As men's basketball head coach Reggie Witherspoon presides over practice at center court, the freshly-painted new logo is not the only difference in this year's Bulls squad. The team that made a run to the Mid-American Conference championship game two years ago is officially no more, with seven of the eight top players from that team having graduated.
"That's been something we've been going through the past couple years," Witherspoon said. "The loss and the graduation of character guys, guys who you can rely on to get through things. The guys that we have now, they have to rely on themselves to get through things."
Senior center Yassin Idbihi is the last player from that squad left at the university. Idbihi is also the only returning player from last season who averaged double figures in points. However, the Bulls may not even have Idbihi when the season starts, as he is out for 2-3 more weeks with an ankle injury, and has yet to practice with the team this year.
"I don't know, I think it's going to be close as to whether he will be ready to play (opening day)," Witherspoon said. "He has a bad ankle, and right now he's 2-3 weeks. If he's three weeks, he won't be able to play. If he's two weeks he'll be able to play the first game."
Other injuries entering the season are two sophomores, forward Vadim Fedotov and guard Sean Smiley.
"Vadim is (ready to play opening day), Sean is a little bit behind him," Witherspoon said. "But he's in practice everyday working hard, so we'll see."
Over the last three seasons, the Bulls have racked up a school record 59 wins, yet Witherspoon is tempering his expectations this season, with such a young squad.
"It's certainly a rebuilding year," Witherspoon said. "We're very young. Our expectations are that we going to try to get better every day. We got a long, long way to go because we have a lot of inexperienced players. We're going to have to take this day by day."
Though the team will be rebuilding, Witherspoon is reluctant to throw the freshmen into action. In order for the Bulls to succeed this season, sophomore guards Andy Robinson, Eric Moore and Smiley, will need to perform up to their high capabilities and expectations.
"A lot depends less on the freshmen, and more on the guys that were here last year," Witherspoon said. "A lot is going to depend on the sophomores."
Though the expectations may not be the same, Witherspoon still expects the team to improve on a daily basis.
"It doesn't change (my coaching method)," Witherspoon said. "We've aimed to improve everyday in the past years and that's what we have to do, keep it short term. We can't change from the way we've tried to do things, but we have to realize the little, small details. We'll have to spend more time on them."
With an inexperienced team, leadership is hard to come by, especially with the lone four-year starter, Idbihi, sidelined.
"We're definitely in search of leadership," Witherspoon said. "We don't have a lot of guys that have played a lot, and right now Yassin has been hurt."
One player who will need to step for the Bulls is oft-injured forward, senior Parnell Smith. Smith has missed time over the past two seasons due to injuries. With forward Mario Jordan graduated, Smith will need to stay on the court and improve on his averages of 3.4 rebounds and 8.6 points per game.
"He trained hard during the off-season, and he's rehabbed very well," Witherspoon said. "A lot of the times you just don't have any control over whether he stays healthy."
With the new look, the Bulls will take the court for the first time this season on Nov. 10 at hometown rival Canisius. Witherspoon is not looking too far into the future, and doesn't have a guess for a potential win total on the season.
"No. Never do. I never look at the season and count wins," Witherspoon said. "Our approach to what we're doing is to try and get better every day. We'll have are peeks and valleys, we have to keep are effort high and let the rest take care of itself."
Buffalo's regular season opener starts at 8 p.m. at the Koessler Athletic Center.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
