Coming of Age

It's no secret; the recruitment of college athletes is not a piece of cake.

Ask anyone associated with college basketball - recruiting is a never-ending, grueling process that sometimes does not yield the results one expects.

With that said however, UB head coach Reggie Witherspoon has been having his way with the recruitment game.

Three years ago, Witherspoon, along with his staff, recruited a young man out of Kernersville, N.C. by the name of Turner Battle. Battle had been named one of the illustrious Top 100 high school players in the nation, and little did Witherspoon and his staff know, the future foundation and building block for UB's men's basketball team.

"As far as Turner's concerned we were blessed that what we had to offer he had value for," said Witherspoon. "He valued high academic standards, valued the family atmosphere. His upbringing allowed him to value what this university offers."

Thankfully for the Bulls, Battle signed with what, to some, would seem an awkward school from where he was sitting in the recruitment game. Coming from North Carolina, home of Wake Forest, Duke, UNC and a slew of other major Division I schools, Battle took a chance on Buffalo and so far has not let anyone down.

When asked what drew him to Buffalo, and if he even had heard of Buffalo, Battle mildly gave a "no."

"I had never even heard of UB until coach (Chris) Hawkins called me and let me know about it," said Battle. "Once I started talking to the coaches more and more, I felt more comfortable with them and that was a big part of the decision."

Getting Battle was the first step in building this program. Once a program obtains a player of Battle's caliber, it becomes easier to make that next step.

That next step for UB was obtaining Mark Bortz.

Acquiring Bortz would be easier said than done. Like Battle, Bortz came from a part of the nation that was rich in basketball schools looking for a player like Bortz.

"During my junior year, a lot of schools started looking at me," said Bortz of schools such as Drake, Marquette and Toledo.

Buffalo however, had a major chip with Battle already recruited.

"I think that it helped his mind that he was going to play four years with a top 100 point guard, so that gave us some credibility," said Witherspoon.

The family atmosphere and the coaches is mainly why Bortz decided on UB.

"I mean really, the coaches and the family atmosphere they have here is what did it," said Bortz. "The coaching staff is real family oriented and that's really huge in my life, my family is really important to me and that carries over to the team. That's why we're successful now, because we're really a family."

That family was just starting to grow with the recent addition of Bortz. Buffalo could now recruit successfully in the Michigan-Ohio area, a place that people have said is impossible to recruit out of according to Witherspoon.

"Those are areas that people said 'you'll never be able to go into Michigan and recruit against all those programs,'" said Witherspoon. "Once we got Turner, we went in and battled everyone for Mark Bortz."

Next for Coach Witherspoon and crew in this already potent class was Daniel Gilbert and Jason Bird. These two are excellent shooters from beyond the arc who are also defensively minded.

"It's very unusual to get four guys that are that talented, that humbled, and that hardworking," said Witherspoon on the accomplishment of recruiting Battle, Bortz, Bird and Gilbert.

Bird, another Michigan native backed off on Western Michigan, Bowling Green, and Hampton. Gilbert, who hails from Detroit, Mich, was a huge steal for UB as he shunned away from Chicago State and Oakland. Witherspoon once again proved the critics wrong, recruiting players left and right from Michigan.

For the next class, the Bulls went against the odds again to recruit sophomore Calvin Cage out of Capital Heights, Maryland. The deadly shooter chose UB over Atlantic 10 teams George Washington and Rhode Island.

That same year the Bulls were able to snag sophomore Roderick Middleton from University Park, Illinois. Middleton was heavily recruited from Vanderbilt and Saint Bonaventure in basketball, while also being recruited by some of the Big 10 football schools as a free safety.

Yassin Idbihi from Tangier, Morocco, was probably the most unexpected of all the Bulls. The 6-foot, 10-inch center played one year for the under-20 National Team of Germany in 2001 before playing for the Rhoendorf Dragons in the 2002-03 season.

Idbihi decided on UB without even physically setting foot on the campus. This was a big gamble for both UB and Idbihi, but right now it seems that gamble has paid off for both parties.

Witherspoon credits the success of recruiting Idbihi with the diverse student population and faculty that this University possesses.

"Anytime you get an international student there is going to be a lot of follow up and paperwork," said Witherspoon. "The great thing this university has is a lot of international students and faculty. For someone to come from another country to get comfortable isn't as big a process it might be at some other places."

While the family atmosphere, international students and faculty and the coaches were all main figures in decision for some of the players, academics was on the mind of sophomore forward Mario Jordan.

"I found out that Buffalo was one of the best schools in the nations as far as business," said Jordan about UB's business program. "I changed my major but either way it's a great academic school."

Though one thing is for sure, a young man named Battle is helping Buffalo battle through adversity this season and, along with Idbihi, will be the building blocks for future recruitment classes.

When asked if he thought he was making a difference, Battle hesitantly agreed but was quick to point out that the relationship one makes with the players is the key factor.

"I think maybe it has, because they always sent out a piece of paper showing how I was 93rd in the country," said Battle. "So I think it had somewhat to do with it but overall I think it's when you get on campus and meet the players, you get a relationship with them."

While the last two seasons have been anything but pleasant for the juniors on the team, Bortz and Battle agree that they would not change anything in their decisions to come to Buffalo.

"I don't think I would change anything, we had a tough season last year. But all that adversity that we went through has allowed us get to the point where we are now," said Bortz.

"I would change some of our losses to wins for one thing, but as far as making my decision I would not change anything," said Battle.

That being said, the future looks bright.