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Buffalo Men's Basketball recruiting class highlights early signing period

Your one-stop shop for UB's newest commitments across all sports.

By Matt Gritzmacher

The Early Signing Period for prospective student-athletes begins next today and lasts for a week. A few sports - Football is the most notable exception, but Soccer and Men's Water Polo also wait until February - won't see NLIs right now, and recruits can still sign after April 13th, but we'll get a good idea of who's coming in over the middle of the month.

This is mostly a duplicate post of one from last week, but it will serve today and for the next week as an updating source for UB's commits across all sports as they sign their NLI and are announced on Twitter and by the school. If you see something, drop it in the comments (I'll be doing the same) and I'll update the body of the post as I'm able.

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Men's Basketball

This is the reason most of you are here, and it's a good one. Nate Oats already has a full class booked to come in next season, and we should see all four names come in next week. It's the first-year head coach's first full recruiting cycle, and it's a big one, perhaps the strongest in program history.

Quate McKinzie, PF, Burgaw, NC

Rated by ESPN as a top-40 power forward, McKinzie will join Nick Perkins down low, providing aggressive defense and an athletic motor at both ends. His ratings and home state will remind you of Titus Robinson, but McKinzie is bigger-bodied and more defensively minded than Titus was. On both ends of the floor, expect him to finish plays strong.

UPDATE: McKinzie is in:

Jalen Harris, PG, Wilson, NC

Harris and McKinzie both visited Buffalo on the same weekend, and by October 5th both North Carolina three-stars had committed to Buffalo. Harris is a dynamic creator with the ball who has a little more scoring touch than Lamonte Bearden. At the time of his commitment he had six offers, including DePaul and Providence, but was also attracting attention from nearly a dozen ACC, SEC, and Big XII programs. 247 ranks him as a top-60 point guard, nationally, and Scout has made noise this summer that a strong senior season could vault Harris into a top-100 rating nationally.

James Jones, SG, Chicago, IL

Jones is the lowest-rated of UB's class, but would be a gem in most years since I've been following the program. He committed mere days after his official visit, and it doesn't take much searching to find accolades for Jones from basketball-savvy commenters in Chicago and Illinois. His coach is hyping him as more talented than a former teammate now at UMass, and it seems he found a confidence boost in spring ball that has analysts preparing for a big step forward as a senior, perhaps as the top two-guard in the state.

I can't find video for him, but click through the link for a whole lot of good press.

Brock Bertram, C, Apple Valley, MN

Bertram plays with a ton of high-major talent at Apple Valley, and weirdly flew under the radar offer-wise, deciding like Jones to commit to Buffalo just days after his official visit and over an intriguing mix of schools: Miami, Green Bay, LaSalle, and Texas Tech (He has reported interest from a number of Big Ten schools for some time).

A third consensus three-star in the class, Bertram is rated by 247 and ESPN as a top-30 center and is considered by everyone a top-five player in Minnesota. At 7-0, he'll be the tallest Bull since Andrew Atman and the first true center since Mitchell Watt.

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UPDATE: Two days later, and Bertram and McKinzie have signed. Word of God Academy is traveling to Kansas for a game, so I don't anticipate word soon from Jalen Harris. I haven't seen anything from Bogan for James Jones.

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Women's Basketball

Theresa 'Tessy' Onwuka, F, Lake Forest, IL

UB only has a single senior this year, so Onwuka is likely the only name we see until possible defections next spring. She's had a circuitous route to Lake Forest Academy, traveling from her home country of Nigeria to Lee Academy (same school as Rodell Wigginton) thanks to an organization called WorldPlayerID before moving to Chicago prior to last season.

On the court, Onwuka draws praise for her athleticism and highly polished post moves, and averaged roughly 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 blocks as a junior. Prior to her commitment she spent time working on her shot in the club circuit and led Lake Forest Academy to a 21-3 record last year.

No video for Onwuka, unfortunately.

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UPDATE:

Tessy has signed with the Bulls. Nothing particularly new in the press release.

