Tod Kowalczyk is ecstatic that Isaiah Adams is joining the University of Toledo.
He might be more excited that the Rockets will never face Adams again.
On Thursday, Adams, a 6-foot-6 forward from the University at Buffalo, made his transfer decision official by signing with UT, bolstering a roster that’s been rebuilt to win a fifth consecutive Mid-American Conference championship.
“Really, it was the professionalism from the coaching staff and the team,” said Adams, who picked Toledo over Florida State. “I went on a visit and from the jump it just felt like a place that was serious about player development and getting players better.”
The Rockets are familiar with Adams, who torched UT in four career meetings, averaging 18.2 points on 58 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range. Toledo did win all four games by an average of 14 points, but Adams made an impression.
“I had so much respect for him when we played this year,” UT coach Kowalczyk said. “I told our team and I think I even said to Jay [Lehman], Mark [Beier], and you after the game that I thought he was a first-team all-league talent. He’s long. He reminds us a lot of [2018 MAC player of the year] Tre’Shaun Fletcher. He can score in a variety of ways, and he could be — or he is — a very good defender. He could be an elite defender with his length.”
Last season, Adams averaged 12.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.0 steals for the Bulls. In 2022-23, he averaged 11.6 points and 5.0 rebounds. Adams, an energy-giver, started 57 of 58 games at Buffalo.
The Jacksonville native began his career at Central Florida, where he had 9.9 points in 24.9 minutes and was named to the AAC all-freshman team. But his minutes were cut in half the following season and he transferred to Buffalo. In New York, Adams had personal achievements while the team languished.
“When there’s a coach in the conference that desires you after you’ve played on the worst team in the conference and he’s at the best team in the conference, that tells me that the coach feels like you’re a good fit,” said Toby Frazier, Adams’ high school coach.
Adams and Frazier were impressed with Kowalczyk’s initiative and making Adams feel wanted. Kowalczyk and Adams shared a phone call soon after he entered the transfer portal, and Adams was on a flight to Toledo shortly after they hung up.
Recent success served the Rockets well in their pursuit of Adams. An even more notable factor was the development of Ryan Rollins, RayJ Dennis, Setric Millner, Jr., JT Shumate, Marreon Jackson, Spencer Littleson, Ra’Heim Moss, and Dante Maddox, Jr.
“It took a little while for me to decide if I wanted to go to Toledo because I was trying to figure out where I could put myself in the best position to play professionally,” Adams said.
He had offers from UT, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Illinois-Chicago, Texas-San Antonio, and Wyoming. The Seminoles had an advantage because of their proximity to home and ACC status. But Adams had proof-of-concept in the MAC and can thrive in Kowalczyk’s offensive system.
“I wanted to be here,” Adams said. “Coach K would call me every other day and tell me that I could help get to where we need to be. The biggest part is winning. The goal is to make the NCAA tournament now. They were the 1 seed last year but lost in the [MAC] tournament. That’s not going to happen next year.”
There was a time when no player would transfer from Toledo or Buffalo to the other school. The Rockets and Bulls had a not-so-friendly rivalry during the Bobby Hurley and Nate Oats years. It dissipated in recent years as Buffalo receded toward the bottom of the MAC.
But it still isn’t warm and cuddly between the two programs.
“When I first came in, I had to automatically think Toledo was the worst,” a laughing Adams said. “We don’t like Toledo, man. They’ve beaten up on Buffalo the past couple of years. They whooped us every time. So there was always a respect level for the team and the coaches.”
Adams is the third transfer Toledo’s signed this offseason, joining Western Michigan’s Seth Hubbard and Wisconsin-Parkside’s Colin O’Rourke. The Rockets have a two-man high school class this year — Tyler Ode (Saginaw, Mich.) and Jaylan Ouwinga (Grand Rapids, Mich.).
Kowalczyk has proven to be one of the most successful coaches in the country at mining for talent in the transfer portal. Some coaches at the mid-major level want power conference players who didn’t maximize their potential. Kowalczyk and Toledo occupy a different lane, gobbling up players with high outputs at fellow mid-majors or even Division II.
“If you take a guy who doesn’t have numbers or stats, who doesn’t have that much film, there’s a lot of risk,” Kowalczyk said. “When they come down from that level, they think that they’re going to come in and dominate the MAC, and that doesn’t happen.
“With Seth Hubbard, Isaiah Adams, and Tyler Cochran that came from the Mid-American Conference, there are no secrets. They know everything about us. They know our talent level. They know how we play. They know what our home-court atmosphere is like. And we have scouted them. We have played against them. We know a lot about their game.”
Especially Adams.
“I saw they posted my stats against Toledo,” Adams said. “I was like, ‘Dang!’”
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