2024-25 Season

[69MG]

https://x.com/i/status/1808475025806160221

Some very high praise from Frank!

Calling Mike Traini!! When will 247 add Shahid to the list of commits?

Just bringing this to the top, now that we know he is here. Also, can we expect ratings on Doumbia and Abdelgowad?

[tdmass]

^ No change on the UMass web site either and according to this article, they've All been there for both A & B periods!

https://www.gazettenet.com/UMass-basket ... n-56143385

[69MG]

Now that we know that everyone is on board, and let's hope it stay that way, what are people's expectations? We'll get to wins and losses predictions as we get closer to the season. This is more about how many quality players we have and what roles do they have.

First, we have 4 guys back that we can count on; Diggins, Curry, Jayden and DHS. Rivera has proven that he can play at the DI level, although at a lower conference. That gives us 5.

We need 2 out of the 5 new bigs to be good enough to crack the top 7 rotation and I think we will get that from 2 of them. That's 7.

Of the remaining freshmen, Nate seems like a solid enough player to get decent minutes. That's 8.

Now comes the challenge. Can we get significantly more from Worthy or Foster? We then have the 3 other bigs and Lewis. We don't need more than a 10 man rotation so can 2 out of these 6 do well enough to help us. Obviously more questions than answers, but the fight for playing time beyond the first 5 will be fun to watch.

[Juice Stand]

^ Focusing on Worthy and Foster, I think both can be contributors. Worthy was outmatched and out of place against tougher competition during the A10 schedule, but he was a helpful piece early in the season. Foster joined the team late in the summer, missed a lot of the offseason training program, and never seemed to get comfortable. I think both are capable of finding their footings and contributing in some meaningful way in year two. Not starters, and probably not the first or second option off the bench, but Frank plays a deep bench and they'll be part of that.

[natwam2547]

Frank gives an update on the team per The Gazette. All of the newcomers are mentioned except Shahid Muhammed, the elite shot blocker. The author mentions 7 newcomers, not 8. I hope it's an oversight as he's the rim protector that Frank has been looking for.

https://www.gazettenet.com/UMass-basket ... n-56143385

Edit: I Emailed Connor Pignatello of The Gazette, who covers UM BB for them. Here is his response - Good News!

Yeah I think that was an oversight. I've seen Shahid around the facility - I don't believe there are any issues with him joining the team.
-Connor

The article has since been updated to include all 8 newcomers, including Shahid. Props to Connor.

This article says that they were looking for 1 more game to round out the schedule. Preferably a home game. With the news that they've scheduled UNH at home 11/4, was that the final game to round out the schedule? Have they had the rest scheduled already, but just weren't announcing it? Or was this one already in the works and they are still looking for that 1 more home game? It's all pretty confusing. I guess we'll find out in due time. Our OOC schedule is already 10x more difficult than BC's, woof.

[DoctorJ]

I guess being one game away from a full schedule is good news. If UNH is that missing piece, that's at least a D1 team. Last year we could have played another game but couldn't find a dance partner.

Given the strength of what has been announced already, I'm expecting AEC and NEC to have multiple games in the Bill. It's so hard to get teams to come to Amherst, especially if there is no return game in their shack.

Starting the season against UNH is interesting. I'd expect Harvard and Lowell to be in the early group, as usual. I'm curious to see how many MAC teams we play this year. Might see two or three of our future opponents.

Next year I expect to see a lot of A10 in the OOC.

[mdogt12]

^Harvard is Thanksgiving eve.

[Upstate10]

I think one of Worthy or Foster will make a huge leap this season. I really believe in Frank and staff's ability to develop talent after seeing the improvement made by returners in year 2.

[DoctorJ]

Foster is going to be interesting. He looked a little lost trying to guard bigs after playing guard in HS. Now we don't need him as a big and will see how he does as a wing.

Worthy looks like a tough kid. How hard he works will determine how he develops.

[JoleonLescottsHair]

Foster is going to be interesting. He looked a little lost trying to guard bigs after playing guard in HS. Now we don't need him as a big and will see how he does as a wing.

Worthy looks like a tough kid. How hard he works will determine how he develops.

Unless there has been an update, I don't believe either are on NIL. I cant imagine what kind of effect this type of scenario is having on team chemistry across college hoops.

[Floyd]

I can, but maybe they realize it's either that or transfer.

[DoctorJ]

Worthy will get his share of minutes. Given the scarcity of guards, I don't see how he doesn't get minutes.

Saw some pictures from practice today on Facebook. Looks like we have some athletes. I think I saw the new shot blocker kid.

Hopefully we get some video.

Love the returning players and interested in seeing the new guys.

I'm not thinking about NIL because I joined the collective and I see people are trying like heck to do great things here.

[Juice Stand]

Frank mentioned in the newest Being Frank podcast that Doumbia and Abdelgowad are good to go. Doumbia had some NCAA academic issues that are cleared up and Abdelgowad had visa issues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNvU9Gou3PY

[69MG]

^ Not much in-depth info on the team, but Frank is pretty entertaining. Glad to hear that the situations with Malek and Amadou seem to be OK. I am cautious with expectations from freshmen bigs, but I think Malek will play a big role this year (no pun intended).

[DoctorJ]

Schedule is usually released around now, no?

Haven't heard anything since the date for Harvard was posted...