RapidsFan Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 (edited) Turner Battle will be honored by UB, see his number raised into the arena rafters Five players have had their numbers honored by the University at Buffalo men's basketball team. Soon there be a sixth. UB on Saturday afternoon announced that Turner Battle will have his No. 11 honored during a Feb. 17 game at Alumni Arena. The number will be raised to the rafters during halftime of the Bulls' game against Akron. Other players who have been recognized include Harold Kuhn (No. 19), Jim Horne (No. 13), Curtis Blackmore (No. 52), Sam Pellom (No. 50), and Rasaun Young (also No. 11). Battle played point guard for the Bulls from 2001 to 2005, after Buffalo joined the Mid-American Conference in 1998. With Turner's help, the Bulls' influence in the MAC continued to grow. Buffalo won 23 games in his final season — a school record at that time — and for the first time qualified for a postseason Division I tournament, competing in the NIT. Turner also became the first Bull to be named MAC Player of the Year. A three-time All-MAC pick, Battle recorded 1,414 points, 502 rebounds, 458 assists, and 170 steals during his career. He remains the only player in program history to lead the team in assists in four consecutive seasons. Turner went on to play in the NBA Development League, then returned to Buffalo as an assistant coach from 2007 to 2013. He was also an assistant at Chattanooga (2013-14), Alabama-Birmingham (2014-20), East Tennessee State (2020-21), and Middle Tennessee State (2021-22). He's now back in Western New York. Turner in 2022 became the athletics director at The Park School of Buffalo. Turner was inducted into the UB Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010. Edited January 7 by RapidsFan 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBinMD Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 I agree with this honor, happy for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RapidsFan Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 Fixed the title to clarify that he's not actually having his number retired, just "honored" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBinMD Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 I would expect the following to be honored in the future: McRae, CJ, Perkins, Williams and possibly Segu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBlearns Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 15 hours ago, UBinMD said: I would expect the following to be honored in the future: McRae, CJ, Perkins, Williams and possibly Segu. I assume you're referring to Javon McCrea, not Montell McRae? No knock on Montell, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBinMD Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 2 minutes ago, UBlearns said: I assume you're referring to Javon McCrea, not Montell McRae? No knock on Montell, of course. Correct, got my AEs mixed, thank you for the correction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
everlast2504 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 It's about damn time..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clodney Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 There are a bunch of players I'd consider over Segu like Yassin the Dream, Calvin Cage, or Mitchell Watt. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
everlast2504 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 21 minutes ago, clodney said: There are a bunch of players I'd consider over Segu like Yassin the Dream, Calvin Cage, or Mitchell Watt. Agreed, I don't even thin Segu is retire the number worthy. CJ is the only other clear cut retire the number I can think of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SGBull Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 19 minutes ago, everlast2504 said: Agreed, I don't even thin Segu is retire the number worthy. CJ is the only other clear cut retire the number I can think of. CJ and Perkins are my clear 2. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trueblue32 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 With the caveat that I started at UB (and started closely following) the year after McCrea graduated, I think the #1 scorer and #3 rebounder in program history needs to be on the wall. CJ being (imo) the best player in program history also gets him on the wall. Perkins being another 4 year stud and the #2 option in the greatest era of UB history, and playing in the most games in UB history gets him on the wall. Jeenathan's case is a little fuzzy to me, his UB career alone frankly probably doesn't deserve to be on the wall, based on how few players have been honored, but him making to the NBA is certainly an important feather in the program's cap and worthy of honoring in my opinion. I loved Segu in his time at UB, but in my opinion his career is not particularly close to being worth "honoring" his number. He had one MAC second team honor in his career, and never led a MAC championship team, we'd need a huge wall if that is the bar. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird96 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 3 hours ago, trueblue32 said: I loved Segu in his time at UB, but in my opinion his career is not particularly close to being worth "honoring" his number. He had one MAC second team honor in his career, and never led a MAC championship team, we'd need a huge wall if that is the bar. Agree. Great player but not quite “retire” (honor) the jersey number-worthy. I put Segu in the same category as Caruthers, Graves and Jordan for recent members of the “Golden Era” teams who were well decorated with All-MAC honors and helped UB win a lot of games. CJ & Perkins are no doubters imo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKBullsfan Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 CJ and Perkins are locks. Maybe find a way to honor Oates and Hurley too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UB92 Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 For me, Yassin was the first player I watched at UB since the reentry into D1 basketball where I thought “oh…this guy is special”. I mean, TB was already there, but Idbihi was a big that was very skilled. in addition to Battle, I would assume CJ would be next at some appropriate point in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
