Quick! Off the top of your head, who's the former Buffalo big man that played four years in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks?
If you answered Sam Pellom, you win some sort of prize. Most people probably didn't, and that is where The Spectrum comes in. After minutes and minutes of arduous thinking, The Spectrum sports editors bring you.... Buffalo's All-Time Division I Basketball Team.
The Buffalo basketball program had it's inaugural season in 1915, and were a D-I team for several years before 1977, yet prior to the 1977-78 season, the Bulls became a D-III program.
Prior to the 1991-92 season, Buffalo moved back to D-I. When compiling this roster, we looked at players who played in the Division I eras.
Starting Five:
PG. Turner Battle (2001-04) - Battle was the point guard and leader of some of the best Bulls teams in school history. He finished with 1,414 points and holds the modern era record, which starts in 1991, with 458 assists.
"What makes Turner so great is that he was able to come into a program, be an ambassador for the program," said current head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "He was able to give respect to every entity on campus. Then his basketball greatness took over, that will make him a legend for the ages."
SG. Mike Martinho (1994-98) - Martinho was one of the best three-point shooters in school history. He made a school record 328 three-pointers in his career. This is 107 more than Calvin Cage's 221, who is in second. Martinho scored the third most points in school history with 1,708.
"(Martinho) had tremendous awareness, was great at catch and shoot," Witherspoon said. He got his shot off really, really quick and had good understanding of what his strengths and weaknesses were."
F. Rasaun Young (1993-98) - Young combined with Martinho to create one of the best scoring combinations in school history. Young's 1,908 points is the most points scored in school history.
" (Young) had strength and the awareness of a post player around the basket, but had the movement of a perimeter player," Witherspoon said. "He really put tremendous pressure on the defense. He created mismatch problems because he was too big for a guard and too quick for a post player."
F. Curtis Blackmore (1970-73) - Blackmore finished his career with 1,287 points which at the time was second in school history and also finished with 1,175 rebounds, which was first before Pellom topped that number with 1,297. His senior season, Blackmore averaged 17.8 rebounds per game.
C. Sam Pellom (1974-78) - Pellom finished his career as one of the best Bulls of all-time. When he graduated, he ranked No. 1 all-time in rebounds with 1,297 and second in points with 1,403 in school history.
The big question when deciding this team was who was going to wear No. 11. However since this is an all-star team, we'll use NBA All-Star rules, there can be more then one of each number.
Deciding on the bench players was more difficult. In order to be a great team, you need to have depth and since Witherspoon is the coach of this team and everyone knows he likes to mix and match his lineups, there needs to be five quality players with specialties on the bench.
Three-point specialist: Calvin Cage (2002-05) - Cage averaged over 18 points per game his senior year, scoring the most points in a single-season in school history with 592.
Defensive specialist: Modie Cox (1992-95) - In his senior season, Cox averaged 2.5 steals per game. Cox also finished second in the modern-era with 391.
"Modie was a game changer defensively, maybe the best defensive player to ever play here," Witherspoon said. "He could keep the other team from running their offense single-handedly. He was the two time defensive player of the year when they (Buffalo) was in the Mid-Continent Conference."
Athletic game changer: Louis Campbell (1998-2002) - Campbell is sixth all-time on Buffalo's scoring list with 1,385 points for his career. He is also the modern-era record holder for steals in a career with 198.
"Louis was athletic," Witherspoon said. "Louis's athletic ability was his biggest gift."
Best all-around player coming off the bench: Yassin Idbihi (2003-present) - Idbihi is the only current player to make this roster. He came into this season with 1,072 points and now ranks first in the modern-era in career rebounds with 739.
"Yassin has the ability to score with either hand around the basket," Witherspoon said. "He is able to move very well laterally better then most people think."
Chemistry guy: Mark Bortz (2001-04) - Everyone will remember Bortz for his alley-oops with Battle and also the chest bumps during pre-game introductions. Bortz finished his career first in the modern-era with 606 rebounds, before Idbihi passed him. He also finished second in the modern-era with 127 blocked shots.
"Mark is probably one of the better athletes of his size that has ever come through here," Witherspoon said. "He blocked shots, he ran the floor, he stepped out and played defense on the perimeter. He could change a game on the defensive end."
"Mark certainly put the team first, and was willing to come off the bench, whatever it took to get our program going."
Not only could any of these five guys start on the team this season, or most seasons, but also the second team would give the first team a hard time in practices. That should be good for the tourney run at the end of the season.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
