NCAA Basketball: Buffalo star Ronaldo Segu has proven that fit is crucial

If you go on YouTube and do a search for “Ronaldo Segu” you will find several videos of the current Buffalo guard shifting defenders left and right in high school. You will also find episodes from his popular documentary series on the Home Team Hoops channel where he gave himself the nickname the “6-foot Killa”.

As time progressed and Segu displayed his improved vertical athleticism, point guard skills, and playmaking ability, many Home Team Hoops fans went from looking at Segu as an incredible entertainer to a legitimate Division 1 prospect.

You don’t even need to tell me that mixtapes and episodes from a documentary series don’t necessarily tell us how good a player really is, but Ryan Currie (the creator of Home Team Hoops) allowed us all to witness Segu work on specific areas of his game in his free time and have success on the hardwood as soon as the bright lights came on. His vast improvement as a player and terrific performances against elite-level prospects on the AAU circuit earned him more than 10 Division 1 scholarship offers.

Segu’s list of offers included mostly mid-major schools and schools that are right in between the mid-major and high-major level (like USF and UCF), but he was able to pick up a high-major offer from Leonard Hamilton and his staff at Florida State. Additionally, Segu received interest from several ACC schools, such as Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, and Pittsburgh, which is why many individuals were puzzled when Segu announced his commitment to Buffalo on October 1st, 2017.

Two frequently asked questions that I saw on social media after Segu’s announcement were “Why is he going to Buffalo?”, and “Doesn’t he know how hard it is to make it to the NBA from a mid-major?”

I think that the idea of a 3-star recruit with an 88.45 rating on 247Sports Composite, a high-major Division 1 offer, and several high-major Division 1 interests committing to a mid-major school (that has had some success against high-major schools) didn’t sit too well with many people.

Those who disapproved of Segu’s decision believed that the lanky guard should have committed to Florida State, waited to see if any of his high-major interests turned into offers during the 2017-18 high school season, or played another season on the AAU circuit after he graduated in 2018 in hopes of picking up more high-major offers (which is a common thing for players to do).

However, when I heard the news, I was happy for Segu, because it was clear that he believed that Nate Oats’ program was the best fit for him as a player (which is what it’s all about at the end of the day). Sure, he could have taken his talents to Florida State or patiently waited until more high-majors started knocking on his door, but there is no guarantee that his development process would have gone as smoothly as it’s currently going at Buffalo.

The crafty guard has improved each season with the Bulls and will be going into his senior season with a tremendous amount of confidence, so with that being said, I want to take some time to examine why Segu has had a solid collegiate career thus far.