2020 Recruiting

[Floyd]

So what happens if a kid isn't playing much but loves the school, his teammates, and the academics and is ok with minimal pt. Do they just say " sorry, you gotta go, we're not renewing the scholly"?

[LS71]

Keon grad transfer

Yes. I should have mentioned that. He gets to play right away.

Crazy to think that he could go to three schools in five years. What does that mean for him academically?

I love Keon but he's unlikely to make his living playing basketball, so I hope he's positioning himself to be able to launch a successful career in whatever field he chooses.

[minutefanjsf]

So what happens if a kid isn't playing much but loves the school, his teammates, and the academics and is ok with minimal pt. Do they just say " sorry, you gotta go, we're not renewing the scholly"?

Don’t think I’ve heard of anyone aside from Pitino and Calhoun doing this.

[uz2b-len]

Did McCall do it to Keiran Heyward? Did Cal do it to Jerome Malloy?

[Jackson96]

I don’t know how often it even needs to get to that point. I think there are plenty of coaches who tell kids — maybe not so directly (or in some cases maybe so directly) — that it would be best if they found another school to play at whether or not the kid wants to be there and whether or not the kid is a good fit culturally/talent-wise. Hell they even offer to help find them that new home. I think this is a big reason why this new transfer rule will go through and be welcomed by all coaches. Makes it easier if the kids don’t need to sit a year (or least have the possibility of sitting a year).

Not saying I love this practice (if the kid wants to be there but just isn’t good enough specifically) — I’ve long thought the game is rigged in a lot of ways against the kids who play it — but I think it happens a lot. It’s a business and a big business.

[MJatUM]

Crazy to think that he could go to three schools in five years. What does that mean for him academically?

It would mean he gets his bachelors from UMass and should he choose too he can begin working towards his masters at another school.

[Kelz626]

Crazy to think that he could go to three schools in five years. What does that mean for him academically?

It would mean he gets his bachelors from UMass and should he choose too he can begin working towards his masters at another school.

Zach Lewis went to three schools in five years

[uz2b-len]

So did Curtis Cobb and Jonathan Laurent.

In another vein, Mrs. Len and I are converts. Before the game, we were talking about the recruiting situation; specifically, bringing in new players and asking guys already on the roster to leave. Being the bleeding hearts that we are, we kind of didn't like the idea. However, after attending the game tonight (Rhody), we're totally onboard with upgrading the roster however it needs to happen. To see Tre Mitchell score half the teams points was just horrifying. Clearly, he deserves to be surrounded by talent that can contribute at a commensurate level. If I'm him, I transfer after my sophomore year unless there is a serious talent upgrade. It's unfair to this huge talent to leave him to twist in the wind as he did tonight. I think Sean East could develop into a good a10 point guard, but we can't wait around to see if that happens. To watch the inability of anyone on the roster other than Tre to attack the basket or make open 3's was very discouraging to us and I imagine to Tre as well.

I also started thinking before the game that maybe McCall told Kolton and CJ when he recruited them to UMass that they might not be able to stick around. I could envision him telling him that we had two available scholarships, and they could join the team and see how it turns out. That would make sense to me. Now, after the game, I imagine him sitting them down along with Sean and telling them he appreciated all their effort, but in fairness to Tre we've got to upgrade the talent level if we can, that we need to bring in guards that can attack the basket and run the offense.

I've been watching a lot of hoops the past few days, and I see that most teams don't have a PG that runs the offense. Fatts Russell doesn't run the Rhody offense. He's just very good at getting to the hoop and dishing off from there, like any a10 guard should be able to do. By the way, he wasn't very good as a freshman, not any better than Sean. But like I said, our situation is different from what Fatts stepped into. We need to upgrade right now.

[Floyd]

Any recruits at the game tonite? I didn't notice any

[DanaDingle3]

Thought I saw Mounir Hima. some students had a "Hima" sign, as well.

uz2b-len, I'm with you. UMass needs to do everything it can to get reinforcements for Tre. Losing TJ hurt, and I'm optimistic about the current signees. Might need one more impact player, along with an interior defender/rebounder.

[stevemaz]

I think K Mitchell playing 2 mins last night says a lot.. unless he is injured

[minutefanjsf]

I think K Mitchell playing 2 mins last night says a lot.. unless he is injured

Sean East played great, and Keon played great. Could’ve had something to do with that.

[Floyd]

I think K Mitchell playing 2 mins last night says a lot.. unless he is injured

Sean East played great, and Keon played great. Could’ve had something to do with that.

I agree. Don't read too much into it. Matchups dictate things sometimes

[jrdupe]

Thought I saw Mounir Hima. some students had a "Hima" sign, as well.

uz2b-len, I'm with you. UMass needs to do everything it can to get reinforcements for Tre. Losing TJ hurt, and I'm optimistic about the current signees. Might need one more impact player, along with an interior defender/rebounder.

Hima was at the game...every bit of 7'0 too! and after just watching videos of him, he's not rail thin like I thought he was. I think he would be a more than serviceable backup for Tre. Also see URI, St. Bonnies, VCU have offered so the fact he was on campus for at least 2 days if not 3 seems encouraging...if I'm not mistaken he was on campus Thursday for the visit and decided to stick around a couple more days...not sure you do that if you hate the place.

[69MG]

I think K Mitchell playing 2 mins last night says a lot.. unless he is injured

Sean East played great, and Keon played great. Could’ve had something to do with that.

I would like to see us get a PG so that Sean could spend more time off the ball. He has skills, but right now I think the weakest part of his game is that he takes too long to set up the offense. Maybe he doesn't see the court well or perhaps other players aren't where they are supposed to be, but last night we had at least 10 possessions where we were shot clock stressed. I know he had 7 assists, but most were handing the ball off to Tre who made a 3.