2025-26 Season

[Roadtrip]

With at least five of the incoming guys being able to score, it will be interesting to see if they can defend.

[dsmithma]

With the signing of Marcus Banks now official here is how I currently see the preseason depth chart (first player listed is starter on opening day):

1: Donovan Brown; Danny Carbuccia
2: Marcus Banks Jr.; K'Jei Parker; Isaiah Placide
3: Jayden Ndjigue; Dwayne Wimbley Jr.; Bilal Osman
4: Daniel Hankins-Sanford; Leonardo Bettiol
5: Dimitri Clerc; Luka Damjanac; Charles Outlaw

Obviously, several of the above players will play multiple positions (i.e. Dwayne Wimbley Jr. & Bilal Osman) but for slotting in preseason starting and backup slots this is what I'm thinking.

I also think by the start of conference play Dwayne Wimbley Jr. will be starting and no one listed at the #5 position will be starting.

I think I agree with almost all of this*, except your statement that none of the 5's will start when conference play begins. We've seen that Frank is pretty stubborn with lineups and hesitant to make changes (see Abdelgowad, Malek). He also continues to be a proponent of playing through big men. If Clerc is anywhere close to decent or slightly above decent, I don't see Frank making that move.

*Disclaimer that this is an all new team and I know so little about any of these guys. I'm hesitant to put too much stock in the freshmen so I have them coming off the bench, and Brown, Banks, and Clerc appear to be the cream of the incoming upperclassmen crop.

Juice, I agree 100% with your take on Frank that he has a preference towards playing through the 5 spot with a big man. I think it would be great to see Clerc come in and be an immediate presence and have him be the starting 5 the entire year.

The lineup question that I had the hardest time making a decision on was the 3 spot. I think there's a chance that Wimbley could be the second best player on the team (behind DHS). And I am having a hard time envisioning Frank having Ndjigue come off the bench as that was a disaster the beginning of last year. Ndjigue needs to play in the flow of the game and hasn't proven to be a reliable sixth man. Frank even said himself last season that benching him was a mistake.

So do you start Ndjigue at the 3 and Wembley at the 4? If yes, that means DHS moves to the 5 spot (in a perfect world I'd like to always keep him at the 4). If no, are you comfortable having Wembley come off the bench? This is all given the assumption that he is as good as I think which is based off of a few highlight tapes and twitter threads (shrug). As of now, it looks like Wimbley off the bench is the right choice but it might be hard keeping that much talent off the floor at the start of games.

[MikeUMA]

Floyd, you are right on all counts. That's why I no longer expect anything. It's sad to pin your hope for relevancy on a win by the women's LAX team. They lost today, by the way, so there's another year down the shitter for UMass sports.

Your "down the shitter" comment caught my attention. I'm curious to hear what your definition of success is, for our various sports.

The ultimate goal is a natty, of course, but is anything less than that, for you, a bad season? WLAX and Hockey made their NCAA Tournaments, and WLAX in particular went undefeated in the conference.

[LS71]

^ Don't forget that men's soccer made the final four this past season.

[69MG]

With the signing of Marcus Banks now official here is how I currently see the preseason depth chart (first player listed is starter on opening day):

1: Donovan Brown; Danny Carbuccia
2: Marcus Banks Jr.; K'Jei Parker; Isaiah Placide
3: Jayden Ndjigue; Dwayne Wimbley Jr.; Bilal Osman
4: Daniel Hankins-Sanford; Leonardo Bettiol
5: Dimitri Clerc; Luka Damjanac; Charles Outlaw

Obviously, several of the above players will play multiple positions (i.e. Dwayne Wimbley Jr. & Bilal Osman) but for slotting in preseason starting and backup slots this is what I'm thinking.

I also think by the start of conference play Dwayne Wimbley Jr. will be starting and no one listed at the #5 position will be starting.

I'm pretty much in agreement with what others have said. I also hope that Clerc can give us around 10 and 6 and play defense. If he can, he is guaranteed to start all year. Brown and Parker can both play either guard spot, good shooters who had decent assist numbers. PG is one of 2 positions where competition is the strongest.

