That's Jeff Redband, the former Batavia HS hoops star, in the white shirt, though, technically, he's a redshirt.
Redband is sitting out his freshman season at Daemen College as a redshirt, giving him time to develop his game for the Division II level. He can practice with the team, but can't suit up for games. The status allows him to avoid losing a year of NCAA eligibility.
Daemen kicked off it's first official Division II season with an exhibition game against the UB Bulls, a Division I team that made the NCAA tournament for the first time last season, but was rocked in the off season by some key personnel changes.
Head coach Bobby Hurley left to take a position at a higher level university and last season's MAC player of the year, Justin Moss, was dismissed from the university for an alleged theft from a dorm room.
The Nate Oaks era, however, started in fine style, with the Bulls dominating Daemen 87-68. The Bulls played the aggressive brand of basketball, which Oaks prefers, though were bedeviled by 24 turnovers.
Oaks, in his first season as a Division I head coach, has a reputation for being the top-flight recruiter, and the early returns for his freshman class look good. C.J. Massinburg, from Dallas, scored 25 points, going 5-6 from beyond the arc and snagging five rebounds. Nick Perkins, a freshman from Ypsilanti, Mich., scored 12 points and had eight rebounds. (In photos, Massinburg is 3 and Perkins is 33.)
