Witherspoon Named MAC Coach of the Year by MAC Report Online

10th-year head coach led Bulls to first MAC regular season title

Reggie Witherspoon

BUFFALO, NY – University at Buffalo men's basketball head coach Reggie Witherspoon was named the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year by MAC Report Online. Witherspoon took a UB squad that went 10-20 (3-13 MAC ) a season ago to 19-10 and 11-5 in the MAC this season. The Bulls earned a share of the MAC regular season title for the first time in school history.

Witherspoon took a team that was picked to finish last in the preseason poll to 19 wins - the most regular season wins in school history. The 11 conference wins tied for the most in school history.

The Bulls started strong out of the gate, claiming the Rainbow Classic tournament in Hawaii for their first in-season tournament championship in nearly 15 years.

Witherspoon made several key personnel moves this season, but none paid off more than moving Rodney Pierce to the off-guard position where he averaged 14.7 points per game and was one of the strongest players down the stretch in the MAC, earning first-team All-MAC honors. Another key decision was moving Greg Gamble to the point guard spot. Gamble averaged 9.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game and was named All-MAC Honorable Mention.

Witherspoon also made ample use of the Bulls' interior strengths as Buffalo topped the MAC in offensive rebounds and was second in cleaning up the defensive glass and far outdistanced any other MAC squad in rebounding margin.

The Bulls earned the third seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming MAC Tournament. They will play the winner of the Kent State/Northern Illinois game on Thursday at 2:30 pm at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena.