The biggest question is whether UB basketball can become relevant again
Gill’s success puts pressure on Witherspoon
UB. Bowl eligible. Who could have imagined it just a few short years ago? Who could have envisioned a day when Buffalo sports fans would be calling and e-mailing one another to ask, “Did you see it? Did you see that football game last night?” — and talking about the Bulls, not the Bills?
Thursday’s four-overtime win over Akron was merely the latest in a season of heart-stopping games. Under Turner Gill, the University at Buffalo has become more than just a competitive football program, capable of playing for a conference title and a bowl berth.
They’ve become can’t-miss entertainment, a show. You feel compelled to watch, because you’re afraid you might miss something truly amazing. For the first time in the program’s I-A history, UB football has become relevant, a vital part of the local sporting discussion.
There was a time, not so long ago, when you still wondered if Bill Greiner’s dream was a little misguided, and if UB football might have been better off staying in I-AA. But they’ve arrived, and you know what? It reminds me of what happened four years ago, when the basketball team burst into the local consciousness.
Remember those days? Do you remember Yassin Idbihi being carried over the court after the Kent State win in ’04? The run to the Mid-American Conference title game the following March? The town was buzzing over UB hoops the same way they are about football.
At the time, critics wondered why the football team couldn’t make similar strides. Now, the roles are reversed. It’s Gill’s football team that has captured the community’s heart, while Reggie Witherspoon’s hoop squad has stumbled back to mediocrity.
So as the college hoop season gets into gear, there are a number of questions in the local men’s game: Can St. Bonaventure, more than five years past the scandal, be competitive under Mark Schmidt? Will Canisius build on the momentum it gained late last season? Will Niagara be a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title contender, as usual, under Joe Mihalich?
But the biggest question is whether UB basketball can become relevant again, and whether Witherspoon can rebuild the program into a viable MAC contender.
Witherspoon isn’t on the hot seat. But the seat
is certainly getting warmer. The Bulls are coming off 12-19 and 10-20 seasons. They’ve gone 4-12 and 3-13 in the MAC the past two seasons. They were 1-15 in MAC road games during that time.
I’ve been an admirer of Witherspoon for 15 years. He’s a brilliant hoop intellect, a teacher who takes raw athletes and turns them into basketball players. But he has fallen short in recent years as a recruiter.
You don’t reload at the MAC level (unless you’re Kent State). You recruit and rebuild. Witherspoon didn’t capitalize on the momentum of the Turner Battle years. He hasn’t found a point guard remotely close to Battle. The Bulls had virtually no inside presence last year. They were outscored by 168 points from the foul line. Some of that is due to the dubious MAC officiating. Mainly, it’s the sign of a soft team.
When football was a joke, the basketball team brought hope and attention to the UB athletic program. Now, with the football team soaring, it shifts the pressure onto Witherspoon. He suffers by comparison now. Gill has recruited well enough to stock a competitive football roster. Why can’t Witherspoon find the two or three star players to elevate a basketball team?
There’s certainly reason for hope. The Bulls have their eight leading scorers back from a year ago. That doesn’t include Jawaan Alston, a 6- foot-8 sophomore who made great strides last season.
UB also has two promising freshmen forwards, Titus Robinson and Mitchell Watt. Robinson, 6-7, is from Charlotte, N. C. Watt, 6-9, is from Goodyear, Ariz. It seems Witherspoon is expanding his reach and getting more aggressive on the recruiting trail. If Watt and Robinson are as good as advertised, and if Alston continues to evolve, the Bulls should have a much more athletically imposing front line in the years ahead.
They’d better. Warde Manuel, UB’s athletic director, came here from Michigan. He has big-time roots and ambitions. He hit the jackpot with his football coach. Manuel likes Witherspoon, but he inherited him. He can’t wait forever.
Witherspoon doesn’t have to win 20 games. But another 10-or 12-win season won’t be acceptable. If UB basketball doesn’t regain the buzz very soon, Manuel might be tempted to go looking for the hoop version of Turner Gill.
