BIG FOUR BRIEFING: UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO BULLS
Today we begin a four-part series highlighting the four NCAA Division I athletic departments in Western New York. We begin with the University at Buffalo Bulls, who come off an athletic season of two Mid-American Conference Championships, plus a Bowl win in football, and a WNIT Championship victory in Women’s Basketball.
2024-25 Mid American Conference Champions
Men’s Tennis, Women’s Tennis
Postseason Champions
Football - Bahama’s Bowl Champions
Women’s Basketball - WNIT Champions
I spoke with Vice President and Director of Athletics Mark Alnutt to discuss the State of the Bulls:
Jack Kreuzer: Joined by Mark Allnut, vice president at the University at Buffalo, Director of Athletics, Mark, thanks for the time. First and foremost, I'm sure, even though the athletic season is winding down, this has still got to be a busy time for you.
Mark Alnutt: Well, Jack, hey, as always, thank you for having me and you know, opportunity to chat with you a little bit and talk about UB athletics, but as we dig into this conversation, I know we'll talk about just the current and evolving NCAA landscape.
JK: Yeah, before we get to the recent settlement, let's look back on the last year under, well, the previous NIL regime, if you will. With this last season, so much success at the University at Buffalo in athletics: The WNIT [Championship] the women's basketball team, the Bahamas Bowl victory in football, the tennis teams both won MAC titles… When you look back at this year, what stands out as the Hallmark to the 24-25 campaign?
MA: Wow. I mean, you just mentioned a few, a few very successful campaigns that we had through various programs here in our department. You know, before I get to that Hallmark, you know, I have to look at it from a chronological order standpoint. And we even look at the fall, we look at, you know, what soccer was able to do, you know, defeating a top 10 program at Pitt, and then, you know, going through the season and being able to participate in the MAC championship match volleyball. With the job that Scott Smith has done with that program to really make it a consistent top four program in the Mac the past three years. So again, they had a very successful season. You mentioned football under a first year head coach and Pete Lembo, you know, having an increased wins of six games over the previous year being in the mix, so to speak, of the championship game in Detroit and ending up going to the Bahamas Bowl. And you won that game, which, as we understand, is the last Bahamas bowl game, potentially. So you know, we've gone down there and won two trophies in the Caribbean.
You talk about women's basketball, you know, what an incredible run of going to the WNIT and being able to just see that team, you know, grow and progress, and the fight, the tenacity, the resolve to be able to get To the final game against a Troy team that we open up the season with and in front of a sellout here in alumni arena and take home the trophy. Just what an exciting time there. And when you then go to the spring, you had the opportunity to watch a men's program which the previous year didn't even win Mid America Conference match. You know, only lose one Mid American Conference match in the season, regular season champion, and then won the won the Mac tournament to go ahead and proceed to the NCAA, and then the women's tennis program, as well being in a position to be the fourth seed, and then have to go through that championships as the fourth seed, where you play the first seed, knock them off, and then you play the second seed, knock them off, and then be able to go NCAA. So when you look at it, very successful year, and those are just the sports that I mentioned, you can look at some of the other sports and the improvements and progress that they've made, or some individual efforts, but really an exciting time at UB athletics.
And when we talk about the ‘hallmark,’ you know, it's really tough to pick one, but, but in this case, you know, the W and its run was very, very special. It was something that really captivated, you know, Western New York, you know, I feel it unified this university, you know, the city of Buffalo, this area, as you saw, just the crowds, you know, increasing by each round, to get to sell out, to get that, that national recognition to be the first program in basketball history to win, you know, a postseason tournament is something that's that's very Special, and something that's always going to resonate with me.
JK: Let's start right there with women's basketball. When you look back on the Becky Burke era as a whole, I mean, this is one of the coaches that you've seen just in your tenure as Director of Athletic from the hiring process to replacing process. When you look back at the Becky Burke era, how do you measure a successful hire in the money sports within such a short amount of time?
MA: Yeah. I mean, you know, I look at it as you know, it was a critical hire for us. We were replacing Coach [Felishia Legette-]Jack, who had the opportunity to go to Syracuse, go back to our home. Hometown, we had tremendous momentum with women's basketball, and, you know, gave us the opportunity to try to go out and identify and recruit, you know, a basketball coach that we felt could, you know, sustain the level of success that coach Jack had. And when you look at it, going through that process, being able to find coach Burke and the plan that she had.
