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Examining UB's international and local recruiting

With recruiting on our minds, taking a look at some trends in UB Athletics recruiting.

UB Athletics Master Facilities Plan

I've said a couple times in passing now that I am a fan of UB working to grab more international recruits. No other school in Division 1 has easier access to the massive amount of people in Toronto, and a number of coaches on UB's staff have connections to other, more far-flung parts of the world.

At this point, I've referenced it enough, that I want to actually work it out. Check out the table, with each team sorted by upperclass and underclass international student-athletes:

Sport Inc/FR/SO JR/SR Countries Represented
Baseball 1 0 Canada
Men's Basketball 1* 1 Canada (2)
Women's Basketball 4 0 Australia (4)
Men's XC & Track 0 0 N/A
Women's XC & Track 3 2 Canada (3), New Zealand
Football 4 1 Canada (4), England
Rowing 0 2 Canada (2)
Men's Soccer 12 4 Canada (7), New Zealand (5), Switzerland (2), Sweden, Norway
Women's Soccer 4 2 Canada (6)
Softball 2 0 Canada
Men's Swimming and Diving 2 0 Israel, Germany
Women's Swimming and Diving 2 1 Canada (2), Australia
Men's Tennis 4* 5 Canada (2), Spain (2), Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Romania, India
Women's Tennis 5** 1 Macedonia (2), Germany, Spain, Sweden, Puerto Rico
Wrestling 0 0 N/A
Volleyball 3 1 Canada (2), Mexico, Taiwan

*I'm counting Hromic and Wigginton as part of the freshman/sophomore/incoming groups, because they have come in in the last two years.

**Counting Chantal Martinez-Blanco as international even though she's from Puerto Rico, because if it's good enough for the Olympics, it's good enough for me.

Note that I'm using the 2014-15 rosters, so the five Men's Soccer and two Volleyball player who are no longer on the rosters are all counted in this table.

I don't have much more to say other than to draw attention to this. Over the last three recruiting classes, UB's looking farther and wider to bring in student-athletes.

I thought that this would mean fewer student-athletes coming from western New York, but, as you can see in the table to the right, the two are not mutually exclusive. (Loosely, I included hometowns from the Buffalo and Rochester areas as 'WNY'.)

Sport Inc/FR/SO JR/SR
Baseball 9 2
Men's Basketball 0 1
Women's Basketball 1 0
Men's XC and Track 9 9
Women's XC and Track 13 6
Football 11 11
Rowing 2 5
Men's Soccer 2 1
Women's Soccer 5 2
Softball 3 0
Men's Swimming and Diving 1 1
Women's Swimming and Diving 1 0
Men's Tennis 1 0
Women's Tennis 1 0
Wrestling 6 3
Volleyball 2 0

Of course, not all international athletes are instant stars, but I think it's a good idea to cast wider nets in recruiting, and for many sports, UB seems to be doing just that over the last few years.

Furthermore, there are a few ways to feel about more or fewer WNY athletes coming into the Blue and White. I honestly don't feel like picking that apart right now, but just the fact from the first table that UB is becoming apparently more diligent and turning over more rocks in their recruiting makes me more positive about whoever does come in.

What sticks out to you from these tables?