't going to get the job?  All before he joined Oats at the airport?

I think you're off here.  

Why else would Hodgson have told recruits not to come to Buffalo if he doesn't get the job if he didn't believe he was going to get the job?

Buffalo was blindsided by Oats' departure.  There wasn't time to discuss the succession planning.  You're mistaken and it always seems you're errors end up making Hodgson look better.   Curious... when was the last time you communicated with Hodgson?

I have never had communication with Hodgson in my life outside of the TBT media interviews a few years ago. I have sources that have personally told me UB wasn't blindsided by Nate Oats' departure so I guess we'll just have to disagree considering my sources dealt firsthand with the men's basketball program.

Edited by Big 4 Hoops Blogger
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I just stated FACTS about what I know. The KenPom and recruiting rankings are what they are. Hodgson is very much trending upwards and GHIII not so much. 

For those who claimed to have detailed knowledge of what Hodgson did or didn’t do when leaving for Bama….good for you. People make mistakes….get over it. He’s is still a relatively young man and if what some of you stated he did is true, I’d imagine he’d want a mulligan. I ran into Hodgson at the airport b4 the hire and Hodgson told me that he was very interested in coming back to UB. This is a relationship business and the fact that ADMA severed the relationship with the Oats years is poor judgement IMO. The FACT is that we cut ties to the greatest era in Bulls basketball history for GHIII and that decision appears to be an absolute joke. 

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2 minutes ago, Chet said:

I just stated FACTS about what I know. The KenPom and recruiting rankings are what they are. Hodgson is very much trending upwards and GHIII not so much. 

For those who claimed to have detailed knowledge of what Hodgson did or didn’t do when leaving for Bama….good for you. People make mistakes….get over it. He’s is still a relatively young man and if what some of you stated he did is true, I’d imagine he’d want a mulligan. I ran into Hodgson at the airport b4 the hire and Hodgson told me that he was very interested in coming back to UB. This is a relationship business and the fact that ADMA severed the relationship with the Oats years is poor judgement IMO. The FACT is that we cut ties to the greatest era in Bulls basketball history for GHIII and that decision appears to be an absolute joke. 

Very well said!

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36 minutes ago, Big 4 Hoops Blogger said:

I have first hand knowledge from multiple people involved with the UB program that Hodgson was told he wasn't getting the head coaching job prior to him leaving with Oats. He told them he was going to Alabama if he didn't get the position. The fuss people have made over this is about semantics and a lack of information of things already known inside the program.

Cancel culture stuff. 

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Considering the fact that Halcovage was our 4th or 5th preference, I've been wondering if this season isn't more the product of the larger program at UB and the shape that Whitesell left it in. Why else would so many seemingly interested and qualified candidates turn us down?

My guess is two things: our non-participation in NIL (which Alnutt, Whitesell, and Mo should have started three years ago) and the condition of the roster moving forward. It may have felt like being set up to fail for guys looking at their own career prospects.

Remember: there's a reason so many people wanted JW gone. The rosters were getting worse, the in-game coaching was bad, no energy. Things were bad and it felt like they were going to get worse. Now we're dealing with the leftovers of his mediocre guys and a random collection of last-minute freshmen. Of course it's worse. 

Without the resources to compete for certain prospects and left with a roster comprised of misfit holdovers and zero incoming recruits, what exactly was the appeal? Basketball isn't like football where you can scheme your way out of things and hide a lack of talent across 100 guys. It's about 12 guys making shots in the end, Jimmys and Joes etc. The cupboard here was essentially bare.

And the coaching this year has been horrific too. It's not to excuse that. I'm just trying to understand how we got to this point. I wrote the most scathing preview of this season out of anyone, predicting 6-12 MAC, but even that didn't go far enough.

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14 minutes ago, RapidsFan said:

Is it really this, or are these just weasel words because you thought Whitesell was too old and you can't bring yourself to say it

What's it matter the reason for the lack of energy?

Did you think he, his staff, or his teams showed enough energy? 

Edited by MuchMany
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