everlast2504 Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 If this was any way influenced by HC GH's input then he was 100% the right hire already. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBinMD Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 2 hours ago, everlast2504 said: If this was any way influenced by HC GH's input then he was 100% the right hire already. I actually think he has done a very good job of trying to reconnect with former players. I think from his Villanova days, there is value in bringing back guys that have done it at the school, especially when they had success like Turner. Also, having him on the broadcasts gets him closer as well. I like it all around and would love to see more players back and visually present. I saw at least 2 other former players at the Niagara game as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RapidsFan Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 4 hours ago, everlast2504 said: If this was any way influenced by HC GH's input then he was 100% the right hire already. An MBA trying to market mediocrity by harping on the past doesn't make you a good coach, it makes you Russ Brandon How many photo ops did Rex Ryan do with Jim Kelly before he got chased out of town Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UB Horns Up Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 A great honor for Turner Battle well deserved. I wish Turner Battle was the UB Bulls basketball head coach UB basketball would be better off than they are now in my opinion. UB Horns Up! Go Bulls! Let’s Go Buffalo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue03 Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Game is coming up Saturday. Tickets are priced at $11 and 1000 shirts are being handed out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCommish Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 On 2/13/2024 at 2:08 PM, Blue03 said: Game is coming up Saturday. Tickets are priced at $11 and 1000 shirts are being handed out We’re hitting rock bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enrique14150 Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 (edited) This is long, LONG overdue. But I had heard in the past they wanted to honor him but since he was off coaching during the season, it was difficult to schedule/arrange. Turner Battle and company (Bird, Bortz, Gilbert) were the ones who set this program on the path to competing and winning things. I don't know how they convinced a top 100 recruit to come here, especially considering where the program was at the time, but that was a leap few if any others would make. (Apparently it was over offers at Pitt and Virginia Tech, because he wanted to play for Reggie). And it got the ball rolling for everything afterwards. With all due respect to Wes Clark, who I consider the most talented player they've ever had, CJ, Watt, McCrea, Perkins...Turner is still the guy I want with the ball in his hand running the show at the end if we need a score. Battle (in an article at the time): "me and the other seniors always dreamed of turning this program around." Those are the kind of guys we need for next year. In the world of unlimited transfers and NIL money I realize that's a tough stretch. As for future players to be honored, you have to consider Watt and McCrea since they won MAC player of the year awards. Watt in his senior year was almost unstoppable at times at both ends of the court. CJ is a no brainer someday, probably Perkins as well. Maybe Idbihi. The bar might be too high for Mike Martinho, Calvin Cage, Will Regan. I'll dig out my old Mighty Maniacs shirt for Saturday's game. Edited February 15 by enrique14150 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RapidsFan Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 4 hours ago, enrique14150 said: As for future players to be honored, you have to consider Watt and McCrea since they won MAC player of the year awards. Watt in his senior year was almost unstoppable at times at both ends of the court. CJ is a no brainer someday, probably Perkins as well. Maybe Idbihi. The bar might be too high for Mike Martinho, Calvin Cage, Will Regan. Alumni Arena is the house that Modie Cox built. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCommish Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 5 hours ago, RapidsFan said: Alumni Arena is the house that Modie Cox built. You can argue the other #11 besides Turner but not modie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enrique14150 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 6 hours ago, RapidsFan said: Alumni Arena is the house that Modie Cox built. Love this! My favorite Modie Cox memory for the Bulls was against Boston College at Alumni. UB was giving them a game, their gameplan was for Modie to dribble the ball just past mid court and wait till there were about 10 seconds left on the shot clock. He would drive to the net and either get fouled, make the layup, or dish it off. It kept working and BC didn't know what to do. BC called a timeout, the crowd was going nuts, someone almost hit Jim O'Brien with a can and he flipped out. Dec 11, 1993. BC won that game by 13 in the end, that team went to the Elite Eight in the tournament. That was back when big conference teams actually had the guts to come and play UB here. The 1993-94 season saw BC, Miami (FL), Duquesne, and Pittsburgh all come to Alumni. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RapidsFan Posted February 16 Author Share Posted February 16 1 hour ago, TheCommish said: You can argue the other #11 besides Turner but not modie Average UB home attendance by year: Kenneth Pope 1983 (12-15) - 1,023 Dan Bazzani 1984 (14-13) - 605 1985 (5-19) - 1,051 1986 (14-11)- 1,004 1987 (15-10) - 664 1988 (14-13) - 971 1989 (15-14) - 1,000 1990 (14-13) - 1,002 1991 (13-14) - 1,025 1992 (2-26) - 927 1993 (5-22) - 1,311 (Modie's first season) Tim Cohane 1994 (10-18) - 1,440 (Rasaun's first season) 1995 (18-10) - 2,274 (Modie's last season) 1996 (13-14) - 1,834 1997 (17-11) - 4,105 1998 (15-13) - 2,024 (Rasaun's last season) 1999 (5-24) - 1,597 2000 (5-23) - 2,100 Reggie Witherspoon 2001 (4-24) - 1,720 2002 (12-18) - 2,387 (Turner's first season) 2003 (5-23) - 1,888 (Calvin's first season) 2004 (17-12) - 3,194 2005 (23-10) - 4,417 (Turner's last season) 2006 (19-13) - 4,279 (Calvin's last season) 2007 (12-19) - 2,898 2008 (10-20) - 1,862 2009 (21-12) - 2,663 (Watt's first season) 2010 (18-12) - 1,977 2011 (20-14) - 2,039 (Javon's first season) 2012 (20-11) - 2,684 (Watt's last season) 2013 (14-20) - 3,291 Bobby Hurley 2014 (19-10) - 3,486 (Javon's last season) 2015 (23-10) - 3,639 2016 (20-15) - 3,242 (CJ's first season) Nate Oats 2017 (17-15) - 3,791 2018 (27-9) - 3,569 2019 (32-4) - 5,290 (CJ's last season) Jim Whitesell 2020 (20-12) - 3,613 2021 (16-9) - N/A 2022 (19-11) - 2,893 2023 (15-17) - 2,858 George Halcovage III 2024 (3-21) - 2,459 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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