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Volleyball

Scout McLerran, S, Knoxville, TN

McLerran committed to Buffalo back in June and has at setter been a part of three consecutive state champions at the Webb School.

Kristina Curcin, MB (?), Ontario

There's precious little on Curcin other than the club team she plays for, but she does have a decent-looking highlight video and looks like she stands at least 6-1.

Hannah Watson, OH, Canton, OH

I included Watson in last year's version of this post, but only realized this week that she was only a junior at the time. Though we haven't heard anything of Watson, news articles from this season still reference her as a UB commit.

We also at this time last year knew of Jessi Holly in the class of 2016, but the last article to connect her with UB was written in September 2014. I am uncertain that either Holly or Watson are on the way.

Lauren Slavoski, OH, Wilkes-Barre, PA

Slavoski is the most recent commitment on this list, announced by her high school just last month. She plays for something of a regional powerhouse that has this week advanced to their district finals.

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UPDATE: Volleyball has announced a four-woman class, which includes Curcin, Watson, McLerran and Cincinnati-area Outside Hitter Taina Benitez, who comes from the same program as former great Dani Reinart and current Women's Basketball freshman Kandance Satterwhite. A highlight video:

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Men's and Women's Tennis

The men this season have four seniors (of seven!), the women just one, so I'm sure we'll know new names eventually. Whether any sign this week remains to be seen.

Wrestling

Logan Rill, Maryland

Rill is the younger brother of current Bull Tyler, but will compete at a higher weight class, perhaps 197, for UB.

Matt Seitz, New York

Seitz will likely wrestle for UB at 133 or 141, already has numerous connections to the team, and earned All-America honors at the NHCA Junior Nationals last year.

Ryan Peters, New Hampshire

Peters won a New England Championship at 145 pounds last year and committed to UB in early September.

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UPDATE: Seitz, Rill, and a new name are in, still waiting on Peters. Will have some news for Arceri soon.

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Swimming and Diving

Anna Vitolins, Breaststroke, Glenville, NY

Vitolins is a New York-based breaststroker who would currently be competitive among the Bulls in the 100 but lag behind in the 200.

Andrea Ernst, Free, Back, and Fly, Orchard Park, NY

Ernst is versatile and perhaps the best swimmer in Western New York right now. Her commitment kind of flew under my radar until yesterday, but she'd likely compete for a relay spot in freestyle sprints and provide at a minimum solid depth in the other strokes.

Joey Puglessi, Back, Ada, MI

Puglessi will add to the Men's team's growing depth in the non-freestyle strokes, and he could step in immediately as UB's top backstroker, as each of his 100 and 200 best times would place him in the top-ten all time at UB right now.

Grace Baumer, Breast, Honeoye Falls, NY

Link One. Link Two.

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UPDATE: Vitolins and Baumer have signed as of Friday.

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Softball

Softball only graduates two seniors this coming year, and though it's not a headcount sport, I know of two right now for 2016.

Clarence IF Gabby Keller was fourth-team All-NYS in Class AA last year:

Catcher Jessica Goldyn's been committed for some time. She was named Second Team All-Region this past summer. Scroll to the bottom of this page for some glowing endorsements.

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UPDATE: Softball's class is finalized, and it includes Pittsburgh-area catcher Ufuoma Ogagan, who will play outfield for the Bulls. I had found Ufuoma's commitment in the comments, but now that I connect her name and 'Pittsburgh,' I remember we knew about her over a year ago.

Anyway, Ogagan also plays club softball for the Pittsburgh Power and was named First Team All-Section by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

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Baseball

Baseball, on the other hand, has plenty of names we already know about, though few articles written about them.

Bo Nesci, C

Wyatt Myers, IF

Jeff Palczewski,

Michael O'Connor, IF

Caleb Kish, P

Rob Mealey, P

Cross Country and Track and Field

Sami Mirchin announced her commitment a little over two weeks ago. Her cross country times aren't off the hook, but she's a valuable in-state recruit:

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