Final Four run, 30th anniversary

[PintOGuinness]

Who was on the old AOL message board back then?

[fenway617]

"Most" members of that team expected to return. Similar celebrations in the past have indeed drawn a bunch of those alums back. Marcus Camby has been great about coming back, but I think the White Lion Brewing location in Amherst (that he had a stake in) closed a few months ago. (There's still one in Springfield.)

Calipari almost certainly won't be there in person. Arkansas has a home game that same afternoon.

White Lion Brewery closed in Amherst last spring. It was never busy and had sporadic hours and the Camby connect was never a big enough draw to the younger crowd. Now McMurphy's Uptown Tavern is moving into that spot. The current building home to McMurphy's Uptown Tavern located across the street is being demolished soon. The McMurphy's team have been renovation the new location the past few weeks. They plan to open in the new location in the spring.

The old Amherst Brewing spot right? That building has been like revolving door for businesses over the years. Still can’t believe McMurphy’s is moving even if it is only across the street. So many great memories from that place and Barsie’s in the early 2000s for me.

Yes, the old Amherst Brewing Company spot. It later became High Horse Tavern and had some success but also had many heath code violations and was about to lose their license to serve food in early 2020 but then COVID happened so it just went out of business naturally. White Lion moved in to that spot with great fanfare in 2023 and Camby was there several times. The whole inside was centered around Camby with murals and pictures. Unfortunately it didn't stick. It was often dead in there and they only served beer and wine so that kept away the college students, they had sporadic food offering to go along with sporadic and inconsistent hours. The Camby connection to that place wasn't even close to the big draw they thought it would be and around March of last year they unofficially closed for good with no fanfare. They just never opened again. McMurphy's will be opening in that spot in about 2-3 weeks. Their ETA to be open is right after spring break. McMurphy's current location is being demolished soon. They have put in a lot of work in the new location, I peeked inside today and it looks nice.

[Floyd]

Was hoping Donta Bright would be part of the announced group from '96. He never seems to be in attendance when they do these things. Bright & Dingle were a great forward combo

[LS71]

In addition to the '96 team reunion, there was another group of UMass hoops alumni. Too bad they weren't introduced individually as well. Does anyone know who was there as part of that group?

[Floyd]

LS, thought I recognized Chris Kirkland, Shannon Crooks, and maybe Monty Mack? Not sure of the others.
I agree, it would have been nice to hear who they all were

[LS71]

We were in the north end zone, so from my angle it was impossible to tell who was who.

[minutefanjsf]

LS, thought I recognized Chris Kirkland, Shannon Crooks, and maybe Monty Mack? Not sure of the others.
I agree, it would have been nice to hear who they all were

Thought I saw Viggiano as well. Monty was definitely there. I sure hope the guys that came back are vocal about what they saw/didn't see.

[doubledribble]

LS, thought I recognized Chris Kirkland, Shannon Crooks, and maybe Monty Mack? Not sure of the others.
I agree, it would have been nice to hear who they all were

Yes I saw them as well as Noah Fernandez and Chaz.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Damn shame the students didn't come out. Awful.

[minutefanjsf]

Damn shame the students didn't come out. Awful.

I'm not sure why the other athletic teams, not in season, football etc. are not filling the student section. It was Greek night. They weren't given any special treatment to bet there or incentive to sit in the student section. At Miami, they handed out foam noodles, light up stuff, etc. All just to look good for the one big game. That is why the dept. is a joke. It's all about clicks, appearance, etc.

[MikeUMA]

That is why the dept. is a joke. It's all about clicks, appearance, etc.

They pulled out all the stops against undefeated Miami. You want a similar level of promo activity for a 5-8 Buffalo team?

All of the promo stuff costs $ and I'm OK with them being selective about how they spend it.

We should try winning games instead. That always works to get people in the door.

[LS71]

^ if they’d won on Tuesday, my guess is more students would have have shown up last night. I don’t know if the game starting an hour earlier than usual mattered st all.

But you׳re right, win some of these close games and they will come.

[MikeUMA]

Was hoping Donta Bright would be part of the announced group from '96. He never seems to be in attendance when they do these things. Bright & Dingle were a great forward combo

Donta came to the UM Athletic HOF induction in Sept 2021.

[MikeUMA]

Kind of a bummer that five players from the 95-96 roster didn't make it.
Travieso
Bright
Clarke
Norville
Burns

They all have things going on in their lives, and all of 'em (except Norville) came back for the Sept 2021 HOF induction, so it's hard to fault 'em.

Travieso hasn't been shy about his disdain for Bamford. He's deleted his Twitter but used to post a hefty amount of criticism. I wonder if that was his reason for staying away.

[umasscollective]

Kind of a bummer that five players from the 95-96 roster didn't make it.
Travieso
Bright
Clarke
Norville
Burns

They all have things going on in their lives, and all of 'em (except Norville) came back for the Sept 2021 HOF induction, so it's hard to fault 'em.

Travieso hasn't been shy about his disdain for Bamford. He's deleted his Twitter but used to post a hefty amount of criticism. I wonder if that was his reason for staying away.

Bummer when you make assumptions.