‘23-‘24 Roster

[Ubbullsfan09]

59 minutes ago, DooleyBull06 said:

 

I actually went to the same high school as Slaughter, he dominated the Monsignor Martin in Buffalo his senior season. Him transferring is definitely a move to get more playing time. I’m happy for him because he was definitely stuck as a back end of the bench guy at UB. Definitely a person who can tear up D2, D3 or become a rotation player at a low level D1 

Edited April 11, 2023 by Ubbullsfan09

[everlast2504]

55 minutes ago, UBinMD said:

Feels like the wheels are in motion and direction of the program is starting to take shape.

I would be happier if this came in response of a few new players signing right now or new that a lot of other players removed themselves from the portal. This makes player 7 that is leaving and the first after we have a new coach. 

[bullsbball]

29 minutes ago, everlast2504 said:

I would be happier if this came in response of a few new players signing right now or new that a lot of other players removed themselves from the portal. This makes player 7 that is leaving and the first after we have a new coach. 

Actually, the 8th to enter the transfer portal. 3 have actually left (Ceaser, Hardnett, Mading) and technically, the 3rd to enter the portal with the new coach (Hardnett, Jack, and Slaughter).

But, who's count.

Who's hasn't entered the Transfer Portal? Smith, Adams, Williamson and K. Jones?

I'd be more excited if/when I start seeing new transfers go to Buffalo.

[trueblue32]

6 minutes ago, bullsbball said:

Who's hasn't entered the Transfer Portal? Smith, Adams, Williamson and K. Jones?

And Sy Chatman AFAIK. Williamson is the only one of that group who didn't transfer here from another D1 which means he could transfer without having to sit out. I'm surprised he hasn't hit the portal but Villanova does love their small ball 5s so maybe Halcovage thinks he can get something out of him

[Jeseph]

10 minutes ago, bullsbball said:

I'd be more excited if/when I start seeing new transfers go to Buffalo.

I have a feeling this staff intends on having a full roster.

[Majortomxiii]

8 minutes ago, Jeseph said:

I have a feeling this staff intends on having a full roster.

I am going to walk the dog, how knows maybe some news when I get back. Maybe that does not work for all of us…

[rma]

3 hours ago, Jeseph said:

I have a feeling this staff intends on having a full roster.

Good to see this from one of the basketball teams

[bullsbball]

Zaakir Williamson has now entered the transfer portal.   That makes 9 players. 

UB is now one of only 4 schools in the MAC (out of 12) that has yet to recruit a transfer.

[capencaper]

6 minutes ago, bullsbball said:

Zaakir Williamson has now entered the transfer portal.   That makes 9 players. 

UB is now one of only 4 schools in the MAC (out of 12) that has yet to recruit a transfer.

Where's that NIL 💰 when you need it...

[UBinMD]

8 minutes ago, bullsbball said:

Zaakir Williamson has now entered the transfer portal.   That makes 9 players. 

UB is now one of only 4 schools in the MAC (out of 12) that has yet to recruit a transfer.

I'm sure that will change soon. I would rather wait a bit for our coaches to get their legs under them and bring in the RIGHT players that just grabbing a dude because we have scholarships available. I have complete faith in our new coaching crew. It's been 2 weeks since our HC was hired.

[trueblue32]

We will undoubtedly see a spike in recruiting activity now with a staff in place, and the roster from last year shaking out. There are still over a 1000 players in the portal, and how many ever JUCO/HS players available. The first live period for HS kids hasn't even occurred yet (since Halcovage has been hired). They know they need players too, but of course we're all excited to see the roster start to take shape.

[DooleyBull06]

To @trueblue32 point, over 20% of D1 basketball players are in the portal. Recruiting is no longer a two month operation. It’s year long. There’s plenty of time. Now that we have a complete staff I’d assume we will not only see activity for this upcoming season but for the season after that. One thing I’d like to see this staff do is offer kids for the future. Get in early, develop relationships both with recruits but establish a pipeline. I feel that’s been missing. 

