His height is likely to inspire concern from fans of the University of Massachusetts and certain to prompt taunts from Minuteman opponents.

But Daryl Traynham's 5-foot-8 stature hasn't held the future Minuteman point guard back so far in his career.

Traynham gave UMass a verbal commitment Saturday. Whether he becomes a star in the Atlantic 10 remains to be seen, but if he doesn't, his height likely won't be the reason.

For the past 15 seasons, the league has been stocked with little guys who made a big impact. In addition to current standouts Dijuan Harris (Charlotte, 5-foot-9), Kwamain Mitchell (Saint Louis, 5-foot-10) and Kevin Anderson (Richmond, 5-foot-11), there were these other memorable A-10 guards who made an impact despite being under 6-feet.

Jameer Nelson, Saint Joseph's, 5-foot-11 - The Hawk guard was one of the best college players anywhere in the past 10 years. He led St. Joseph's to a No. 1 ranking.

Marques Green, St. Bonaventure, 5-foot-7 - No school had more success with short stars than the Bonnies and Green was the best of them. A first-team all-conference player in 2002-03, he led the conference with a 21.3 scoring average.

Shawnta Rogers, George Washington, 5-foot-4 - The shortest player on this list was the A-10 player of the year in 1998-99 when he led the conference in scoring (20.7 points per game) and assists (6.8 per game).

Drew Lavender, Xavier, 5-foot-7 - The Musketeers went 55-16 with the Oklahoma transfer at the controls. He twice earned a spot on the all-conference second team.

Tyson Wheeler, Rhode Island, 5-foot-10 - The Rhody guard was an all-rookie selection as a freshman and all-conference the next three years, including first-team his junior and senior years.

Other notable sub-6-footers:T.J. Thompson (George Washington, 5-10) and Tim Winn (St. Bonaventure, 5-10).

UMass never had an all-Atlantic-10 player under 6-feet, but the Minutemen were coached by former second-team all-A-10 point guard Bruiser Flint, who is 5-foot-9.

GAME OF THE WEEK: Xavier at Dayton, Saturday, noon, ESPN2 - This is always a good rivalry game, but is more critical to the Flyers. Dayton (15-6 overall) is 4-3 in the conference needs a big win to remain in the hunt for a first-round bye in the A-10 tournament and more importantly to stay in consideration for a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK - Barack Obama can continue to focus his energy on more important things. After Charlotte beat UMass, Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said there should be a federal investigation if Derrio Green was not named conference player of the week. Call off the feds because Green, who averaged 30 points in two 49er wins, did pick up the weekly award. Green's 34 points in Charlotte's 72-58 win over UMass was the most points scored in a game by an Atlantic 10 player this year.

Chris Gaston of Fordhamand Aaric Murray of La Salle shared the rookie-of-the-week honor. Gaston had 21 points and 15 rebounds in the Rams' only game last week, an 80-73 loss to the Explorers. In the same game, Murray had 24 points and added 11 points and four rebounds in La Salle's 64-52 loss to Temple.

AWARD ELIGIBLE? - The Atlantic 10 coaches are will have this question to ponder when they fill out their postseason awards ballots: Should Cody Ellis be considered for the all-rookie team?

Ellis has played only six games for Saint Louis after resolving a prolonged eligibility debate with the NCAA. But in those games, he's made an instant impact, averaging 11.8 points and 7.2 rebounds.

His scoring average is more than every rookie other than Gaston or Murray, while only Gaston and Chris Braswell of Charlotte are averaging more rebounds. If Ellis maintains his averages, will doing it over half of a season be enough to earn him a spot on all-rookie team?

TOURNEY HUNT/POLL WATCHING - In the most recent edition of ESPN's Bracketology, Joe Lunardi picked the Atlantic 10 to have five teams - Temple, Xavier, Rhode Island, Richmond and Charlotte - in the NCAA Tournament. That is as many as the Southeastern Conference and more than the Big Ten (four) and Pacific-10 (2).

Temple's 74-64 loss at Charlotte Wednesday cost the Owls four spots in the Associated Press Top 25 poll where they are now No. 19, and two spots in the coaches poll (down to 17). Xavier, Rhode Island and Charlotte received votes in the AP poll, while the Musketeers and Rams also got votes in the coaches poll.

Information from personal interviews, newspaper articles and sports information releases was used in this report.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.