Minutemen play through hardship
N.E. BASKETBALL
UMass knew it faced significant hurdles going into Matt McCall’s first year. But it didn’t know there would be more adversity than expected.
The Minutemen lost seven players who transferred following Derek Kellogg’s firing last spring, but that was just the beginning. When they returned in the fall, Jaylen Brantley, their incoming transfer point guard, was diagnosed with a career-ending heart condition.
McCall still thought he had good pieces, and it showed with nonleague wins over Providence and Georgia. But then the hits kept coming. Rashaan Holloway was ruled academically ineligible in January, then Chris Baldwin was done due to injury in February.
UMass’ numbers had dwindled severely. The situation became so dire that the Minutemen had to add Randall West, a backup quarterback on the football team.
Somehow, McCall has squeezed everything out of this group as it gears up for the Atlantic 10 tournament this week. Last week, after trailing by 16, UMass was one play away from beating George Mason on the road in a game in which it was missing leading scorer Luwane Pipkins and suited up just four scholarship players.
“For the most part, these guys have really, really competed every single night and played with an enormous amount of inspiration and played really, really hard,” McCall said. “Dealing with what we’re dealing with, that’s what you can ask for as a coach.”
McCall admitted that it’s hard not to think what UMass could have done had everyone stayed healthy and eligible. At the same time, going through this could make his program better long term.
“You look at it and you’re like, ‘Wow man, if you had Holloway, if you had Brantley on this team with these other guys . . .’ Yeah, it’s hard not to think about it,” McCall said. “But at the same token, I think you can take a lot out of going through this, especially after this year going into next year. Finishing in the bottom of the Atlantic 10, nobody wants to experience this again.
“I’m excited. For me, just as a young head coach, I think this is the best thing that I could have gone through. Preparing us for the future and understanding that there’s so much that goes into winning that’s not just X’s and O’s.”
The future is certainly bright at UMass. The Minutemen graduate just one senior and have six players set to debut in the fall, including four transfers who McCall said “have all improved immensely since they’ve been here.”
UMass, as the No. 12 seed, faces La Salle in the opening round of the A-10 tourney on Wednesday, with the winner facing George Mason. The message is to finish strong.
“It’s been a long year. Guys have played an enormous amount of minutes that going into the year, anyone expected to play,” McCall said. “So let’s give it one run, and let’s leave it all out there on the floor, whether we win a game, win two games, whatever it is, whatever the result is, don’t have any regrets and go out there and play as hard as you possibly can.”
Gold star guards
Boston College made huge strides this season, and its star backcourt was rewarded yesterday.
After leading the league in scoring, Jerome Robinson was voted to the All-ACC first team and the runner-up for player of the year. The junior, who averaged 20.7 points per game in the regular season, including 24.3 in conference play, finished behind only Duke’s Marvin Bagley in player of the year voting.
Ky Bowman was named an AllACC honorable mention. The sophomore point guard was the only player in the country to average at least 16.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game this season.
Deep improvement
Harvard’s outside shooting struggles are a thing of the past. The Crimson are heating up from distance as they head to the Ivy League tournament this weekend.
At one point in December, Harvard ranked 333rd in the country in 3-point shooting. But the Crimson have improved dramatically since. They led the Ivy during conference play by shooting 42.2 percent from deep.
“I think as we’ve gone forward and gotten better and grown throughout the course of the season, I think we’ve been able to get better shots,” coach Tommy Amaker said. “We play through Chris Lewis. When you have an inside presence, it takes a lot of pressure off the shots on the perimeter . ... We’ve had great balance, and we certainly have been able to get more confidence in our shots, but I think that’s a result of taking better shots.”