UAlbany

This week the University at Albany announced an expanded partnership with ESPN Radio 104.5 the Team that will feature a new basketball coaches show throughout the 2021-22 season. Head coaches Dwayne Killings and Colleen Mullen, along with select student-athletes, will join ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team's Charlie Voelker and Dan Bahl every Monday from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. live from City Line Bar & Grill for a weekly segment entitled 'Drive the Lane with UAlbany Hoops'.

Playing Division I opponents in exhibition games is nothing new for the College of St. Rose basketball program. The Division II program, nestled in Pine Hills section of the City of Albany, has made the I-90 trip to the Carrier Dome to take on Jim Boeheim's Syracuse Orange for a preseason matchup. Trust me, Boeheim doesn't waste time. If an exhibition opponent isn't going to challenge his players like he needs, they aren't playing his team in the preseason. That is why I could never understand why Siena nor UAlbany would play St. Rose in an exhibition.

Home cookin' will hopefully mean a lot. It hasn't been on the menu for Coach Greg Gattuso and his team very often this season. The UAlbany Great Danes will be home for back to back weekends for the first time this year, as the team hosts Maine for their annual ‘Pink Game’ to raise awareness for breast cancer and the American Cancer Society. The Great Dane fan base is also hoping that this will be the game where their team turns the corner with a victory.

Ok, maybe I don't like polls very much, especially when they are mid-major Division I polls. There are always so many variables. First, they are done by coaches, who are not always the most objective folks when it comes to other programs or coaches. Now throw in the new "Pandemic" rosters, featuring 6th year grad students and the "wild west" in recruiting created by the NCAA transfer portal, well, fans could be in for some of the best basketball we have seen in these conferences, maybe ever.

It has been a long time since fans have watched the Siena Saints or the UAlbany Great Danes in person. It was weird last year calling the UAlbany games with Rodger Wyland for ESPN3 & 104.5 FM The Team. There were no fans and it seemed like nobody else was talking, just us. However, the strangeness is beginning to dissipate as fans have returned to sporting events. Things aren't perfect but we are truly getting back to some sense of normality in sports venues.

As the leaves begin to reveal a spectacular array of colors in the northeast, athletic teams, marching bands, spirit squads, students, faculty and alumni get ready for one of the best traditions of the school year, Homecoming. Even the word is awesome. You are coming home to your old school with your friends and family, while sharing the tradition and passing it on to a new class.

Timing can be everything and the UAlbany Great Danes Football team needed the week 4 bye in their schedule. The Danes started the season September 4th by visiting the reigning national champion North Dakota State, then came home to lose to CAA rival Rhode Island because of special teams and traveled east on I-90 to get kicked by Syracuse. It was the perfect time for Coach Gattuso and the team to reset.

The UAlbany and Siena men's basketball coaches, Dwayne Killings and Carm Maciariello, may not face each other on the court this year but they are continuing the tradition to team up for the 16th annual Coaches vs. Cancer Basket "Ball", Monday, October 4th at the Albany Capital Center. This is a tremendous evening of true community camaraderie centered around our two Division I college basketball programs. It is definitely one of the best events of its kind.

The tradition of UAlbany Great Dane lacrosse players graduating and taking over a Division I lacrosse programs continued on Tuesday. Former University at Albany men's lacrosse player Craig McDonald was named head men's lacrosse coach at Robert Morris University. McDonald graduated UAlbany in 2008, and was a four-year member of the men's lacrosse team playing for head coach Scott Marr. He appeared in 61 games for the Great Danes, scoring three goals and recording three assists as a defender, while winning 148 ground balls and causing 13 turnovers.

The UAlbany football team travels west on I-90 this weekend to take on in-state rival Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. Kickoff is set for 12:00 p.m., and will be broadcast on 103.9 FM The Breeze. This weekend’s game will be the first meeting between the FCS UAlbany and FBS Syracuse. The Orange are the second opponent this season that UAlbany has never faced in prior seasons, with the Great Danes playing NDSU back in week number one.

Monday was Media Day at UAlbany Football and I was lucky enough to be invited to broadcast The Drive with Charlie & Dan from 3p to 7p from Tom & Mary Casey Stadium, so I did. It was fun to catch up and spend some face time with old friends, even though it seems like our society is going backwards in seeing faces. Athletic Director Mark Benson and Deputy Athletic Director Vic Cegles came on and talked about the upcoming season and the excitement of having fans back in the stands. Then Head Coach Greg Gattuso hung out on the The Drive for almost an hour and reflected on the challenges the Great Danes faced last year and how they are preparing for a very tough schedule this season.

Yesterday on The Drive with Charlie & Dan, Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator, Joe Davis was asked by Dan Bahl if it was nice having a running back that you can count on like Senior, Karl Mofor in the Great Danes backfield. Davis never hesitated and respond emphatically, "Absolutely!" Morfor is one of the best in the Colonial Athletic Association conference and again has been recognized as one of the best in the country.