The Buffalo eXtreme out of West Seneca, New York are headed back to the American Basketball Association (ABA) Championship Weekend in Atlanta over April 10-12 as the 2025-26 ABA East Region Champions.
So why should you root for the eXtreme?
Here at Minotaur Media, our focus is generally on the ABA Central Region, specifically the Red and Blue Divisions. We had seen the Buffalo eXtreme occupying the #1 and #2 positions in the ABA Power Rankings all season long, but until the playoffs began, we had never watched them play.
Fortunately, their website and social media are AMAZING, so we were able to learn a thing or two or fifty about the eXtreme that added to our enjoyment of watching them in the postseason.
The Team
The Buffalo eXtreme are only in their third year of existence, having been formed in 2023. Their team colors are red and black.
In their first two seasons, they chalked up an unreal 46-4 combined record. They’re currently 23-0, bringing their all-time record to 69-4 — almost unheard of success in their first three years.
To culminate their second season — the 2024-25 campaign — the eXtreme made it to the ABA Championship Weekend, falling to the Silicon Valley Panthers by a score of 93-85.
Throughout most of the 2025-26 season, the eXtreme were #1 in the ABA Power Rankings until they were bumped to #2 — through no fault of their own — by, of all the ironies, the Silicon Valley Panthers.
And guess who else will be joining the eXtreme in Atlanta for the ABA Championship Weekend. You got it. The Silicon Valley Panthers.
The team is led by decorated head coach Ryan Gallo, and they returned the majority of their roster from last season. That experience guided by that level of coaching makes Buffalo a legitimate contender for the league title.
What Impressed Us
After watching the Buffalo eXtreme in the ABA playoffs, what impressed us about them is their versatility. They have tall guys. They have fast guys. They have guys who can slam dunk so hard that it rocks their home gym, X Gen Elite (thus the emphasis on the X in eXtreme), right off its foundation. And they have guys who can hit shots from the Canadian side of the Niagara River.
It doesn’t matter what a team throws at the eXtreme, Buffalo can adapt. They’re also a deep team, so the only thing you notice when they substitute players is a different face or two on the floor. The high level of play continues uninterrupted.
That certainly explains why X Gen Elite is packed with fans for every home game in West Seneca.
Three Guys to Watch in Atlanta
Narrowing this ultra-talented roster down to three guys to watch in Atlanta is a travesty, but we’re gonna give it a whirl.
Javon McCrea (#12) is a 6’7″ PF who led the team in scoring this season and was their second-leading rebounder. He also had a jaw-dropping 49 blocks this year — the fourth-highest block total in all of the ABA — averaging about 3 blocks per game.
After an impressive college career at the University of Buffalo, where he set the school’s scoring record and was named 2014 MAC Player of the Year, Javon played in the NBA Summer League with the Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets, and Philadelphia 76ers in between international stints in Germany, France, Puerto Rico, Israel and Japan. This is his third season with Buffalo.
Marcus Feagin (#0) stands at 6’3″ as a SF, but he’s not afraid to mix it up with the trees inside the paint. He pulled down 189 rebounds this season — good for 8th in the ABA. An astonishing 97 of those boards were offensive rebounds — a total that placed him 6th in the entire league. He’s also a thief, tying for second place on his team with 37 steals. The guy averages a double-double in every game.
This isn’t Marcus’ first time playing basketball. Mr. Hustle piled up the accolades in high school ball, then played a year of college ball, leading his team in rebounds per game. Then it was off to the PBL for a few years, some international ball in Mexico and El Salvador, and a season in the TBL. Fun fact: Feagin hit a buzzer-beater to propel the eXtreme to victory in their first game in franchise history in 2023.
Now, it’s tempting to go with John Ivy or Quran Dubois as the third player to watch, but we’re going to shine the spotlight on Jay Scarbrough (#4). We called Feagin a thief, but Scarbrough is a master burglar. His stunning 78 steals on the year tied him for 5th across the entire league. He’s rippin’ opponents off at a pace of 4 or 5 swipes a game. The man is 5’9″ but has 91 rebounds and 4 blocks! Throw his 197 points into the mix, and you’ve got yourself a Swiss Army Knife of a player.
A Niagara Falls native, Jay joined his hometown Buffalo eXtreme this season. Fun fact: Jay is the head coach of the Niagara Falls High School Wolverines’ women’s basketball team, and in his first season in that role, he led them to a 14-3 record and a Niagara Frontier League Championship. Best of all, 3/4 of his roster made honors or high honors in academics. No wonder he was named Niagara Frontier League Coach of the Year.
Where to Find The Buffalo eXtreme
This is the first of a four-part series highlighting each team in the 2025-26 ABA Championship Weekend. You might also be interested in Everything You Need to Know About Championship Weekend because it will tell you how to get tickets to see the eXtreme in person or how to purchase the PPV to watch them from home.