As others have said, the 3 spot is hardest to figure. We all know Frank loves Jayden. Wimbley comes in with a reputation as a very good defensive player and he can score. Pretty sure that Jayden is the starter at the beginning of the year and it will be interesting (in a good way) to see if Wimbley is good enough to steal minutes from Jayden as the season progresses.

Since we know almost nothing about how these new guys will perform as they step up in level (Banks is the exception) I'll be an optimist and think half of them will be fine in the MAC. That's 5 out of 10 and added to DHS and Jayden, that gives us 7 good players. We just need 2 more not to suck.

[Floyd]

Play the best starting 5, who cares about class or anything else. If Wimbley is the better player, start him. Jayden will get his minutes filling in.

[dsmithma]

With the signing of Marcus Banks now official here is how I currently see the preseason depth chart (first player listed is starter on opening day):

1: Donovan Brown; Danny Carbuccia
2: Marcus Banks Jr.; K'Jei Parker; Isaiah Placide
3: Jayden Ndjigue; Dwayne Wimbley Jr.; Bilal Osman
4: Daniel Hankins-Sanford; Leonardo Bettiol
5: Dimitri Clerc; Luka Damjanac; Charles Outlaw

Obviously, several of the above players will play multiple positions (i.e. Dwayne Wimbley Jr. & Bilal Osman) but for slotting in preseason starting and backup slots this is what I'm thinking.

I also think by the start of conference play Dwayne Wimbley Jr. will be starting and no one listed at the #5 position will be starting.

I'm pretty much in agreement with what others have said. I also hope that Clerc can give us around 10 and 6 and play defense. If he can, he is guaranteed to start all year. Brown and Parker can both play either guard spot, good shooters who had decent assist numbers. PG is one of 2 positions where competition is the strongest.

As others have said, the 3 spot is hardest to figure. We all know Frank loves Jayden. Wimbley comes in with a reputation as a very good defensive player and he can score. Pretty sure that Jayden is the starter at the beginning of the year and it will be interesting (in a good way) to see if Wimbley is good enough to steal minutes from Jayden as the season progresses.

Since we know almost nothing about how these new guys will perform as they step up in level (Banks is the exception) I'll be an optimist and think half of them will be fine in the MAC. That's 5 out of 10 and added to DHS and Jayden, that gives us 7 good players. We just need 2 more not to suck.

Great insight! Agree Jayden is the starter at the beginning of the year and the thing I love most about this roster is it feels like there is competition at every spot (some more than others).

The players I think will be able to compete right away in the MAC are:
- Jayden & DHS (core returners)
- Banks & Bettiol (proven D1 players with multiple years of output)
- Wimbley & Carbuccia (high level high school kids who played well against top-level competition)
- Two of Brown, Parker, or Placide (Shooting translates from D2 to D1 and Brown & Placide averaged over 20 ppg and shot 35% from 3 and Parker averaged 16.8 ppg on 43% from 3)
- Clerc is my 9th as his big frame should be able to work in the MAC. On the latest Just Being Frank, Frank said he needs to work on his rebounding so fingers crossed he'll be adjusted enough for D1 competition

Everyone else would be a pleasant surprise.

[DanaDingle3]

Didn't Frank also say on the latest podcast a trusted source told him Outlaw would've started on New Mexico St. this past season? It's one opinion, but I'm hopeful we'll have solid production from the 5. My one question is PG play. I didn't know Brown was thought of as a PG. Him and Parker are both listed as guards or combo guards. Looks like the only true PG is Carbuccia. It'll be interesting to see who's able to run the offense and defend the way Frank demands.

[bobolink]

With the signing of Marcus Banks now official here is how I currently see the preseason depth chart (first player listed is starter on opening day):

1: Donovan Brown; Danny Carbuccia
2: Marcus Banks Jr.; K'Jei Parker; Isaiah Placide
3: Jayden Ndjigue; Dwayne Wimbley Jr.; Bilal Osman
4: Daniel Hankins-Sanford; Leonardo Bettiol
5: Dimitri Clerc; Luka Damjanac; Charles Outlaw

Obviously, several of the above players will play multiple positions (i.e. Dwayne Wimbley Jr. & Bilal Osman) but for slotting in preseason starting and backup slots this is what I'm thinking.

I also think by the start of conference play Dwayne Wimbley Jr. will be starting and no one listed at the #5 position will be starting.

