Following a 2003-2004 season in which the UB men's basketball team won 17 games, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that two of their top players were recently named to the Preseason All-MAC team, voted on by members of the Mid-American Conference News Media Association.
Yassin Idbihi and Turner Battle were honored with preseason accolades as they were named to the preseason all-MAC team this past week.
The players recognize the respect the awards convey with regards to their individual talents, as well as the talent of the team as a whole.
"If one of us gets preseason all-MAC, the whole team gets it," said sophomore forward Yassin Idbihi. "I would never have played like that if my team didn't play like that."
In addition to the added respect for UB basketball as a whole, the awards will likely draw extra attention to Idbihi from other teams' defenses.
"I know I'm not going to surprise anybody anymore, everybody's expecting me to play well and to be a team leader," said Idbihi.
For Battle, earning the preseason all-MAC honor has a familiar feel; the senior point guard earned the same honor just one year ago.
"It doesn't really change much," he said. "It means the conference as a whole has a lot more respect for us, my freshman and sophomore years we didn't have anyone picked to all-MAC in the preseason, and this year we have two."
The respect for the team goes a long way, but the players understand that just because players look good in the preseason doesn't mean that any postseason accolades are guaranteed.
"It's an honor, but also you just have to look at the season as a whole," Battle said.
Idbihi was especially excited about the award, because of the added attention he'll be getting from opposing teams.
"It puts more pressure on me, but I like pressure," he said.
As a whole, UB's basketball team put in a lot of work last season, and Battle is glad the team is finally getting the recognition he feels it deserves.
"It shows that all the hard work we've put together has paid off," he said.
Coach Reggie Witherspoon is proud of the players as well, but has always stressed that it's not the individual accolades that matter, it's the team accomplishments that should be given the most attention.
"They're not there because they put up quality numbers, they're there because of their contribution to the team," he said.
While the preseason recognition certainly bodes well for the Bulls, Witherspoon is aware of the fact that UB's opponents will be gunning even more to defeat the Bulls.
"I think it's a nice thing, but we did the same thing today that we have been doing for the whole preseason," he said.
UB's commitment to the idea that the team is more important than the individual player is shown in the fact that neither Battle nor Idbihi were told by anyone that they received the honors.
"Nobody talked to me. I went to study hall, that was the first thing that comes out on the Buffalo Bulls website," said Idbihi.
For the most part, this is because coach Witherspoon wants the team to stay focused on improving as a team.
"This didn't come out of nowhere, there had to be a lot of hard work for them to be recognized and there had to be a lot of teamwork for them to be respected at this level," he said.
In order to bring tenacity and scoring power into this upcoming season, the Bulls will look for continued stellar play from Battle and Idbihi and the rest of the UB squad. The Bulls open their 2004-2005 season at defending NCAA champion Connecticut on Saturday, Nov. 20.
