Game 5, 2025-26: Charleston (Paradise Jam 11/21)

[MikeUMA]

Anyone going to the USVI?

C of C was picked 3rd in a close finish in the Coastal's pre-season poll.
https://caasports.com/news/2025/9/30/to ... -year.aspx
I still have to correct myself, want to call it the Colonial.

Colby Duggan (Jr, F) from nearby Monson MA was a unanimous pick to the league's First Team. He played his first two at Campbell (also CAA). Campbell made a coaching change so I guess that was his motivation to leave, otherwise staying within the league wouldn't make a lot of sense.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/pl ... gan-1.html

The Cougars started their season with a win over a D-II. They get Liberty and FL Atlantic tomorrow and Saturday.
https://cofcsports.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

[bobolink]

just lost at home to Drake 71-62. I doubt we can tell much from early season scores, but Charleston doesn't look like a powerhouse. They're big, though. Hope our bigs, particularly Leo, learned something going against that 7'4" guy from Marshall.

[69MG]

I looked at the box score from the Drake game. Drake won because Charleston had a horrendous shooting night. 34% from the field, 6/25 from 3 and 12/19 from the line. They did outrebound Drake by 6. Drake is far from a powerhouse. They've beaten Northern Arizona and Simpson College. They have losses to Robert Morris and SIUE.

Drake started 6'3, 6'3, 6'3, 6'6 and 6'9 so Charleston's height didn't bother them. Charleston had zero blocks.

We'll need to play better than we did yesterday, and we're certainly capable of doing that.

[Juice Stand]

We're not a powerhouse either, and Charleston has a quality coach in Chris Mack, which scares me. I'm hoping that the tongue lashing from Sunday gets these guys focused instead of fracturing them, although I think it's way too early in the season for that to happen. It should be a good matchup between two average-to-good mid-majors with highly decorated former power conference head coaches.

[69MG]

I watched some of the Yale-URI game tonight. Yale was supposed to be very good, but they lost to URI by 9. I understand that pre-season polls don't mean much, but URI was picked 12th in the A10 Coaches Poll. If we can get past Charleston, I think we have a shot to beat Yale. Green Bay is pretty bad so Yale should win that one. Here are the records of the teams in the tournament:
UMass 3-1
Charleston 2-3
Green Bay 1-4
Yale 3-1
Iona 4-0
Akron 3-1 (Only loss is to #1 Purdue)
Evansville 2-3
Oregon State 3-1

[Floyd]

69, you should work in the sports info dept. You're on top of all the news & info. Nice job

[69MG]

^ I do. My secret identity is Bamford's communications manager. NOT

[Plano Minuteman]

The other side of the bracket definitely looks rougher. Saw that ESPN was giving UMass a 22% chance of defeating Akron in Akron later in the year.

[doubledribble]

^ I do. My secret identity is Bamford's communications manager. NOT

HA ! Good one!

[bobolink]

The other side of the bracket definitely looks rougher. Saw that ESPN was giving UMass a 22% chance of defeating Akron in Akron later in the year.

yes. Looking at the records, 3 teams seem to deserve OK-to-good ratings: Akron, Yale and Oregon State, with Akron clearly #1. 3 middling teams that should not be expected at the finals: Iona, Charleston and UMass, where no one can tell how they'll do. And 2 teams that look weak: Evansville and Green Bay. But you never know. Some teams have mostly been on the road and UMass has only played home games.

[doubledribble]

Is there going to be any TV coverage on the games?

[69MG]

^ DD, ask and ye shall receive:

Men's Paradise Jam (November 21–24, 2025)
Location: University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas
Teams: Akron, College of Charleston, Evansville, Green Bay, Iona, Oregon State, UMass, and Yale
TV Schedule: All games will be broadcast on ESPN+

[doubledribble]

Thanks neighbor!

[Floyd]

Wasn't Kit Rhymer originally from the Virgin Islands?

[MikeUMA]

Wasn't Kit Rhymer originally from the Virgin Islands?

Yes. He played with their national team for a while.

My old school page for Kit: https://umasshoops.com/people/rhymer_kitwana/