The University of Massachusetts men's basketball team's game Dec. 19 against Memphis appears to be on course to stay at the TD Garden (formerly TD Banknorth Garden) in Boston.

The game was supposed to be a return to Massachusetts for former Minuteman coach John Calipari who left the Tigers to coach at Kentucky.

Calipari's departure took some of the luster off the game, a rematch of last year's contest at the FedEx Forum which was won by Memphis 80-58.

That led to the possibility that the game might be moved to the Mullins Center.

But Tim Kenney, the UMass associate athletic director who handles much of the men's basketball scheduling, said the game is set to stay in the home of the Boston Celtics and Bruins.

While UMass won't face Calipari, there are a few potentially interesting subplots in games that are either on the schedule or under consideration to be added.

The Minutemen are hosting a four-team sectional in the Legends Classic. Other than UMass, the only team confirmed to play at Amherst is Cornell, which features former Minuteman guard Max Groebe.

UMass has two games left to complete its schedule. A game at Baylor to start a home-and-home series looks like a good possibility. Former UMass athletic director Ian McCaw is the athletic director at Baylor.

If they go to Baylor, the Minutemen would seek another home game to complete their schedule. UMass has contacted quite a few schools about a potential matchup including Florida International, which hired Isaiah Thomas as its head coach for the coming season.

It's possible that NBA legend Michael Jordan could be in the stands when the Minutemen open their season at Central Florida on Nov. 13. Jordan's son Marcus will be a freshman for the Golden Knights.

Even if UMass loses the games it hosts in the Legends Classic, it is still guaranteed to advance to the event's final four, which was scheduled to be played at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Nov. 27 and 28. However, it may be moved to another venue because of a potential conflict with another event in the building. Michigan State, Florida and Rutgers also will be in the Legends Classic final four.

Even if the Legends Classic is moved, UMass will play in the Prudential Center this season against Seton Hall on Dec. 7. UMass also has road games at Holy Cross (Dec. 5, DCU Center in Worcester), Boston College (Dec. 23) and Davidson (Dec. 30).

The Minutemen will start a two-for-one series (two games will be in Amherst) with Quinnipiac on Dec. 2 at the Mullins Center and will play a home game against St. Francis (N.Y.) in late November. The success of last year's game against Dayton in the MassMutual Center in Springfield was enough for UMass to schedule another game there. The opponent won't be determined until the Atlantic 10 schedule is released, but the game will be on Jan. 9.

HARRIS' SUMMER - Senior Ricky Harris participated at the Paul Pierce Skills Academy last week at Brandeis, an event that featured some of college basketball's top shooting guards. Also there were Greivis Vasquez of Maryland and E'Twaun Moore of Purdue.

Harris is spending the remainder of the summer in Amherst as all of coach Derek Kellogg's players are on campus and enrolled in summer classes.

ANOTHER GAFFNEY - Tony Gaffney's younger brother Brian "Bud" Gaffney, who played at Wheaton College in 2007-08, will try to walk on to the Minutemen this fall. Gaffney, a 6-foot guard would have three years of eligibility remaining.

RECRUITING - Like most Division I college basketball coaches, Kellogg is on the road recruiting this week and was one of many coaches at the Reebok All America Camp in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

The Minutemen already have a verbal commitment from power forward Max Esho and according to Scout.com, several other players have the Minutemen on their radar.

UMass remains in pursuit of Carson Desrosiers, the highly-regarded 6-foot-10 big man out of Central Catholic in Lawrence. Scout.com has him ranked as the No. 13 center among rising high school seniors. Desrosiers listed the Minutemen among many college possibilities.

Incoming Minuteman forward Terrell Vinson's high school teammate in Baltimore, shooting guard Dante Holmes (6-foot-3) also lists the Minutemen as a potential choice.

For links to recruiting site bios of high school seniors listing UMass among their college possibilities, go to the Gazette's UMass Sports Blog at http://www.gazettenet.com/blog/umass-sports.

MISCELLANEOUS - Calipari's new book, "Bounce Back: Overcoming Setbacks to Succeed in Business and Life," is available for presale on Amazon.com. The book, which is cowritten by UMass alumnus David Scott, will be released Sept. 8.

The two sessions of the Derek Kellogg Basketball Camp will be July 27-30 and Aug. 3-6.

The camp is for players ages 7-18. Price per session is $250. For more information contact Andy Allison at 413-577-2287.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage, including a UMass sports blog, go to http://www.gazettenet.com/category/sports/umass-sports.