KAEO: Sean East

[JoleonLescottsHair]

Tough guy huh?

Careful, Floyd. Super Scout might put you on mute!

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Tough guy huh?

Nah, that's just a page out of someone else's book here.

[eldonabe]

Tough guy huh?

Nah, that's just a page out of someone else's book here.

Just keep being a dick IV - no reason for you to change your colors either

[UMass'96]

Does anyone remember Trey Davis and his freshman year? And then the trouble he had beating the VCU press.

He turned out to be a pretty good PG at UMass. East's potential reminds me a lot of Trey. And I was expecting the year over year improvement similar to Trey's.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Does anyone remember Trey Davis and his freshman year? And then the trouble he had beating the VCU press.

He turned out to be a pretty good PG at UMass. East's potential reminds me a lot of Trey. And I was expecting the year over year improvement similar to Trey's.

A complete dear in headlights situation with him in that moment. It was unreal to watch.

I like the comparison as well. Sean's ceiling was quite high and I think they will miss him.

At this point, it's almost a whole new team again.

[uz2b-len]

100% in agreement with this appraisal. I'll always be a Sean East fan.

[NilesGold]

At this point, it's almost a whole new team again.

We have what might have been the starting 5 + first off the bench (even with no one transferring), plus Buggs, all returning.

[bunkerhill87]

After a season watching freshman develop im still surprised about this. From Bugss limited action early last season not thinking he can leap into a 10 minute role offsetting East's departure. As someone mentioned whole nother team. my long term hope for the program starting with Kellog then McCall
was STABILITY. changing things up yearly is like ground hog day. maybe this happens to the power conference teams with the last 5 on the roster but im not so sure w/ players who had key roles and moments like Sean. and not for nothing who is to say he wasnt gonna earn big minutes. to say his role would be 1/4 of the game next year discounts the kids ability. Whats done is done but still sadly disappointed

[Kelz626]

The problem for Sean was going to be minutes and I’m sure after what he saw what he can do (2 A10 ROW and being one of the best players early on) he didn’t want to end up in an 8-10 minute a night role. Unfortunately there just isn’t a role for him that will keep him happy minutes wise. At PG even if Fernandes has to redshirt you still have Garcia and Mitchell ahead of him and Buggs, who is more of a true PG than Sean. At SG he’d be 3rd on the depth chart behind TJ and Carl and even if they tried to fit him in as a wing there’s Preston, Dibaji, McCrory and Dominguez.

I think if Fernandes is eligible Kolton is more likely to accept a reduced role because he’ll understand his skill set is conducive for that role, while Sean having gone out and lit it up on occasion would be less accepting of it. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to leave because of the coaching staff. I really don’t think the benching go thru to them the way they were hoping (ie bad passes, turnovers and pull up 3’s) and his game seems to have a lot of risk to it. It can work successfully if a coach allows it like Kellogg with Chaz but if a coach is more conservative than that type of player won’t fit

[Carl Spackler]

I’m not sure how anyone could draw that conclusion...Sean has a lot of talent and IF his work ethic was up to the challenge I for one would not have been surprised if he beat out the newcomers for the starting PG spot. I’ve been reading, and occasionally posting on this board for well over a decade...one thing we always manage to do with consistency is overrate our newcomers and pick apart our returning players unless they’re a stud like Tre, Chaz etc...
I really hope Noah is a stud but his minutes and production at Wichita St were not inspiring....I know he had an injury so you have to take that into account...as for JG, I have high hopes for him but show me a mixtape where the player doesn’t look all-world...
Sean had a very productive freshman season, early on you could make an argument he was our best player...he won 2 A10 ROTW awards....did he go through a funk? Yes, he did...but he seemed to come out of that and finished pretty strong. I’ve been following UMass basketball since 1985, a very small percentage of our freshman players have had his production....and the ones that did are All time type players. Not saying he was that type of player but his freshman season was very solid....