[everlast2504]

20 minutes ago, DooleyBull06 said:

To @trueblue32 point, over 20% of D1 basketball players are in the portal. Recruiting is no longer a two month operation. It’s year long. There’s plenty of time. Now that we have a complete staff I’d assume we will not only see activity for this upcoming season but for the season after that. One thing I’d like to see this staff do is offer kids for the future. Get in early, develop relationships both with recruits but establish a pipeline. I feel that’s been missing. 

 

15 hours ago, MuchMany said:

Really nice event with around 100 people in attendance. Will listen back to hear GH's comments, sound was tough in person.

Halcovage - seems truly excited to be getting his shot. Not sure how much of that has to do with UB itself, but I don't really care. He's ready to go.

Tibbs - friendly guy, has good connections, hitting the road recruiting asap. Said they're looking for culture fits, mature guys, as much as talent.

Cage - awesome guy. Warmed up to me when I mentioned Dickinson, said that's who helped kick off his coaching career. Said we'd have a chance except Kansas has a million dollar NIL deal on the table lol.

Presutti - very polished, personable. Was excited about my Sabres goathead hat, asked where he can get one. Said his three boys are big Bills fans and are all excited to be here. He might be the first man on the bench.

Saunders - bright young guy, seems excited for the chance to make something happen here.

I like Cage's statement here. Speaks more to we have the staff with connections and the confidence to go after anyone. I don't think were looking at good enough for the MAC and hoping we get lucky. With the connections some of the coaches have to AAU and the like programs across the country we are looking for better.

I don't think Cage would of been hired if his only connection was former UB player. It's the team and league he coached those high school players in was the reason. The fact that he played here was the bonus, not the other way around. 

[121Merrimac]

10 hours ago, DooleyBull06 said:

… Now that we have a complete staff I’d assume we will not only see activity for this upcoming season but for the season after that. …

I’m not so sure.  Well, for next season, sure… they need a team.  But, I feel the coaches need a little time together to understand what type of team they really want to have, before recruiting to that style. So, the following season may still take more time?!

[MuchMany]

Zaakir back in the fold.

 

[UBinMD]

25 minutes ago, MuchMany said:

Zaakir back in the fold.

 

Nice, hope he gets a good opportunity to grow!

[DooleyBull06]

10 hours ago, UBinMD said:

Nice, hope he gets a good opportunity to grow!

Agreed. With the way the portal is, I don’t think he comes back if he wasn’t told that he will get playing time. Good to see. 

[UBinMD]

10 hours ago, DooleyBull06 said:

Agreed. With the way the portal is, I don’t think he comes back if he wasn’t told that he will get playing time. Good to see. 

There are 1,500 players in portal. Dick Vitale is loosing his mind about it and the gutting of the mid majors. It will be interesting how this game of musical chairs plays out. Will there be enough seats?

[DooleyBull06]

2 hours ago, UBinMD said:

There are 1,500 players in portal. Dick Vitale is loosing his mind about it and the gutting of the mid majors. It will be interesting how this game of musical chairs plays out. Will there be enough seats?

I love your analogy. That’s a perfect description of it. Musical chairs. Spot on. I love Dickie V but he can be old man get off my lawn sometimes. The Portal is basically free agency. And after this final 4, where you had FAU and San Diego St in it, are mid majors in trouble or finding ways to thrive with the perfect balance of experience and portal hits. Meanwhile schools that employ one and dones (Kentucky and Duke) are sitting at home. To me, teams with older players, experience and years together have been winning lately.

Furthermore, look at Arkansas. Mussleman works the portal more than anyone. He’s had success. I believe back to back elite 8s but hasn’t broken through yet. Is it a matter of time or is that the ceiling for a mostly portal’d roster?

Edited April 15, 2023 by DooleyBull06

[everlast2504]

24 minutes ago, DooleyBull06 said:

I love your analogy. That’s a perfect description of it. Musical chairs. Spot on. I love Dickie V but he can be old man get off my lawn sometimes. The Portal is basically free agency. And after this final 4, where you had FAU and San Diego St in it, are mid majors in trouble or finding ways to thrive with the perfect balance of experience and portal hits. Meanwhile schools that employ one and dones (Kentucky and Duke) are sitting at home. To me, teams with older players, experience and years together have been winning lately.