I'll join you and others who guess this as a first cut at a depth chart, and also agree with 69 that Parker is an option at PG. There was a brief time late last season where Luka played PF, so that could happen. These 2 tweaks gives us 3 at every position, which puts the number 3 in my head. So as I learn the new roster these 3s also come to mind:
3 returnees
3 transfers from JUCO
3 freshmen
3 players from Europe
3 from Florida

hope they can hit 3s much better than last season's team did.

[Battle Ax]

Play the best starting 5, who cares about class or anything else. If Wimbley is the better player, start him. Jayden will get his minutes filling in.

I agree. With what we have heard about Wimbley I don’t think he sits behind Jayden.

[Floyd]

That's how I feel AxMan, and that's no knock on Jayden. Wimbley sounds like he's a more complete player, but Jayden brings a lot of intangibles that help the team. Always need good quality depth to build a good team. Different teams & matchups will dictate minutes. Just win!

[69MG]

I'm not sure how much difference there is between JUCO and DII, so I take these stats with a grain of salt. I looked at Brown vs Parker as a PG. Both have done it, but they are not the same. Brown is better inside and Parker is better outside. Again, Parker's stats are JUCO.

Brown - FG % - 45%, 3 point % - 36%, FT % - 75%, rebounds - 4.3, steals - 1 per game, assists - 3.4, t/o - 3.3
Parker - FG% - 42%, 3 point % - 43%, FT% - 86%, rebounds - 5.0, steals - 1.1 per game, assists - 4.1, t/o - 2.5

I like them both and if Jayden is on the court, either would be OK. If Carabuccia is on the floor, I think we either have to play Wimbley at the 3 or play 3 guards, using both Brown and Parker or maybe Placide. I don't know how much Clerc will score, so I always want 3 other scorers on the floor with Jayden.

Of course, this is all speculation and opinion, but I like the versatility we seem to have.

[Juice Stand]

Just win!

Now this is something I think we can all agree on. Listening to Frank's comments in multiple media settings after the season, he is flat out embarrassed by last season. He's the highest paid coach in the history of UMass basketball (any UMass sport?) and it's time for results. Combine that with the move down to a lesser conference and there really are no excuses. It's time to win.

Before certain posters jumps all over me, I'm not expecting to roll through that conference and win a championship. My goal is probably top 3. The top 3 teams in the MAC won between 24-28 games and were 90-150 NET last year. That's where the quality starts to drop off and you get to the sub-200 NET teams. Finish top 3 with 20+ wins and a NET around 125, and that will be a successful year in my opinion. Throw in an NIT bid, and I'll be thrilled.

[69MG]

I think I'm doing an about-face on Charles Outlaw. Just looking at stats can be deceiving. I saw 19 minutes a game, 4.5 points and 3.9 boards and just about wrote him off. He played on a team that was 34-3 and won the JuCo national championship. They had so many good players that nobody put-up mind-blowing stats.

11 guys played roughly 10 minutes or more and the top guy played just 26. The leading scorer averaged 10 points. Outlaw only took 2.8 shots per game and made 73% of them.

There isn't much video on him but in this short clip I like what I see.

https://www.facebook.com/UMassMensBaske ... 077304396/

[NilesGold]

I think I'm doing an about-face on Charles Outlaw. Just looking at stats can be deceiving. I saw 19 minutes a game, 4.5 points and 3.9 boards and just about wrote him off. He played on a team that was 34-3 and won the JuCo national championship. They had so many good players that nobody put-up mind-blowing stats.

My assumptions about the center position have shifted, but mostly because I learned that Outlaw's JUCO team won the NJCAA championship and Outlaw was their starting center. I don't think Outlaw is going to be some offensive dynamo, but Frank painted a picture of someone who knows how to position himself to seal off defenders in order to create space for teammates.

What I don't understand is why a number of you think Brown will be our starting PG. To my knowledge he hasn't been his team's PG at any of his previous college stops, so it seems unlikely to expect that he'll do it now. He's known as a scorer. It seems more likely to me that Parker/Carbuccia, Brown, and Banks may play a lot together. I would not discount the possibility of Ndjigue coming off the bench and playing fewer minutes that his previous seasons.