You go through year one, you have some road bumps, so to speak, but we're able to rebound from that. And year two was solid, going to the MAC finals. And then year three didn't make it to the championship game for the MAC tournament. But, you know, had the opportunity to go the W and it so when you when you look at it, you're obviously proud of what Coach Burke was able to do here, and be able to again, like I've mentioned, you know, sustain the success of the previous regime, and that gave her opportunity to go to Arizona.
And the exciting thing about it is, when you have that opportunity to do that and find a coach to replace a coach Burke. You know, the thing that I'm so proud of is being able to, you know, identify and recruit you know, someone who is an alum, a two time alum here, someone that was, you know, heavily involved, you know, under Coach Jack here, here at Buffalo, and then obviously, you know her right hand person at Syracuse, and the willingness for Coach Sharkey to come back and lead this program, and the plan that she has for women's basketball program for the future, and what she explained to us during the interview process and what she's put together now in person, matched and was spot On, actually, kind of, you know, exceeded some of our expectations. So, you know, we look forward to, you know, seeing our women's basketball program continue to have that sustained success under under a new coach, and
JK: Coach Sharkey, when you have a coach move on to a power five position, can you just clue me in on how the money works? Coach Burke had the contract extension from the year prior that went on for a few more years. So where does that buy-out money go? Does it go directly to women's basketball? How does it help UB?
MA: Yeah, so what happens is, when a coach does have about, in this case, like Coach, like Coach Burke, did you know we have a system in place that, you know, that money does go back to women's basketball, the majority of it does. And why I say majority of them, because there's, you know, obviously, you know, we talked about from a program standpoint and a transition standpoint, yes, but then when we also talk about, you know, being able to do some other things, you know, for the department that you know would help, even you know, build upon what we're doing for women's basketball. It's all it's all key. So anytime you have that transition, and it's someone leaves prior to their terms are up, you know, we have that opportunity to utilize that monies for to help you know, that particular program and also athletic department,
JK: So Coach Sharkey directly will benefit from coming here, not just as being a head coach, but from who she gets to replace. Is that correct?
MA: Yeah, that's correct. Because, again, there's costs associated with that. When you look at moving costs, and you look at temporary housing that you know these monies are for when you have, you know, graphics, for example, that might have been, you know, from the previous coach. Now you know, Coach Sharkey has opportunity to maybe want to change some of these graphics and personalize it more so for my program, instead of the previous program, or there might be, you know, some, some program needs that you know the new coach, in this case, Coach shark might have what we can utilize those monies for as well.
JK: So we know all the positives with head coach Kristen Sharkey coming back like you mentioned, former UB player, former UB assistant coach. She was so adamant in her opening press conference on how much buffalo as a city, and UB specifically means to her, I've never heard a coach return somewhere and so genuinely feel so deeply connected with a school, I think since Felicia Leggett Jack went back to Syracuse and had a similar sentiment, but with all those positives that come with Coach Sharkey and all the recruiting that she's done already to put a team together in the span of really two months. Were there any reservations in the hiring process going from the success that was coach Burke, where she had a ton of head coaching experience, to coach Sharkey, who this will be her first time as a head coach.
MA: I think when you go through the process, you know, it's one of those things where you're not just focused on one person, your folks, you're focused on a collection of individuals, and each individual brings you know their strengths, you know, to the table, whether they are a, you know, sitting head coach. So whether they are a high level assistant coach that maybe was a former head coach, or maybe they're to your point, you know, this would be their first opportunity to to move that slide one seat over and be a head coach. And when you go through a process like that, you know, it's more so being able to, you know, ask the hard questions to get to know that person more. You know, obviously have conversations with various references, and then at the end of the day, see who you know is going to sit on top of that list. And in this case, I put all the two time alum, former student athletes here as an assistant coach under Coach Jack, I put all that to the side, and I was just mainly concentrated on, you know, Coach Sharkey, the person. Coach Sharkey the coach, and what was her plan for UB, and at the end of the day, you know that obviously put her over the top to be the next head coach here for UB.
JK: You've had some big home runs with hiring. Pete Lembo, I think, is at the top of that list. I know we're really just over a year since you made that hiring, since Pete came to town, but resoundingly, I think nationwide that has been viewed as a success. Did you expect a nine win season, a Bowl win in year number one? How has Pete lived up to expectations so far?