Furthermore, look at Arkansas. Mussleman works the portal more than anyone. He’s had success. I believe back to back elite 8s but hasn’t broken through yet. Is it a matter of time or is that the ceiling for a mostly portal’d roster?

 

2 hours ago, UBinMD said:

There are 1,500 players in portal. Dick Vitale is loosing his mind about it and the gutting of the mid majors. It will be interesting how this game of musical chairs plays out. Will there be enough seats?

 

Just as many bench players at a P5 will want to transfer to a school were they will be a starter.  You have players who out preform moving to a better school. Players who just hate it an want out. 

I the end I think it will end up doing nothing. There are only so many Curry's and Morant's that slip through the cracks and end up at mid-majors. To then be able to transfer to a top P5 where the NIL would make them millions. 

According to this https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/one-year-of-nil-how-much-have-athletes-made/3765040/

The money in NIL still isn't there for 99% of the college athletes. No school is losing a player over a couple thousand.

I also see more of this happening 

https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2023/04/13/cavinder-twins-hanna-haley-decision-to-leave-miami-college-basketball-today-show-wwe-rumors

The students leaving the school to pursue the endorsements, modeling etc, after the pipelines have been set up. This may cause the schools to pull back the NIL money a little to keep their star athletes playing for the school.  

 

[DooleyBull06]

1 hour ago, everlast2504 said:

 

 

Just as many bench players at a P5 will want to transfer to a school were they will be a starter.  You have players who out preform moving to a better school. Players who just hate it an want out. 

I the end I think it will end up doing nothing. There are only so many Curry's and Morant's that slip through the cracks and end up at mid-majors. To then be able to transfer to a top P5 where the NIL would make them millions. 

According to this https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/one-year-of-nil-how-much-have-athletes-made/3765040/

The money in NIL still isn't there for 99% of the college athletes. No school is losing a player over a couple thousand.

I also see more of this happening 

https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2023/04/13/cavinder-twins-hanna-haley-decision-to-leave-miami-college-basketball-today-show-wwe-rumors

The students leaving the school to pursue the endorsements, modeling etc, after the pipelines have been set up. This may cause the schools to pull back the NIL money a little to keep their star athletes playing for the school.  

 

I think we are mixing topics here slightly. The topic wasn’t NIL but more so the portal in general. Generally a majority of players are transferring for presumed better opportunities. So to say we won’t do anything is wrong. We will bring in some transfers. Again nothing to do with the NIL side of things. Also I still feel people don’t understand what NIL is. NIL is NOT the school paying paying players to play. NIL is players finding revenue streams. Like endorsements and appearances. So on. Coaches and schools cannot promise any such deals. However we all know the dirty world of college sports therefore schools have middle men or collectives that hook players up with deals. If the players were smart they would cut the middle man out. But that’s another topic. So when you say the schools will cut back NIL money that’s technically wrong. Schools don’t have that involvement. Middle men do. There was a great article about this Syracuse Booster who is planning to cut his NIL support. I’ll try to find it.

 

https://www.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/2023/01/adam-weitsman-says-hes-paying-1-million-to-syracuse-players-and-thats-just-a-start.html?outputType=amp

Since this article and he has threatened to pull his funding. Great read.

Edited April 15, 2023 by DooleyBull06

[121Merrimac]

Re Great read: you lost me at Syracuse

Edit: it is a good article through

Edited April 15, 2023 by 121Merrimac

[Tee4three]

Interesting they labeled him a SG

Maybe he sticks around if UB is interested in developing him as a PG 

[DooleyBull06]

1 hour ago, Tee4three said:

Interesting they labeled him a SG

Maybe he sticks around if UB is interested in developing him as a PG 

I’ve always said he was a SG. He’s not a PG. Thats trying to fit a round piece in a square hole. He’s a shooter. 

[UB92]

I know there is no other place to put this info, but why are stories of where are portaled players are visiting in the ‘23-‘’24 roster thread?   
 

If they sign somewhere else, fine.  If they return back to UB, fine.   But I am not really interested in how Jones’ visit to ISU went, to be blunt.  Let’s focus on the guys that have committed and the guys who are here, rather than desperately following the portal guys.  It’s a bad look.