[NoSkillz]

2029 Offseason


Recruiting (PHASE FIVE)


CENTERS

LAST PHASE ACTIONS -
- Scott Callison: 2nd Call, 2nd Scout, *VISITING CAMPUS*
- D'Angelo Vranes: Call, Scout
- Corbin Haber: Call

Following up from phase four, I'm surprised to see that Callison accepted an offer from Murray State. He was visiting our campus and we were the only school interested in him after the fourth phase but obviously, Murray State comes in with a quick scholarship offer and Callison accepted. Good get for them. Vranes is also off the market, as Buffalo native accepts an offer from Florida State. Incredibly, Corbin Haber is also gone, committing to Navy.

So our call list goes from three to zero, just like that! The center position is drying up quickly but I add one player to our call list:

- Kameron Corchiani ***, C/PF, 6'9", 227lbs, Charleston, WV (149th in Nation; 38th at C)
LAST YEAR: 17.4 PPG, 12.8 RPG, 2.2 APG, 0.71 SPG, 1.00 BPG, 28.3 MPG

Corchiani was very productive for Capital High but my scouts feel he's more of a defensive "shot blocking five" at the college level. I send my coach to visit him, even though he has "very high" interest, as there are three teams already ahead of me in the recruiting stages with him.

PHASE FIVE ACTIONS (CENTERS) -
- Kameron Corchiani: Call, Scout, Coach Visit


POWER FORWARDS

LAST PHASE ACTIONS
- Shaun Rakocevic: 2nd Call, ** VISITING CAMPUS **, ** CONSIDERING SCHOLARSHIP **, ** MAJOR PITCH **
- Kellen Abell: 2nd Call
- Darren Suggs: 2nd Call
- Evan Piatowski: 2nd Call, Scout
- Matt Cristiano: Call, Scout, Offer Campus Visit, Offer Scholarship
- Brian Prescott: Call, Scout
- Dave Westerfield: Call, Scout

We have our first commitment! But it's not who I thought it would be...

Matt Cristiano signs his letter of commitment and becomes the first member of Buffalo's 2029 recruiting class! Cristiano, a 6'8" "offensive four", averaged 21 points and 6.4 boards last year and this three star recruit will get every chance to start as a freshman. Great news!!

Meanwhile, the guy I thought would commit is still holding out. We made our major pitch to Shaun Rakocevic - he's reduced the teams he's interested in by one (he's now down to three) but we're still dangling in the wind. There's not much more I can do at this stage. I scout him again but I'm not willing to guarantee him a starting job at this time. I'll hope for the best - I'm still ranked #1 on his list...

As for the others, Abell now has four teams interested in him but I see that the four star rated Piatowski now has "Average" interest in our program, up from below average. I throw caution to the wind and send my coach to visit him, offer him a campus visit and offer him a potential starting job but I don't have a scholarship available to offer him at the moment. We'll see if his interest increases - at this point, no one has offered him a scholarship...

I scout Darren Suggs this week and the reports are lukewarm so I won't be pursuing him. Brian Prescott commits to Manhattan and four star Dave Westerfield now is up to Below Average interest in us (from Low), but has two teams interested in him.

We also decide to add two more players to our call list:

- Quan Westerfield ***, PF/SF, 6'9", 220lbs, Rutherfordton, NC (317th in Nation; 56th at PF)
LAST YEAR: 16.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 2.3 APG, 0.50 SPG, 0.46 BPG, 25.8 MPG

- Kobe Wright ***, PF/SF, 6'6", 240lbs, Philadelphia, PA (358th in Nation; 66th at PF)
LAST YEAR: 15.3 PPG, 13.3 RPG, 4.6 APG, 1.17 SPG, 0.62 BPG, 26.7 MPG

I call and scout both players and honestly, neither looks super intriguing.

PHASE FIVE ACTIONS (POWER FORWARDS)
- Shaun Rakocevic: 3rd Call, 2nd Scout, ** VISITING CAMPUS **, ** CONSIDERING SCHOLARSHIP **, ** MAJOR PITCH **
- Kellen Abell: 3rd Call
- Darren Suggs: 3rd Call, Scout
- Evan Piatowski: 3rd Call, 2nd Scout, Coach Visit, Offer Campus Visit, Offer Starting Job
- Dave Westerfield: 2nd Call, 2nd Scout
- Quan Westerfield: Call, Scout
- Kobe Wright: Call, Scout


SMALL FORWARDS

LAST PHASE ACTIONS
- Liam Pipkens: 2nd Call, Scout, Offer Campus Visit, Offer Scholarship
- Marvin Bessick: Call, Scout, Coach Visit, Offer Scholarship, Offer Starting Job

I'm STUNNED that Pipkens has accepted a scholarship from High Point over us. Wow...didn't see that coming at all. They were in one week ahead of us so I guess that won out in the end. Very disappointing. Bessick was a pipe dream and he tells us in no uncertain terms that he's not interested in coming to Buffalo so he's off my call list as well.