MA: Yeah, exceeded expectations. No, I'd be lying if I told you that, we would be wrapping up year one with, with nine wins. The one thing that I did anticipate is for us to be able to get back to a bowl game, you know, whether that's six wins, seven wins, or what have you I felt that, you know, bringing in the right person and the right staff and support staff to be able to, you know, work with Coach limbo, to be able to implement his program. And when you look at the roster that we, that we had and and building that, that culture in the locker room, I truly felt that, you know, we had the opportunity to have some success. I also believe that, you know, one characteristic of coach Limbo is just his active engagement, you know, with our community, whether it's on campus here or in Western New York. You know, he has a sincere desire to build relationships here in Western New York, to drum up support for the program, whether it's from, from a donor perspective, whether it's from, you know, a ticket buying perspective, or even if it's from, you know, being able to help program and whatever, whatever means. And you know, he's, he's, he's done that at a high level. And you know, that's something that in this day and age that a head coach needs to, needs to do, and he's doing it, you know, like he should. And truly feel this paying dividends for not only just our football program, but for our athletic department.
JK: With the marquee sport football being, you know, getting the most attention across the country, certainly in Western New York, it's got to be nice in your seat when you can have a guy like Pete Lembo in charge. And do you almost not think about them as much, because, you know, they're taken care of these days.
MA: Yeah, yeah, no, no, for sure. I think it's, it's good to have a veteran coach, you know, like that, that he's been there, he's done that, he's had success at every level that he's that he's been and, you know, he's the one where, you know, we have a great working relationship, a great partnership in there. You have to have a partnership in this day and age in terms of to be able to, you know, not just maintain success, but but grow our success. So, you know, he's definitely one. And you know, I mentioned some of our coaches that are like that where, you know, we're, we're in a good spot, and, you know, whatever we can do first looking at myself, and then, you know, obviously, you know, our community to be able to pour into this program to even make it even better than the nine win season that we had this past year.
JK: Couple fun games on the schedule this year for football, Minnesota, Troy, Yukon, and then obviously, the max schedule. What are expectations for year two of the limbo era?
MA: Yeah, like, like I mentioned, I mean, we want to have that sustained success. And, you know, for us, you know, a bowl game should always be something that, that we aspire to get to, but, but also to, you know, our goal should be to, you know, be a participant in the Mac championship game, and that gives us, obviously, an opportunity to, you know, win a championship, and even put more of a spotlight, you know, on our program. And you know, it takes a lot of work from many people outside, not just in the football program itself, but outside of the program. But you know, that's our expectation. So, so year two, you. Let's, let's, first and foremost, you know, get to a bowl game, and then, you know, obviously, let's position ourselves to win a championship in Detroit as well.
JK: We've seen players like specifically for football, Nick McMillan an unfortunate injury early in last season, but he's become a huge name at UB you look back on UBS history in football, and it seems like every, you know, few years or so, you get a local high school product, big at UT, and it, you know, elevates their career beyond University. How big is, specifically for football, but then across all sports recruiting in the local area.
MA: It's huge, you know, to be able to build those relationships again. You've heard me say, talk about relationships a couple times here, in this in this conversation, you know, that's, that's key. You know, you look back to what Pete did in his first couple days on the job here was, you know, his first outreach was not, you know, trying to, you know, contact coaches, you know, in Ohio, in New Jersey, or the DMV, or whatever the case might be. It was really going out and personally meeting, you know, some of the top programs here in Western New York, whether that's, you know, a Bennett or Canisius or St Francis or Lancaster, or whatever the case is, to be able to start building those relationships.
And also, you know, for Western New York to see that, you know, there is an opportunity for, you know, high level student athletes to come to UB and perform well, whether it's Joe Andreessen, who was a transfer from Bryant, but a Lancaster product, you know what he did his senior year to be able to position him to make the bills roster, you know, we can talk about Sean dolak. You know is, is another one that, you know, he's a, he's a local West Seneca [East product] that really had an incredible career for us. And you mentioned Nick McMillan, you know, as well. Unfortunately, season cut short, but you know, he's going to be back stronger than ever the second year. James McNeil is a person I can bring up, a time and product and running back that, you know, I think he's going to have a bright future. So those are just, you know, some of the many names that we have here. But when you look at it from an overall sports standpoint, you know, building those relationships, being able to find, you know, those, those key folks, is critical, you know, to our success.
