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kdogg8173 wrote:https://twitter.com/CoachingChanges

Have to admit this anonymous tweetbot absolutely nailed it with his assessment of PK prior to the hire.
Who knew?

How did he know?

UMassHoops wrote:

kdogg8173 wrote:https://twitter.com/CoachingChanges

Have to admit this anonymous tweetbot absolutely nailed it with his assessment of PK prior to the hire.
Who knew?

Coaching changes is made up of 5 or 6 different guys that tweet under it, most are in the basketball business in some way

Now that we have a coach, hope the team stays intact. Personally I really like this team and would love to see them put it all together and rise to the top of the league. UMASSTRONG !!

I haven't seen anything from the players. I take that as a good sign - waiting to get to know the new guy before making any decisions.

Floyd wrote:Now that we have a coach, hope the team stays intact. Personally I really like this team and would love to see them put it all together and rise to the top of the league. UMASSTRONG !!

^ We can all agree with that!

Also hoping the team stays in together. The talent here is very good and can make some noise with the proper practice and in-game coaching.

Hopefully the guys have decided that they're here to stay, to play for themselves, each other and the school regardless of who was going be their coach. They should have a pretty close bond by now.

^ Pip and Holloway are not exactly shrinking violets when it comes to voicing their opinions. Those two will have a lot to do with this team staying together, imo.

69MG wrote:I haven't seen anything from the players. I take that as a good sign - waiting to get to know the new guy before making any decisions.

My guess is they were asked to respect the process and refrain from commenting on social media during about the search during the time coaches are being interviewed. And if I understand the transfer rules correct in order for a player to transfer they have to be released from their current school if they have not yet graduated. So even if any layers are transferring it is unlikely UMass has granted any releases before a new coach is brought aboard.

If that is the case, thankfully both have already burned a redshirt year so they would almost certainly be giving up a year of eligibility to transfer. Pip might not care because he can still get 2 years, but if RH transferred he's sitting a year then one and done.

Obviously either could try to apply for a hardship waiver, but I'm pretty sure the NCAA is super stringent on handing those out.

And Matt McCall has Pip, Malik, and Halloway's picture as part of his Twitter cover photo now. Sure, it is a stock image and likely has nothing to do with much more than him wanting a Umass photo but who knows.

https://twitter.com/CoachMattMcCall

It's interesting that McCall was able to keep any key pieces from transferring out of UTC when he came in and they went on to win 29 games and get to the dance in his first year. There's some real world experience he can relate to them about the power of sticking together through tough times and trusting him to get them over the hump.

Of course, the coach needs to decide first whether he wants to keep everyone. He might have different thoughts entirely after evaluating the talent and personalities...

^

Considering that RB probably hammered home that the freshmen were considered to be a top 25 recruiting class, I would think he'd do everything in his power to try and keep them. At the top of the roster (senority-wise), though, is likely a different story.