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Lance vs. Reggie


This notion seems to have come up a bit in the last few days, and last night got me thinking about it more than I should. I realize that a number of regulars here are fairly young and may not remember the Reggie years. I'm not an historian, and a lot of this is just from memory, so bear with me.

UB wasn't truly prepared to go D-I. President Greiner really wanted it, but the infrastructure and the level of acumen from the top of the athletic department wasn't there. UB athletics was hyper-local. There was a notion of trying to get coaches and (especially) players from Buffalo because it would put more butts in seats. Keep in mind that no one went to any UB sporting events back then. You're talking a few hundred for basketball or football games.

In 1999 Tim Cohane was the MBB coach. He was 'forced to resign' (there's always been huge controversy around this, including an article in the New York Times) for a seemingly minor recruiting violation. This 'resignation' came about 5 games into the season, with a game the following night.

So, UB needs a coach ASAP, so Bob Arkeilpane, the AD, calls up Reggie, who was coaching at ECC at the time. Reggie Witherspoon was a Buffalo guy, who was well known around local basketball circles, and more importantly, he was available. The point of this is that Reggie wasn't some flashy hire. He didn't have a history of success somewhere. He wasn't anyone's first choice or on anyone's radar. He was the guy that was available at that moment.

Skipping ahead to that game the following night, it was at Alumni against a top ten UNC team. This was the Joe Forte, Brendan Haywood Tarheels team. If memory serves (and I drank a lot back in '99), UB had the lead at the half and it was the largest crowd ever at Alumni. I think it was over 9000 (before they reconfigured the arena). I watched the game standing on the track. UB loses, but makes a good show of it. They keep Reggie for the rest of the season, and then beyond, and we got 14 years of almost.

I like Reggie. Always have. He's a very good coach. Nice guy. Players graduated. Limited controversy. He's a system guy. He has a very specific offense that he runs, and it is effective, but it's definitely not flashy. Reggie's biggest drawbacks were recruiting and end of game management (and use of TO's, but I'm not getting into that).

He recruited basketball players, not athletes. And he recruited players that fit his system. No one was very big, no one was very strong, no one was very fast, but they could play basketball in his system. Don't get me wrong. There are exceptions. Javon McCrea was a great athlete, and he did sign Shannon Evans, but overall, he got good ball players, but not good athletes. He won a lot of games and lost a lot of games, but nothing was ever flashy. It was the equivalent of 'run the ball and play defense'. He was, however, good at getting a lot out of lesser players. Mitchell Watt was a good example.

Juxtapose this against when Hurley came in with the #NateOatsPipeline. They brought in athletes. UB had never seen a guy like Justin Moss. 6'8". Incredibly strong, with a huge vertical? McCrea couldn't jump like that. It was a revelation. You threw a bunch of great athletes out there and let them go. It was so different from Reggie's teams.

As an example, UB's teams rarely had dunks. Like, a handful a year. It was so rare that I remember Andy Robinson throwing one down on a break in the late 2000s and the crowd went nuts. We never got to see things like that. Six or seven years later, you've got Evans throwing alley-oops off the backboard to Moss! And that difference kind of sums up Reggie at UB. Solid, but never spectacular.

Getting back to the Reggie/Lance comparison, it's there. There are physical comparisons. They're both fairly soft-spoken, yet intense on the sidelines. Although I haven't seen Lance rip off his jacket and throw it down, yet. They're both considered to be good people. Solid citizens.

There are similarities in recruiting, but a lot of that is probably the level of the MAC. Typically, you're not getting lots of 3 and 4 star recruits (current MBB is an exception to the rule). You have to get the kids that no one else wanted and mold them into better players. Mitchell Watt is a good example. He was a nothing recruit (also got sick), but he became MAC POY. I could also point to a guy like Calvin Cage, who was nothing as a freshman, but was dropping around 20 a game as a senior. LeDarius Mack is an example on the football side. UB didn't even want him, but now, as a senior, he's become a very good player. Signing 4 star recruits is great, but molding 2 stars into great players is where MAC coaches make their money. I think both Reggie and Lance have done that.

I think they both work relatively conservative game plans. I suppose last year's football team was flashy, but that was a product of the players on the field. If you've got Tyree, and AJ and KJ, you're going to throw the ball. Reggie had his system. And I feel like Lance is very comfortable running the ball and playing defense.

There's also limited turnover on assistants. Lance has the same guys he started with. Jim Kwitchoff was with Reggie the entire time. These things could be good or bad. I like changing things up every few years. Too easy to get caught in an echo chamber.

Late game management is on there. The '05 MAC championship game was a huge failure for Reggie, but in general, they rarely won those close games down the stretch. He used his times out poorly and the plays he drew up at the end of games never worked out. I think we know that the end of games is Leipold's weakest attribute.

However, the biggest comp will be on the mediocrity. Reggie was 30 games under .500. Granted, a lot of those losses came early when he was trying to build the program, but 198-228 isn't very good. They made the MAC finals twice and lost both. The '05 game still haunts me, and that was a bigger collapse than yesterday. He would have good teams, but could never get them over the hump. In 14 years, you need to have a title. That's the legacy of Reggie. Nice guy. Good teams. No championships.

Lance is looking very similar. 28-32 currently. A loss in the MAC Championship. One bowl game. Also a loss. And those two games are very similar to the '05 basketball title game. Big second half leads. Bigger collapses. Nice guy. Good teams. No championships.

The more I type this, the more it feels the same. Good coaches. Good people. Decent teams. Big failures on the big stage. Never able to win the one that they really need. Maybe it really is Reggie Part II. Time will tell.

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