Sidelines

Basketball newbies signed

National Signing Day was on Friday and the men and women's basketball teams took advantage of the opportunity with each team harnessing four players to sign National Letters of Intent.

Reggie Witherspoon, head coach of the men, snagged two guards and two forwards for his 2006-2007 team. Witherspoon's two guards are Calvin Betts, a 6-foot-3-inch, 230-pound guard from Rochester, NY and Jonas Jerebko, a 6-foot-9-inch, 215-pound guard hailing from Kinna, Sweden. High school teammates from Montreal, Quebec, 6-foot-8-inch, 225-pound Max Boudreau and 6-foot-9-inch, 215-pound Kambi Laleye, are Witherspoon's forward recruits.

Head coach of the women's team, Linda Hill-McDonald, tapped into her Ohio roots to pick up three players from the Buckeye State and grabbed another from nearby Penn. Kourtney Brown, a 6-foot post player; Meghan George, a 6-foot-2-inch forward; and Dayna Smith, a 5-foot-7-inch guard, are Hill-MacDonald's Ohio ladies while Ashley Zuber hails from Schneckville, Penn.

Both teams begin their 2005-2006 seasons this Friday at home against Canisius.

Player of the Week times two

Not only did the UB football team win its first game last weekend, Jared Patterson and Rob Schroeder earned individual recognition by the Mid-American Conference for their performances at Kent State. Patterson was named the MAC East Offensive Player of the Week while Schroeder took home the defensive award.

Patterson scored the games only touchdown and then junior running back had eight carries for 37 yards, a game high. Patterson also played a key role in the 13-play, 66-yard drive that led to the first points of the game with his 17-yard rush.

Schroeder, a defensive tackle, has a slew of statistics in Saturday's game. The senior recovered a fumble, three tackles, a tackle for a loss, a sack, a pass break up, and a quarterback hurry. Schroeder's QB hurry came on the last play of the game, preventing the Kent State quarterback from sending a Hail Mary pass to the end zone for the win.

All Conference selections

Men's soccer may not have won the MAC Championship but three of the team's athletes were named to the All-MAC squad for their accomplishments this season.

Senior Mbwana Johnson was UB's sole representative in the All-MAC First Team. The defensive wrecking machine was the anchor of an outstanding UB defense that held MAC Champions Akron scoreless throughout regulation and overtime. Johnson started all 18 teams for the Bulls, nine of which were shutouts.

UB's biggest offensive threats, Andrae Clarke and Lee Catchpole, were both named to the All-MAC Second Team. Clarke, a junior, posted career highs in every category this season including points (27), goals (8), and assists (11) while sophomore Catchpole was at the top of the MAC for the majority of the season but slipped as he was out the last three games of the season due to injury.