It goes across all sports. Of course, we've already seen that with Coach Sharkey the women's basketball team, bringing, you know, anytime there's a McDuffie, you assume there's got to be a connection in Buffalo, so to speak, the women's basketball team will be exciting. But I mentioned it for football because you're the only division one football program in Western New York. You gotta get out to Syracuse, the other way down I 90 to get to another d1 football program. So just great, great to hear that there's a focus on looking at the the big programs, the small programs, whatever they are, within buffalo, to find that local talent and keep them here
JK: Let's move to a place that I'm sure you've got a lot of focus on men's basketball with the changing landscape in college athletics. This will be year three for George Halcovage III, the third year as Head Coach: Four wins in year one, Nine in year two, They doubled conference wins between the two seasons.
What have you seen in terms of growth from when you first interviewed a once assistant coach at Villanova to now working, you know, side by side with going on year three with Coach Halcovage, how has he changed and developed over the last two years since becoming a head coach?
MA: Yeah, I think you're always learning on the job. And as you mentioned with Coach Sharkey, it is. It's more than just moving over one seat from an associate head coach to head coach. So you know, you learn and you grow at the same token. And I feel you know very well that we're in a good spot with the program. I mean, you mentioned the wins, which I know people out there listening like, gosh, that's not that much at all. But you've seen progress from year one to year two, and I expect to see more progress, you know, from year two to year eight, year three. You know, I also believe that now, with this new era of rev share from the house settlement, that you know, we're going to be more engaged and more involved in regards to, you know, what we can be able to provide, you know, our revenue producing programs, you know, moving forward, that's going to help us, you know, from a competition standpoint, and that's, that's one thing that we truly haven't had the last two years, particularly in men's men's basketball. That we're going to have, you know, this upcoming year, and I shouldn't say this upcoming year.
But in regards to, as we went through the recruiting cycle this year, being able to, you know, work with George, for him, to be able to identify, you know, those prospects that can come in here and, you know, be high level prospects. You know, force, and it's been very helpful. So I'm excited for that continued growth in year three. You know, look at, from a staffing standpoint to very similar to when you look at on women's side with Coach Burke, you know, we have a couple new assistant coaches that are, that are now with the with the program that I feel going to bring some, some added value and some some assistance with, with George as he begins year three of his tenure.
JK: What is the benchmark for a successful season for men's basketball this coming year?
MA: I think getting back to Cleveland. I think that should be something, as I mentioned, with football, going to a Bowl game every year. We should be in position to get to Cleveland, and being able to play our best basketball while in Cleveland, to give us an opportunity to win a championship. But as we look at how we've been progressing, you know, I see that steady progress for us to be in position to be in Cleveland this upcoming year.
JK: With that, we can use this as a launch pad into our last topic of discussion here, Turner battle moves from the broadcast booth so to say to now general manager of The basketball program on the men's side. With the changes in college athletics, we went from the n, i l collective that was kind of the work around for the universities to get funds directly from donors and then use those to help the programs individually. Now with the new settlement in house versus NCAA, the schools can directly pay the athletes. So with Turner's new position that's been created this summer, and these changes all financially behind the scenes, what does Turner's job look like in year one, and how can it help the men's basketball program in the short and long term.
MA: Yeah, you know, so excited that we were able to get Turner back here at UB. You know, we've had several conversations over the past year about, you know, opportunities as they present himself, and what role would I see him, you know, here, and when this opportunity presented itself, he was the ideal candidate for this general manager spot, you know, as as we see it here for him, as you look at Turner bits, just such a great connector, you know, out there, and being able to work with George to connect, you know, George and our program with with alums here at University at Buffalo. He has a tremendous network from a basketball sense, as well being a long time assistant coach that's out there.
