Reggie Witherspoon joined UB in December 1999 as interim head men's basketball coach. He was named head coach in March following a three-month national search. The men's and women's basketball teams open their seasons tomorrow in Alumni Arena.

	Witherspoon

How is this year's team shaping up?

This team is shaping up pretty good. We're getting better everyday, and that's the biggest thing we have to focus on right now. I think this will be a fun team to watch, and people will be proud to see this team represent UB.

What excites you most about the upcoming season?

That we have guys who are excited and enthused about competing and playing, and who show up to play hard everyday. That's exciting to me. It's exciting that guys are enthused to be here and to represent UB.

What's your greatest concern about the upcoming season?

The biggest concern is whether we can get the guys prepared in the short period of time that we have. That's our biggest challenge-to get all the new faces prepared for the season and finding enough time during the day to get done what we need to get done in practice.

What do you consider to be the biggest challenge to UB's basketball program?

The short-term challenge is to get the players prepared and to make up for the time we lost getting started. The long-term goal is to improve the image of our program, our entire department, and the university and community that we represent. It's not that the image is terrible, but I think in some cases there just isn't an image and it doesn't show up on people's radar.

When did you realize that you loved basketball so much you wanted to make a career out of it?

I guess I realized that at a pretty young age, when I was about 7 years old. Then I forgot about doing that for a long time and it came back to me again in my earlier 20s I guess.

Besides UB, what college basketball teams do you like to watch?

I don't get a chance to watch a lot of teams, but the ones that will keep my interest would be teams that play a more aggressive style, like a Duke or a Florida. I also watch teams that have friends of mine who are coaches in those programs, like Texas.

Who do you consider to be college basketball's all-time greatest coach?

John Wooden. I think he's the all-time greatest coach. I think that not only for what he accomplished on the floor, but what he stood for off the floor with his morals and character.