BUFFALO, N.Y. — Five players have had their numbers honored by the University at Buffalo men's basketball team.
Soon there be a sixth.
UB on Saturday afternoon announced that Turner Battle will have his No. 11 honored during a Feb. 17 game at Alumni Arena. The number will be raised to the rafters during halftime of the Bulls' game against Akron.
Other players who have been recognized include Harold Kuhn (No. 19), Jim Horne (No. 13), Curtis Blackmore (No. 52), Sam Pellom (No. 50), and Rasaun Young (also No. 11).
Battle played point guard for the Bulls from 2001 to 2005, after Buffalo joined the Mid-American Conference in 1998. With Turner's help, the Bulls' influence in the MAC continued to grow.
Buffalo won 23 games in his final season — a school record at that time — and for the first time qualified for a postseason Division I tournament, competing in the NIT. Turner also became the first Bull to be named MAC Player of the Year.
A three-time All-MAC pick, Battle recorded 1,414 points, 502 rebounds, 458 assists, and 170 steals during his career. He remains the only player in program history to lead the team in assists in four consecutive seasons.
Turner went on to play in the NBA Development League, then returned to Buffalo as an assistant coach from 2007 to 2013. He was also an assistant at Chattanooga (2013-14), Alabama-Birmingham (2014-20), East Tennessee State (2020-21), and Middle Tennessee State (2021-22).
He's now back in Western New York. Turner in 2022 became the athletics director at The Park School of Buffalo.
Turner was inducted into the UB Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.