I look at it's just an added asset, you know, for the men's basketball program, in regards to being able to, you know, connect folks to the program, get people more involved with the program. You know, being able to be an additional person. Regards to, you know, when the transfer portal does open up next year, Hey, who are some people that you know we need to be looking at? And again, George and his and his coaching staff will have all that covered, but it doesn't. It doesn't hurt to have, you know, additional resources there. So you know, the role too, is be, you know, being able to, you know, get to know our kids, and then being able to, you know, for him to be able to relate to them. Being a former student athlete here, again, just an additional voice that helps there. And even when you look at the recruiting process too, being able to be involved, you know, with those families that come here on campus, as I mentioned, as a person who's been here, done that you know, person that can, you know, provide some incredible insight feedback on what it is to be a basketball student athlete here at UB.
JK: So how does this new settlement affect the Nickel City collective, the NIL collective that was founded just within the last couple years to now, when I look at the website, I see these excellence funds?
MA: Yes. So we're going to be releasing it and it's coming here very soon, hopefully. I don't know when this is going to be released, Jack, but before July 1, we are going to be transitioning what we currently have from blue and white fund to Bulls. Championship Fund, which is really essentially going to sink all of our external areas together, in regards to donations, in regards to ticket sales, in regards to sponsorships, we are going to communicate that at a high level in regards to what you're giving. Can do so the excellence funds will still be be there, but now people can give directly to our championship fund, and then we can direct those those monies to the appropriate to the appropriate place as we've gone through this, if I personally have gone through this the last couple years with ni l, you know, there wasn't a high degree of comfort level from a lot of our our donors, our fans, to give to collective, but there's a huge comfort level in terms of giving to the university.
So I feel that this will help. You know, as we, as we move forward, so more to come there, but there, there will be announcement, you know, forthcoming in regards to, you know, what this looks like and how people can help and to answer your one question, you know, at that appropriate time the Nickel City collective will be shut down, and everything will be transitioned over to to the university.
JK: I don't need you to name any names, and I'm sure you won't, but is it a conversation already, with that settlement, where current players, those in the portal, of any sport are directly asking for a contract with money attached to them from a mid-major program like UB?
MA: Oh yeah, it's happening. It is definitely happening. You know, especially as we, and when I say we, I'm talking about every, every school in the nation, every FBS school and and basketball playing school in the nation where, you know, those questions were asked, you know, things were put into place, so to speak, in regards to preparation, to what July 1 will look like. So it's one thing that you know, we're coming into July 1 prepared, obviously, through, you know, proactive discussions to be able to get this thing up and running with, with our campus folks, with SUNY, so on and so forth. So yeah, it's definitely no surprise, and definitely conversations have have been had throughout, and we feel very good regards to where we are, and, you know, our our incoming student athletes feel very good in terms of what we are able to do for them, moving forward and current, I should say, also current student athletes as well. Because this is also, as you've heard read, you know, it's not just about recruiting. It's also about, you know, retaining retainment as well,
JK: With these changes behind the scenes with finances. What's your vision for the university's athletic department for the next 10 years? How does this affect UB athletics in the long term?
MA: I see it as a growth opportunity. I think this is a tremendous opportunity for us to be that quote, unquote, you know, front porch of the university. We're definitely not the, you know, the largest entity on campus, maybe not the most important entity on campus, but we are, at times, the most visible entity on campus. So with us being able to all come together, pull together, uh, all kind of row that boat, so to speak, in the same, same direction and in sync, you know, we'll be able to have, you know, that period of growth that that we've had, very similar to the last 10 years here at UB athletics. When you look at 2015 to now, you see that success that UB was able to have, that you know, we didn't have that success prior to that.
And when you look across the board for all of our sports. So, you know, there's, there's opportunities abound, and it's something that we have to all be committed to, and we all have to embrace it, you know, if we, if, if we are out there saying, Hey, we don't like this, this new era of collegiate athletics, this and that, you know, we're going to be left behind. And you know, there are those times where, you know, I think change is a good thing. Change is obviously something that's going to benefit our student athletes, particularly their experience here at UB. And I think also being able to provide opportunities for us to see, you know, increase successes, and being able to build this, this program, to one that is, you know, one of the tops in the Mid American Conference. Because when you look at what our community is and what we can do as a university, that's a top 35 public university, that's flagship university of state of New York, and also a member of the AAU, you know, we have opportunities to have. Tremendous, tremendous success, which I'm excited about, what the next 10 years could potentially look like.
OUTRO
This has been The Scoreboard, presented by Zenner and Ritter Heating and Cooling for Monday June 23rd. I’m Jack Kreuzer for Buffalo Toronto Public Media Sports.