[Kelz626]

I’m not sure how anyone could draw that conclusion...Sean has a lot of talent and IF his work ethic was up to the challenge I for one would not have been surprised if he beat out the newcomers for the starting PG spot. I’ve been reading, and occasionally posting on this board for well over a decade...one thing we always manage to do with consistency is overrate our newcomers and pick apart our returning players unless they’re a stud like Tre, Chaz etc...
I really hope Noah is a stud but his minutes and production at Wichita St were not inspiring....I know he had an injury so you have to take that into account...as for JG, I have high hopes for him but show me a mixtape where the player doesn’t look all-world...
Sean had a very productive freshman season, early on you could make an argument he was our best player...he won 2 A10 ROTW awards....did he go through a funk? Yes, he did...but he seemed to come out of that and finished pretty strong. I’ve been following UMass basketball since 1985, a very small percentage of our freshman players have had his production....and the ones that did are All time type players. Not saying he was that type of player but his freshman season was very solid....

Draw what conclusion? That there’s a numbers problem and he was the odd man out? Or that he didn’t really fit the style McCall is looking for? I’m pretty sure anyone can draw that conclusion based of looking at the roster and watching the games last season. Fernandes will be the starter immediately, he is transferring down from a better team and has a tie in with the coaching staff. Gary Forbes didn’t do much at Virginia but it worked out well for him here

[Roadtrip]

^TBS, don't even know if Fernandez will be eligible, or not have lingering foot problems, or be better than Garcia.

[DoctorJ]

I saw one Brewster game. Garcia got very few minutes, playing off the ball. But he looked fantastic.

[Juice Stand]

The problem for Sean was going to be minutes and I’m sure after what he saw what he can do (2 A10 ROW and being one of the best players early on) he didn’t want to end up in an 8-10 minute a night role. Unfortunately there just isn’t a role for him that will keep him happy minutes wise. At PG even if Fernandes has to redshirt you still have Garcia and Mitchell ahead of him and Buggs, who is more of a true PG than Sean. At SG he’d be 3rd on the depth chart behind TJ and Carl and even if they tried to fit him in as a wing there’s Preston, Dibaji, McCrory and Dominguez.

I don't think Kolton Mitchell was ever really ahead of Sean this past season. Yes, Kolton started ahead of him down the stretch, but Sean and Kolton split time over the last month+, and Sean was in there late in games. Just taking a super quick look at the box scores from the last 6 six games (I didn't go back any farther than that), Sean played significantly more minutes in each game than Kolton did. I think McCall played those guys based on the situation (offense/defense), but Sean was still ahead of him.

[Carl Spackler]

I’m not sure how anyone could draw that conclusion...Sean has a lot of talent and IF his work ethic was up to the challenge I for one would not have been surprised if he beat out the newcomers for the starting PG spot. I’ve been reading, and occasionally posting on this board for well over a decade...one thing we always manage to do with consistency is overrate our newcomers and pick apart our returning players unless they’re a stud like Tre, Chaz etc...
I really hope Noah is a stud but his minutes and production at Wichita St were not inspiring....I know he had an injury so you have to take that into account...as for JG, I have high hopes for him but show me a mixtape where the player doesn’t look all-world...
Sean had a very productive freshman season, early on you could make an argument he was our best player...he won 2 A10 ROTW awards....did he go through a funk? Yes, he did...but he seemed to come out of that and finished pretty strong. I’ve been following UMass basketball since 1985, a very small percentage of our freshman players have had his production....and the ones that did are All time type players. Not saying he was that type of player but his freshman season was very solid....

Draw what conclusion? That there’s a numbers problem and he was the odd man out? Or that he didn’t really fit the style McCall is looking for? I’m pretty sure anyone can draw that conclusion based of looking at the roster and watching the games last season. Fernandes will be the starter immediately, he is transferring down from a better team and has a tie in with the coaching staff. Gary Forbes didn’t do much at Virginia but it worked out well for him here

Gary Forbes was fantastic, not sure what he has to do with Noah Fernandes....we’ve had a number of guys through the years transfer from “big time” schools, some like Forbes and Gurley excelled while other like Bonner and Baptiste became role players...but one has nothing to do with the other. I hope Noah excels because I want all these kids to have success and I want UMass to become a sustainable NCAA tournament team. I think based on the schools that are reportedly interested in Sean that many coaches see the high upside that he has to offer. Also, not sure what style you’re referencing....what style of basketball does Sean East not fit? He was a freshman point guard, who forced some passes and took some chances...so he had a few games where he turned the ball over more than he should have...maturity and coaching can easily take care of that.