So, starting from scratch at SF once again, I add two players to my list:

- Phil Lampley ***, SF, 6'6", 199lbs, Chester, PA (137th in Nation; 30th at SF)
LAST YEAR: 24.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 4.4 APG, 0.61 SPG, 0.75 BPG, 28.2 MPG

- Adrian Neely ***, SF/PF, 6'8", 214lbs, Thayer, MS (410th in Nation; 74th at SF)
LAST YEAR: 15.4 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.21 SPG, 1.00 BPG, 26.0 MPG

I honestly should have been on Lampley in the last stage. He seems perfect for us and my scouts absolutely love him. I don't have a scholarship to offer him but I send my coach to visit him, offer him a campus visit and tell him I'd envision him starting if he came here. I also call and scout Neely and he doesn't grade out well from my scouts so I don't anticipate pursuing him much further.

PHASE FIVE ACTIONS (SMALL FORWARDS)
- Phil Lampley: Call, Scout, Coach Visit, Offer Campus Visit, Offer Starting Job
- Adrian Neely: Call, Scout


SHOOTING GUARD

LAST PHASE ACTIONS
- Jimmie Bell: Call, Scout, Coach Visit, Offer Scholarship, Offer Starting Job
- Joe Corner: Call, Scout

Bell's interest moves up to Average (from Low) so I scout him again but I doubt I'll get him, as I'm ranked 3rd out of the three teams he's interested in. I send my coach to visit the intriguing Corner as a backup - Corner has two teams chasing him right now.

I also add one more shooting guard to our call list:

- Isaac Galloway ***, SG/PG, 6'3", 182lbs, Mount Desert, Maine (342nd in Nation; 49th at SG)
LAST YEAR: 17.5 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 9.9 APG, 1.25 SPG, 0.50 BPG, 26.9 MPG

I scout Galloway and he's quite the sharpshooter. Seeing that I won't be getting Bell, I decide to use a scholarship here and offer him a starting job as well. Galloway has three teams chasing him right now, not including us.

PHASE FIVE ACTIONS (SHOOTING GUARDS)
- Jimmie Bell: 2nd Call, 2nd Scout, Coach Visit, ** CONSIDERING SCHOLARSHIP **, Offer Starting Job
- Joe Corner: 2nd Call, Coach Visit
- Isaac Galloway: Call, Scout, Offer Scholarship, Offer Starting Job


POINT GUARD

LAST PHASE ACTIONS
- Benjamin Cokley: 2nd Call, 2nd Scout, Offer Campus Visit, ** CONSIDERING SCHOLARSHIP **, Offer Starting Job
- Alan Small: Call, Scout, Coach Visit, Offer Starting Job
- Jared Bishop: Call, Scout
- Scott Winter: Call, Scout
- Louis Hymon: Call
- Raven Elmore: Call

So a bit of good news sees that Cokley is visiting our campus this week, a positive sign! However, we have now dropped to third on his list of five teams that are chasing him. The only thing I can do right now is scout him and keep him on our call list, as I've offered everything else that I can here. It's not looking good. Small has us ranked fourth out of the five teams chasing him so that's a lost cause while Bishop's interest in us drops. With four schools chasing him, I don't see us pursuing him much longer. We also placed calls last week to Winter, Hymon and Elmore - Winter has five schools chasing him while Hymon has two. Elmore is off the table, having just committed to Florida State.

I add another intriguing player to the mix:

- Jontray Zeyen ***, PG, 6'6", 181lbs, Rochester, NY (171st in Nation; 40th at PG)
LAST YEAR: 19.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.81 SPG, 0.42 BPG, 28.4 MPG

So this is a confusing one for me. Zeyen is showing "High" interest in Buffalo but there is absolutely no way he's been high on us prior to this, otherwise I would have scouted him! He's from nearby Rochester and my scouts are DROOLING over him. So this interest has come out of nowhere. He's got three teams chasing him right now so I go full monty with him, sending my coach to see him, offering a campus visit, offering a scholarship and offering the starting job, as I don't think I'm getting Cokley now anyway.

PHASE FIVE ACTIONS (POINT GUARDS)
- Benjamin Cokley: 3rd Call, 3rd Scout, Coach Visit, ** VISITING CAMPUS **, ** CONSIDERING SCHOLARSHIP **, Offer Starting Job
- Alan Small: 2nd Call, Coach Visit, Offer Starting Job
- Jared Bishop: 2nd Call
- Scott Winter: 2nd Call
- Louis Hymon: 2nd Call, Scout
- Jontray Zeyen: Call, Scout, Coach Visit, Offer Campus Visit, Offer Scholarship, Offer Starting Job


PHASE FIVE SUMMARY AND THOUGHTS -

Well, we secured our first commitment and it was at a major position of need. But I feel like we're going in circles a bit and basically playing the contingency game right now. It doesn't seem to be working well.

Here are the six scholarship offers out there right now:

PF Cristiano ** COMMITTED TO BUFFALO **
PF Rakocevic
SG Bell
SG Galloway
PG Cokley
PG Zeyen

We're still first on Rakocevic's list but I thought he would have committed by now. Bell looks to be a lost cause but he is still letting us dangle in the wind for now. Galloway looks to be another shot in the dark, as he only has average interest in us. Cokley is visiting our campus but I'm still ranked third on his list behind a top school (which hasn't offered him a scholarship) and Marshall, who has. I'm worried that won't come through for me as a result. Zeyen looks incredible but three teams are ahead of us on the pecking order.

I feel like I'm failing at this right now. I seem to be one step behind in every phase so far...

At this point, the only player I have any confidence in getting is Rakocevic yet I can still see a scenario where he gets a better offer and ditches us.

Recruiting is tough!