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BUFFALO, NY - Forward Mark Bortz, a 6-9, 230-pound native of Commerce Township, MI, has signed a national letter of intent to continue his athletic and academic endeavors at the University at Buffalo, it was annouced by men's basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon today.

Bortz' signing comes on the second day of the NCAA national signing period which runs until May 15th and is the Bulls' second commitment for the 2001-2002 season. Point guard Turner Battle, of Kernersville, NC, signed an early letter of intent to attend UB in November.

Bortz was listed among the top 30 players in the state of Michigan at Class A (the highest level of basketball in the state) by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan and was a first-team All-Metro North Detroit selection by the Detroit Free Press. Bortz led his Walled Lake Central team to a 22-2 record and the regional semifinals by averaging 15.5 points, 14.2 rebounds, 5.0 blocks and 3.1 assists per game. He shot 57.4% from the floor for head coach Bob Shoemaker, who said of him: "For his size, he's an excellent passer and a tremendous shot blocker. He plays the point on our press and runs the whole floor."

Bortz, who has a grade point average of 3.77, will enroll in UB's Business Administration program in the fall. He chose Buffalo over Central Michigan, Detroit Mercy, Marquette, Drake and Western Michigan, among others. He also earned a spot on the Oakland County Dream Team this year, was chosen to compete in the Michigan All-Star Game on June 23 and was nominated for the McDonald's All-American Team. He earned four letters for the Vikings and was twice a captain.

"I think it's great that we went into the middle of MAC territory and pulled out a great get," said Witherspoon. "We competed against some very good programs with rich basketball traditions and we were able to show him why Buffalo is a great fit for him and why he would want to compete in the classroom against some of the best business students in the country in a curriculum ranked in the Top 25 in the nation.

"Mark's vision for baketball is where ours is," said Witherspoon. "He's a big guy who can score, he's got good hands and he passes the ball very well. His temperament on the floor is what we look for and he doesn't back down from anybody. He shoots the ball and rebounds the ball very well. One of the reasons why he didn't get more attention was because he had an injury (a fractured kneecap suffered in his junior season) which prevented him from playing last summer in an evaluation period. We're very excited to have him here at Buffalo."