I spoke to the father of former Nichols basketball star Will Regan, and he told me his son has committed to play basketball at the University at Buffalo next season after spending his freshmen year at the University of Virginia.
Regan will make things official later today.
Because he is transferring from Virginia, Regan will have to sit out the 2011-12 college basketball season and will still have three years of eligibility remaining. The two-time Buffalo News Player of the Year in high school, Regan played in 20 games for Virginia last season but scored a total of just 25 points to go with 18 rebounds as his playing time was nearly non-existent.
“It came down to a comfort level for Will,” his father said. ”He’s known the coaches since he started attending their camps in 6th grade or so. They’ve seen him play countless times and know what he does well, and they plan to take plan to take full advantage of his strengths.”
Will Regan Transferring To UB – continue reading…
If the Buffalo Sabres are to eliminate the Philadelphia Flyers from the playoffs today, they will definitely have to do it without Jason Pominville. who’s been ruled out with a leg injury.
Buffalo News columnist Bucky Gleason says that silence has been gold for the Sabres on the road.
The Buffalo Bills know they need to get this draft right, Chuck Pollock of the Olean Times Herald writes.
Buffalo Rumblings takes an extensive look at how Patrick Peterson may fit the Bills from a schematic point of view. Der Jaeger’s series on prospects continue to be an excellent read.
The Daily Links – April 24, 2011 – continue reading…
Did former Buffalo Bills great Andre Reed accidently tip the team’s hand about wanting to select Charlie Ponder with their second draft pick?
Will it matter? Adam Schefter thinks both Ponder and Andy Dalton will likely get selected in the first round.
Buffalo Bills scouts talk about Von Miller and Marcell Dareus. They also talk about a number of other prospects, with video clips all over the page.
Joe Buscaglia from WGR has his latest mock draft published. Going with the majority of opinion of late, he selects Von Miller to Buffalo with the third overall pick.
The Daily Links – April 22, 2011 – continue reading…
Will Regan was one of the biggest high school basketball starts to come out of Western New York in several years, leading Nichols to a State Federation Championship and earning Buffalo News Player of the Year honors for the second straight year in 2010. Regan took his talents to the University of Virginia, but apparently wasn’t happy there and is now headed back to the Buffalo area to continue his career.
Jonah Bronstein of the Niagara Gazette reported first that Regan has announced he’s leaving Virginia, though he will stay there to complete his academic work for the next two weeks.
The University at Buffalo and Niagara University are two schools heavily in the mix for him to transfer too. His father Larry told Bronstein that he’s going to take a look at about a dozen programs.
Canisius and St. Bonaventure will not be in the mix.
Former WNY Hoops Star Leaving University Of Virginia – continue reading…
As we head down the stretch of the 2010-11 Western New York high school basketball season and into the playoffs, we did a little research to find out how some of the biggest stars from last year’s teams are doing in their first year of college.
Will Regan (Nichols): The WNY 2010 Co-Player of the Year, 2009 Player of the Year and three-time All-WNY selection took his talents to the University of Virginia after leading Nichols to a state title as a high school senior.
For his high school career, Regan set a Monsignor Martin Association record with 2,008 points.
He’s yet to get the chance to play a prominent role as a freshman for Virginia. Regan has appeared in 18 of the team’s 24 games, played an average of just 7.1 minutes per contest and is averaging only 1.4 points per game. He’s hit 11-of-26 shots from the field and 2-of-5 from the free throw line. Regan has pulled down 18 rebounds, eight on the offensive end and blocked five shots. He hasn’t appeared in a game since having a cameo against Maryland on January 27.
Last Year’s H.S. Hoops Stars: Where Are They Now? – continue reading…
The New York State boy’s basketball All-State teams are out and Western New York is especially well represented. Of the five class divisions, three represent an athlete from New York being named its respective Player of the Year.
Will Regan (Nichols) is the state’s Class-A Player of the Year while Darale Young (Middle College) captured the same honor in Class-C and Chris Secky (Maple Grove) in Class-D.
Regan and Secky were recently named the Western New York Co-Players of the Year by the Buffalo News.
