Definitely agree, but right now Buffalo is living it, along with adding a 4 star this year.....sighs

We had talked about that in our "Bobcat Attack Media Days" (sorry had to get a plug for our sponsors) about how they brought back a great nucleus and got the one kid from Prolific Prep (same HS as Gary Trent Jr.)

Nonetheless, the press missed the boat on Buffalo. We'll see where the Bobcats end up but I do not like where the colts are currently breaking against the fighting Beefs

I realize that many on the board will unequivocally say that the 1994-95 team was the greatest Bobcat team that ever played in the Convo. However, let's give some love to the 1985-86 Bobcat squad with the Dynamic Duo Freshmen Paul "Snoopy Graham" and Dave Jamerson who both spent a few years in the NBA. The 1986 Wednesday night home match-up with the then Miami Redskins featuring Ron Harper is tied for the most electric crowd I have ever seen in a mid week game (the other is the 1983 phenomenal double OT win against then powerhouse DePaul and their legendary coach Ray Meyer who took the DePaul to the Final Four in 1943!)

Bobsquared was curious about their one year difference in graduating classes. It is almost forgotten that Dave Jamerson suffered an injury in between his freshman and sophomore years. Coach Billy Hahn took over from Coach Danny Nee, and one can only wonder what must have gone through Jamerson's mind as he sat out the season. While Jamerson and Graham got a great deal of accolades their freshman year, one cannot forget the amazing play of seniors Paul Baron and Robert Tatum (the hero behind the first round 1983 NCAA tournament winning shot against Illinois State,) and sophomores Big John Rhodes and Marty Lehman. With that kind of talent and the recruiting connections Nee was making around the state and the East Coast, it's no wonder why he made the statement that had he stayed in Athens he now believes he could have taken the Bobcats to the Final Four.

It will be interesting to see how many of these players follow Nate Oats to Penn State next year.

(And how Jeff Boals will do taking over Buffalo with whoever is left.)

Oats can do better? PSU would be a more questionable move than Groce to Illinois and look how that turned out.

Or, Oats talked to Danny Nee who has said in retrospect he wished he'd stayed at OHIO and built a national powerhouse in the roundhouse. Just saying . . .

Illinois worked out just fine for Groce. Made several million and then ended up right back where he was before he left. At a mid major with a nice salary.

If a middling P5 school like Penn State offers Oats $1+ million per year he will take it and it will be the smart decision. MAC basketball is not a long term win for a coach. There is no loyalty in the MAC either. If you catch fire and win some NCAA games and stay and then don’t win the MAC for a few years you will be out. So, take your MAC team to the to the NCAA and then get to P5 land and get your $.

But hey, maybe Buffalo will pay $1.5 million and keep Oats. Would be pretty cool if it happened.

Up late after "midnight basketball,' eh?

I agree with your comments. I don't get the constant theme on here where various posters tell coaches what they should do, or even worse make point blank predictions about what they will do, without even a "probably" as a qualifier. I don't know Oats; I don't know his long-term goals. I do think it's presumptuous to assume we know how they will react in a hypothetical situation in the future.

Yes, I think he feels it worked out just fine. I didn't say "great". I said "just fine".

I assume these guys know the business. They know you get 4 years and then you get fired. They want to get that chance.

Groce got his chance, and got paid $5 million. Its not like Groce was winning Big10 titles (or even contending) and lots of NCAA games and got screwed or something. He probably thinks his firing was premature. But, that's the NCAA. I'm sure it stings. But, he made his $ and then landed another head coaching job.

Nate Oats surely had bigger things in mind than a fleeting chance. What coach doesn't?

But, when it doesn't work out and you still made $5+ million and then you are still making $500K as a head coach in mid-major land and if you do well you have another shot at making $1million, you are having a nice life. Things are definitely just fine.

Anyway, just my opinion.

Maybe St. Johns or Rugters instead of Penn State for Oats... Or, maybe the Miami Hurricanes if their coach retires.... Anyway that dude is gonna get his shot for sure, eh?

That 85/86 team was a helluva lot of fun to watch.

You didn't get to see Ball State take UNLV to the wire; perhaps could have been a final four team? That Cardinal team would get my vote.

Agreed. That was a vastly better era for the whole conference, and that was a really great team.

Read "The Upset that Nearly Was" section. The part about UNLV players wearing Ball State hats to the Final Four is classic. https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2015-03-...

Has any other school tried to offer Nate a position?