As Buffalo athletics continues to prosper, more athletes are signing professional contracts abroad after graduation. Recently, men’s and women’s basketball has been the main producers of talent with multiple players going to Australia and Europe to continue their playing careers.
Wes Clark
Wes Clark may have only spent one year in Buffalo, but he made a splash. Clark led the Bulls to the second round of the NCAA tournament last year and showed off to scouts that he should be playing professionally.
Clark signed a contract with Happy Casa Brindisi of the Italian-Serie A basketball league this past summer. The Mid-American Conference tournament’s Most Valuable Player has helped the team go 12-8 on the season to finish sixth in the standings. Clark averaged 13 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 23 minutes per game in 10 games.
Stephanie Reid
Stephanie Reid was a star point guard for women’s basketball in her four seasons here. She was an integral part to the teams’ run to the Sweet-16 last season. Reid finished her UB career with 1,218 points, 681 assists, 366 rebounds and 218 steals. She is the only player in school history with over 1,000 points and 600 assists.
Reid has played on two teams in the past year: the Frankston Blues and Dadenong Rangers. Both teams play in her native country of Australia. Reid appeared in only four games for the Rangers, playing just 5.8 minutes per game. The Rangers play in the top league of Australia. Reid re-signed with Frankston for a second season and she will be joined by former Bull JoAnna Smith. The two overlapped during Reid’s freshman and Smith’s senior seasons.
Current Bull Courtney Wilkins used to play for Frankston as well.
Blake Hamilton
Blake Hamilton graduated from UB in 2017 and has already spent time at multiple clubs. Hamilton scored over 1,000 points in his career at UB despite only playing two seasons. He had 438 rebounds and 226 assists in his career.
Hamilton originally signed with BK Ventspils in the Latvian Basketball League. Hamilton was versatile for Ventspils with 10.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists in his one season there. He most recently signed with Panionios of the Greek HEBA A1 basketball league and played one game with them so far. He played 27 minutes and scored 10 points with 8 rebounds.
Cassie Oursler
Cassie Oursler joins Reid as the other member of the 2017-18 Bulls to play abroad. The center for UB signed with AE Sedis of the Spanish women’s basketball league but has been assigned to their affiliate Arxil Pontevedra in the second division.
Through 19 games, Oursler has been the starting center playing 28 minutes per game. She currently averages 13.4 points and 6.8 rebounds in her role. Oursler scored 26 points against FC Barcelona during a 78-69 win on Feb. 23.
Naaman Roosevelt
Naaman Roosevelt graduated from UB in 2010 and went undrafted before finding a home on the Buffalo Bills. Roosevelt bounced around in the NFL for a few years before finding a more permanent role with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.
He has 224 receptions, 3,188 yards and 19 touchdowns since joining the Roughriders since 2015. Roosevelt is one of Buffalo’s many players to currently be playing in the CFL. Natey Adjei, David Goldsby, Dillon Guy, Kamathi Holsey, Ernest Jackson, John Kling, Jake Silas and Drew Willy all currently play or have played recently in the CFL.
Nathaniel Mendelson is the senior sports editor and can be reached at nathaniel.mendelson@ubspectrum.com and on Twitter @NateMendelson.