Both Secky and Regan finished their careers by eclipsing the 2,000 point plateau. Secky finished with 2.067 points, good for ninth all-time in Western New York while Regan ended with 2,008. Both were key members for their state championship winning teams.
Regan, Young, Secky capture NYS Player of Year honors – continue reading…
Since the start of Buffalo Sports Daily last September, one of the things I’ve enjoyed the most over the first six months is covering high school basketball and Nichols in particular. As a diehard hoops fan residing in a city without a professional franchise and only borderline mid-major colleges, the high school scene gives me the hoops fix I often crave.
I got the chance to cover a lot of Nichols games this year and they’ve been a team that’s fascinated me. I’ve seen a lot of good teams over the years but there was something about this Vikings team that stood out. They seemed to be a complete team; strong play up front (Will Regan, Connor Vandegriff), good perimeter shooting (Stan Wier, Andrew MacKinnon), a true floor general running the point (Ron Canestro) and a coach (Greg Plumb) who’s basketball intelligence trickled down to his talented players. It had me wondering if the team I was impressed with all season could compete with and beat the very best in the entire state.
Nichols cap historic run with Federation championship – continue reading…
“I’ve played in, maybe four championships in my life and I’ve never lost one.”
That’s what Canisius guard Blair Helton, MVP of last year’s Manhattan Cup told reporters in the days leading up to this year’s final between his second ranked Crusaders and top ranked Nichols.
Unfortunately for the talented senior guard, he learned Sunday night there’s a first time for everything.
Helton scored a team-high 21 points but it wasn’t nearly enough for Canisius to compete with a totally balanced Nichols team. The Vikings never trailed after the first two minutes of the game and were rarely threatened en route to easily defeating Canisius 73-50 to capture this year’s Manhattan Cup.
Nichols captures Manhattan Cup with win over Canisius – continue reading…
With no disrespect intended for Section VI and their exciting playoff season now in full swing, Sunday night is as good as it gets for boys high school basketball. The Koessler Center at Canisius College is the venue 6pm Sunday as the top two ranked large schools in Western New York square off.
Number one Nichols faces second ranked Canisius in a rubber match and this time it’s for all the marbles. The winner will be crowned 2009-10 Manhattan Cup champion.
The teams have met twice this season. Canisius held serve at home in a squeaker and Nichols won the rematch in a big way at their own gym to end the regular season. The Vikings lost while Ron Canestro was nursing a broken pinky but was back for the second meeting.
Manhattan Cup Title Preview: Canisius vs Nichols – continue reading…
Congratulations to former Nichols high school star Christian Laettner, who yesterday was elected into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame.
Laettner joined Sidney Wicks, Jerry West and David Thompson, Tex Winter, Davey Whitney, Tom Jernstedt and Wayne Duke as the eight members voted into this year’s class.
The ceremony will take place November 21 in Kansas City.
Laettner won two NCAA championships while at Duke, including hitting one of the most famous shots in college history to defeat Kentucky in 1992. Duke went to the Final Four every season Laettner was there, won the MVP of the tournament as a junior and was the National Player of the Year as a senior.
Congratulations to Christian Laettner – continue reading…
After a run of Manhattan Cup playoff crowds that could be described as docile, the faithful from Timon made the voyage to the Koessler Athletic Center and were rowdier than ever. Suddenly the neutral site quickly had the feel of a South Buffalo home game. Fans battered Nichols players with insults long before the opening tip.
It didn’t matter.
Nichols stars Will Regan and Ron Canestro get most the ink and deservedly so, but on this night it was Stan Wier who would earn the headlines. Wier scored a game-high 21 points, including several big buckets while the outcome was still in doubt as the Vikings ended up rolling over Timon, 76-50.
Nichols goes on second half tear to earn title shot – continue reading…
Cardinal O’Hara was not expected to be much of a threat in their Manhattan Cup quarterfinal match up with top ranked Nichols on Sunday. The Vikings wasted little time making sure no Cinderella story would develop.
