| |
LOCATION: Amherst, MA
CONFERENCE: Atlantic-10 (East Division)
LAST SEASON: 14-16 (.476)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 9-7 (3rd)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 2/3
NICKNAME: Minutemen
COLORS: Maroon & White
HOMECOURT: Mullins Center (9.493)
COACH: James "Bruiser" Flint (St. Joseph's '87)
record at school 54-41 (3 years)
career record 54-41 (3 years)
|
ASSISTANTS: Geoff Arnold (St. Joseph's '86)
Mike Connors (Ithaca '83)
TBA
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 29-35-19-21-14
RPI (last 5 years) 7-2-47-28-106
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference quarterfinal.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
|
Just when you thought things couldn't possibly get worse at UMass they won't. In fact, the Minutemen appear poised for a resurgence. All of which is good news for fourth-year head coach Bruiser Flint, who spent much of last season as a regular on the talk show and chat room circuit. And fans weren't commenting on his wardrobe. They were talking about the decline of the Massachusetts program, which last year suffered its first losing season since 1989-90. UMass also missed the postseason for the first time since then, placing Bruiser squarely in the "bruised" category. Of course, the Minutemen pretty much had to decline under Flint. He took over following the 1995-96 Final Four campaign, a season in which Massachusetts was the top-ranked team in the country (splitting two games with national champion Kentucky). Then-coach John Calipari has been gone long enough to get fired from his NBA job, and star Marcus Camby has already been traded as a pro. Meanwhile, Flint was left to pick up the pieces. One of whom, center Lari Ketner, spent the first three years of the Flint Era torturing his coach and the UMass fans. Ketner (10.8 ppg, 8.3 rpg) is finally gone, having turned lottery pick talent into dwindling pro prospects. If ever a player was "addition by subtraction," Ketner is it. You wouldn't say the same thing about guard Charlton Clarke (9.0 ppg, 3.7 apg), a willing performer who played too much of the back end of his career out of position. Clarke was Flint's point guard by default, which eventually took a toll on both his attitude and his game. That Clarke limped through much of his senior season only made matters worse.
|
Blue Ribbon Analysis |
|
BACKCOURT B+ BENCH/DEPTH B-
FRONTCOURT B INTANGIBLES B
Bruiser Flint is on the hot seat, but there is no longer any baggage remaining from the John Calipari era. Flint will either sink or swim with his own cast of characters. The hunch here is that Massachusetts will rebound nicely this season. Monty Mack is the most dangerous perimeter weapon in the conference, and Chris Kirkland should continue his late-season pace without Lari Ketner getting in the way. Mike Babul is a quiet leader in his own right. It also helps that, after Temple, UMass has a shot to be the second-best team in the Atlantic 10. And the Minutemen have never feared the Owls. Call it second place in a wide-open East Division, followed by some kind of postseason tournament. And Mack is on track to graduate with his class, which means he could return as a fifth-year senior in 2000-01. |
The new-look Minutemen have neither a dog for a center nor a hobbled shooter in a key backcourt spot. It is time for a new leader and new talent to emerge. In many respects, it already has. Sophomore transfer Shannon Crooks (St. John's) is the new point guard. The 6-1 Crooks had only modest numbers as a St. John's freshman in 1997-98 (1.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg), but Flint calls him the most athletic guard UMass has had in either his tenure or that of Calipari. Crooks, an Everett, Mass., native who came back home to be near his dying father, had the Massachusetts coaches smiling throughout his redshirt season. "He'll change the way we play," Flint told the Hampshire Gazette. "He can do things that we haven't had a guy do since Mike Williams. But he's a better ballhandler and a much better athlete than Mike. He's much stronger. He can do things with the shot clock winding down. Defensively, he'll make us a lot different, too, because of his quickness and strength." Crooks seems to understand exactly what the Minutemen need. "I'm not going to approach games looking to razzle and dazzle the crowd," he said. "I'm trying to tighten my game and [become] a better player. Once you get older, your game matures. That's what I'm trying to do this year." The new center is heavily recruited 6-10 freshman Micah Brand (Milford Academy, Conn./Middletown, N.Y.). Brand will not be an instant star in the Camby/Ketner class, but should instead develop nicely over time without much of an ego. Said one A-10 recruiting analyst: "The still-growing giant has quick feet, great hands, a developing post game and a nice shooting touch out to the foul line. His defense is fairly advanced, [although] he needs to hold his ground better. Brand has the size, tools and athleticism to be a first-team A-10 performer before his career is through." Helping wean the two new starters are a trio of seniors who have the hunger as well as the talent to leave their own mark on UMass basketball. All three are good enough to become stars beyond the shadow of Ketner and Clarke. Come to think of it, 6-3 shooting guard Monty Mack (18.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg) is already a star. Mack is not the best pure shooter in the world, but he is happy to take and make (.371 3PT) the most important shots. Mack is the second-highest returning scorer in the conference. 6-6 power forward Chris Kirkland is about to be a star. Not even a starter before last season began, his numbers increased from 3.6 ppg and 2.4 rpg in 1997-98 to 10.2 ppg and 6.7 rpg last year. And even those figures are misleading. Kirkland posted 18.1 ppg and 9.7 rpg over the final seven games of 1998-99, including back-to-back games of 25 and 26 points against Xavier and George Washington. 6-6 small forward Mike Babul (5.2 ppg, ,3.7 rpg) won't wow anyone with his offense, but he is probably the best man-to-man defender in the league. The collective personality of Mack, Kirkland and Babul should be a dramatic and positive difference from that of Ketner and Clarke. Another bad apple, 6-8 forward Ajmal Basit (4.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg), transferred before he was asked to leave. The bench isn't deep, but it is useful where it needs to be much like the great UMass teams of the early- and mid-90s. 5-9 junior Jonathan DePina (1.8 ppg, 1.4 apg) has starting experience at the point, but is more suited to spot duty behind Crooks and Mack. Kitwana Rhymer, a Virgin Islands native via St. Raymond's HS in the Bronx, N.Y., will get frequent low post minutes behind Brand. The 6-10, 256-pound junior is just learning the game, but could be a very useful contributor (2.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg) in his second year in the program. Among the reserve forwards, 6-5 junior Winston Smith (2.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg) figures to log the most time. 6-8 sophomore Ronell Blizzard (1.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg) and 6-10 senior Anthony Oates (0.2 ppg, 0.6 rpg) are also available, along with backcourt sub Darryl Denson, a 6-0 junior (2.0 ppg).
 | The 19th edition of Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook is on sale now. To order, call 800-828-HOOP (4667), or visit their web site at
http://www.collegebaskets.com
|
| |
Conferences
America East
ACC
Atlantic 10
Big East
Big Sky
Big South
Big Ten
Big 12
Big West
Colonial
Conference USA
Independents
Ivy League
MAAC
Mid-American
Mid-Continent
Mid-Eastern Athletic
MCC
Missouri Valley
Mountain West
Northeast
Ohio Valley
Pac-10
Patriot
SEC
Southern
Southland
Sun Belt
SWAC
TAAC
WAC
West Coast
|
