KAEO Reggie (RJ) Luis

[Floyd]

UMass is fucked as it stands with FBS Football and D1 Basketball.

Eldon, c'mon man, you know better. String together a couple winning seasons, get the name in the spotlight again, and kids will come. It's all about exposure. Now the turnover will continue, but it's easier to recruit when you win and have a proven winner of a coach/staff. You win, more people pay attention, businesses & fans spend money, get better players. And UMass as a school offers a lot. It's all a big cycle, just the cycle for getting players is shorter
Don't give up my man

And if RJ & DD stuck with this program, along with the addition of Cohen, and Cross still here, with the new additions this team would look pretty solid. They gave up too quickly

[eldonabe]

UMass is fucked as it stands with FBS Football and D1 Basketball.

Eldon, c'mon man, you know better. String together a couple winning seasons, get the name in the spotlight again, and kids will come. It's all about exposure. Now the turnover will continue, but it's easier to recruit when you win and have a proven winner of a coach/staff. You win, more people pay attention, businesses & fans spend money, get better players. And UMass as a school offers a lot. It's all a big cycle, just the cycle for getting players is shorter
Don't give up my man

And if RJ & DD stuck with this program, along with the addition of Cohen, and Cross still here, with the new additions this team would look pretty solid. They gave up too quickly

Floyd you answered your own scenario of thinking with the magic word.... "IF" then followed that up with magic word #2 ... "Would".

If they stayed.... but they didn't.

Can Umass ever field a tourney team again - I suppose the answer is yes. But when is a much different answer. As long as the current landscape is in place with easy transfer rules and limitless money to buy teams, it may be a generation or two before they might smell an NCAA tourney bid and that is regardless of whether they expanded to 96 in the field or not.


Right now what we want and what we are wishing for are not aligning with current reality. Basketball at least did have a building block in RJ, but RJ cannot afford to wait for the team to form around him - he knew that and he left as a result. Nobody has the patience to wait for 3-4 years to maybe, possibly, see if it might be worth it. Frank has one year to pull a rabbit out of his hat, or anyone with value is a goner, and it is back to square one again... AND even if he was able to pull something like that off, you don't think a friend of a bigger program will not be in the ear of whomever that center piece was selling them on a higher bid.



Floyd, I am super-jaded about this whole thing and while I will never quit Umass, there are some harsh realities that face this program's two marquee sports (the money/attention generators). I am the anti-Maz as far as my attitude goes.


Until something is done about the rules (or lack thereof) in place, UMass is in a very large group (and growing) of D1/FBS programs that can no longer compete at this level.

[Floyd]

Eldon, therapy can help you
It can happen as quickly as it can't in this day & age. The team wasn't as bad as it looked last year. Injuries were a big part of it. If this year and next go the same way, I may join you, but right now I think Frank can turn it around

Gotta believe baby!!

[NDR18]

I don’t think too many folks knew too much about RJ outside South Florida as a high school player. He had some decent offers, but not stellar. I’m willing to bet that Frank Martin had something to do with him committing to Umass initially based on the S. Florida ties. He was an unknown and as the season progressed, looked like a key piece for the future of Umass basketball. We still don’t know if he’s going to be “really good”, I guess if he ends up developing into an amazing player we’ll wish he would have stayed. He seems to have a versatile skill set and I hope we can get more players like in the future.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

If he stops drawing charges, I think he'll be really good. Alas, we'll see either way in another uniform.

[Jeff90]

RJ did not leave because he was inpatient for a good team or the direction of the team. He was purchased by a “NIL agent” who convinced him he could make a certain $number. He planned to return when he signed with the collective. He simply got a phone call.

[Uminuteman]

RJ did not leave because he was inpatient for a good team or the direction of the team. He was purchased by a “NIL agent” who convinced him he could make a certain $number. He planned to return when he signed with the collective. He simply got a phone call.

And this is the end of enjoyable college basketball.

[UMass1927]

RJ did not leave because he was inpatient for a good team or the direction of the team. He was purchased by a “NIL agent” who convinced him he could make a certain $number. He planned to return when he signed with the collective. He simply got a phone call.

And this is the end of enjoyable college basketball.

Maybe I'm being way too gloomy, but it does feel even more hopeless than it did 5 years ago. If UMass gets a good player, they will leave first chance they get. How do you build a program under these conditions? It feels like if you catch lightning in a bottle it won't last more than a season. It's just depressing.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Maybe I'm being way too gloomy, but it does feel even more hopeless than it did 5 years ago. If UMass gets a good player, they will leave first chance they get. How do you build a program under these conditions? It feels like if you catch lightning in a bottle it won't last more than a season. It's just depressing.

Right now that is the case... might not always be the case. Just keep rooting for your school.

[MakeMullinsGreatAgain]

RJ did not leave because he was inpatient for a good team or the direction of the team. He was purchased by a “NIL agent” who convinced him he could make a certain $number. He planned to return when he signed with the collective. He simply got a phone call.

Did RJ also sign with an NIL agent? I know Dre did but did not hear the same about RJ?

[NilesGold]

Maybe I'm being way too gloomy, but it does feel even more hopeless than it did 5 years ago. If UMass gets a good player, they will leave first chance they get. How do you build a program under these conditions? It feels like if you catch lightning in a bottle it won't last more than a season. It's just depressing.

Right now that is the case... might not always be the case. Just keep rooting for your school.

The fact of the matter is that there was a lot of parity in college basketball this past year. FAU, Princeton, Furman, and FDU all made the round of 32 or better, and there were zero #1 or #2 seeds in the final four. No one knows what the future holds, or exactly how all of this is going to shake out, but the reality of the situation, at least thus far, is not doom and gloom for programs like UMass.

[km109]

The NCAA could do a lot to fix this by reinstituting a requirement that a transfer sit out one year, except for grad transfers.

[TruBluMaroon]

The NCAA could do a lot to fix this by reinstituting a requirement that a transfer sit out one year, except for grad transfers.

Or not allow NIL until they have completed a year at the school.

[MakeMullinsGreatAgain]

just saw that Beagle from Albany has pulled his name out of the portal - not the first time I've seen that recently. Is it possible these kids are throwing their name in the portal just to see what kind of NIL deals they can get? If they don't get what they want or its no better than they have then they just return to current team?

Makes me wonder if RJ doesn't get more than what we offered would he stay? Noah too?

I feel like this is almost like a kid declaring for the draft but not signing an agent - if they don't go in the lottery than they just go back to school.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

just saw that Beagle from Albany has pulled his name out of the portal - not the first time I've seen that recently. Is it possible these kids are throwing their name in the portal just to see what kind of NIL deals they can get? If they don't get what they want or its no better than they have then they just return to current team?

Makes me wonder if RJ doesn't get more than what we offered would he stay? Noah too?

I feel like this is almost like a kid declaring for the draft but not signing an agent - if they don't go in the lottery than they just go back to school.

That's a tough gamble... you can always get recruited over at your former school and not have a place to go back to. I'm sure that would have to be very explicitly discussed with both your Coach and the NIL/Collective to ensure you would even be welcome back with a spot and the deal.