Nichols rolled out to a 23-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and with a 34-13 cushion at halftime the only question remaining was how much they’d win by.
The starters got plenty of fourth quarter rest as they advanced with an easy 70-44 win.
Nichols has no problem dispatching O’Hara – continue reading…
When the top two teams in Western New York boy’s high school basketball squared off Wednesday night with a regular season title hanging in the balance, there was plenty of drama to be expected. But by a few minutes into the third quarter the only mystery remained a question of who would win a coin flip.
Will Regan scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his final regular season game and point guard Ron Canestro looked good with seven points less than halfway through the first quarter as top ranked Nichols completely rolled over second-ranked large school Canisius, 77-54 in front of an over capacity Nichols crowd.
When I say over capacity I’m not exaggerating; Fire Marshals were on hand to make sure no more people would pack into the gymnasium.
Nichols win regular season crown with destruction of Canisius – continue reading…
If you’re a fan of high school sports, it doesn’t get any better than tonight as the top two teams in Western New York face off when Canisius travels to Nichols in a boy’s high school basketball contest that will determine the regular season Monsignor Martin Association champion.
The situation is complicated. If Canisius wins they get the top seed when the Manhattan Cup postseason tournament commences on Sunday. If Nichols is victorious, there’ll be a coin flip following the game as the teams would have identical head to head, divisional and common opponent records.
BSD Briefs: February 17 – continue reading…
When these teams last met a few weeks ago, Bishop Timon handed then-number one Nichols a four point loss. The Vikings would have none of it in their rematch at home on Monday night.
Nichols (15-6/8-2) used a suffocating defense that harassed the normally sound Tigers into their worst shooting performance of the year. The Vikings took control early and were able to cruise to a surprisingly easy 65-47 victory.
Will Regan showed why he’s the reigning Western New York Player of the Year, having one of his trademark well rounded statistical games. The senior had game-highs of 20 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots.
H.S. Hoops: Nichols suffocates Timon, 65-47 – continue reading…
The way things have went in boy’s high school basketball this season, it was merely a formality Nichols and Canisius would come down to a final possession.
In the game’s most critical sequence, Canisius forward James Gaines grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw with 20 seconds remaining and then sunk both of his own after getting fouled, giving the Crusaders a three-point lead as they’d hold on to defeat Nichols, 51-50 in front of a rabid home crowd.
Playing for one shot to tie and down three, Nichols guard Dieter Clauss scored on layup to cut the lead to one with four seconds left. The problem was they were out of timeouts and Canisius didn’t have to inbound the ball before the clock ran out.
Wisely, they didn’t.
Canisius H.S. edges Nichols in battle of large school giants – continue reading…
Western New York high school basketball continues to be as unpredictable as ever. Just two days after a disappointing loss to St. Francis, Bishop Timon returned home and knocked off Nichols, the top ranked large school, 64-60.
Timon didn’t get lucky with a last second win; they took it to a heavily favored Nichols squad from the opening tip. The Tigers led by eight after one, 11 at the half and 14 after the third before Nichols came back to make it a close game.
Sophomore Kyle Kobis led Timon (12-3, 3-1) with 22 points, including five three pointers. Dut Dour added 16 points.
Timon Shocks Top Ranked Nichols, 64-60 – continue reading…
It wasn’t easy, and certainly a lot closer than the final score indicated, but if there were any doubt before it can be put to rest, at least for now. Nichols is the new king of boy’s high school basketball in Western New York. In a clash of WNY co-No 1’s, Nichols defeated Niagara Falls, 68-53 to take over the top spot by themselves.
The match up had the feel in a packed St. Marys of Lancaster gym of a heavyweight title fight. Both teams traded punches early, with Niagara Falls landing early jabs before Nichols connected ona few devastating punches before halftime. Niagara Falls opened up a six-point lead before the game was three minutes old, but Nichols did their damage in the second quarter, going on a14-1 run to close out the first half and take a 34-21 lead, with Niagara Falls failing to score a field goal over the last 5:40.
H.S. Game of the Year: Nichols Knocks Off Niagara Falls – continue reading…
