The University at Buffalo, The State University of New York men’s basketball begins the 2015-16 season coming off their first Mid-American Conference Title and NCAA appearance, but if the Bulls are going to look for the repeat, they are going to have to do it with a retooled squad, led by first-year head coach Nate Oats. Oats, an assistant for the last two seasons under previous coach Bobby Hurley, was selected to lead to the team in April and he has put together a quality staff and team comprised of seven returning guys from last season and eight newcomers, including three from the Junior College ranks.
Leading the returning group is senior guard Jarryn Skeete, the only four-year player on the squad. One of the top three-point shooters in the entire league, Skeete played in 29 games last season, while making 28 starts. Skeete shot a team-high .386 from behind the arc, going 61-of-158 from three point range. Skeete is a versatile guard, who can play with both the ball in his hands and at the shooting guard position. The guard that is expected to run the majority of the offense is sophomore guard Lamonte Bearden, who was named to the All-MAC Freshman team last year. Bearden played in all 33 games last season, starting 31 of those contest. He finished with 144 assists on the year, second most on the team,while averaging 8.3 points per game. Sharing point guard duties last season, Bearden will now be the primary ball handler for the Bulls.
Senior guard/forward Rodell Wigginton had a solid first year for the Bulls last season after playing junior college ball his first two years. The Dartmouth, Nova Scotia native averaged 7.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and was one of the most athletic players on the floor. This season he will provide veteran leadership as one of just four players returning who were part of the regular rotation last season. Also returning this season is sophomore guard Christian Pino, who played in 11 games and sophomore guard Mory Diane, who played in four games. That group of seven will be joined by a versatile group of eight newcomers, who each bring a different aspect to the team.
Junior college transfer junior guard Willie Conner is a dynamic shooter, who played his junior college ball at Odessa Community College where he averaged 18.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, while shooting .430 from three-point range. Conner played his freshman season at Florida A&M. Fellow wing player junior guard/forward Blake Hamilton played last season at Mt. San Antonio College where he averaged 13.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, while shooting .614 from the field. He has Division I experience as he played his freshman season at Northern Arizona. Junior forward/center David Kadiri played last season at South Plains Junior College, leading his team to a runner up finish in NJCAA National Championships. Kadiri had 13 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocked shots in the championship game. Kadiri played his freshman year at Maryland-Baltimore County, where he started 10 games. Freshman forward Nick Perkins joins the Bulls from Ypsilanti, MI and is expected to make an immediate impact in the post. He helped lead his team to four league and district titles as well as two regional titles and one state crown. His team went 22-3 as a senior, while averaging 18.0 points and 10.0 rebounds. Fellow freshman guard CJ Massinburg comes to Western New York as UB’s first recruit from Dallas, TX. He helped lead his team to a 30-5 record as a senior as he averaged 22.3 points, 4.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game. He recorded 42 points in one game during the season. The Bulls also bring freshman guard/forward Nikola Rakicevic in from Serbia where he was named to the All-Tournament Team at the U-17 World Championships where he averaged 12.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He scored 19 points against the United State and 17 points against China. UB has also added a pair of walk on guards in Zac DiSalvo and Tyler Moffe. DiSalvo played at Greece Athena High School where his team went 24-1 and he averaged 18.0 points and 5.0 assists. Moffe graduated from Elmira High School as their all-time leading scorer, averaging 20.0 points and 3.2 assists during his senior season.
There is not really much to say with regard to the outcome of this game. With its superior athletes, Duke will have no problem in this game. I expect a very high scoring game here and do not be surprised if Duke approaches triple digits, with the final score being 102-73.
