BOSTON - At Tuesday's inaugural State of Massachusetts Basketball Media Day, the coaches of the commonwealth's six Division I men's teams said they'd like to gather again on the basketball court.

At the event, which attracted both local and national media to Boston University's Case Gymnasium, the coaches were all in favor of creating an event, perhaps a tripleheader at the TD Garden, showcasing each of the teams matching up against one of the others.

"That would be an unbelievable thing," said new BU coach Joe Jones, who was a part of Philadelphia Big 5 triple-headers early in his career as an assistant coach at Villanova. "I remember what that was like in Philadelphia. Doing a tripleheader would be wonderful. It would spearhead some extra attention that all our programs could benefit from. I'd be all in for that. I think it would be great."

Holy Cross coach Milan Brown agreed.

"It would be not only exciting, but great exposure. At some point in time everybody would get a crack at Boston College or a crack at UMass, which are the two schools that carry Massachusetts basketball, to get the most exposure," Brown said. "I think that would be a great thing. It could be a great event for the whole state to get behind. I think there would be great interest in that. Especially if it was in the Garden. What could be better than that?"

Northeastern coach Bill Coen had a plan in mind.

"The best way to do it might be a five-year rotating schedule where everybody plays everybody, maybe on opening night or opening week in the Garden," said Coen, whose Huskies played Drexel last year in the Garden as part of the Boston Tipoff Classic. "I took a conference game off our home schedule last year to do it because I strongly believe in the concept of promoting college basketball within the city. I thought it was a great experience for our student athletes, our alums and our fans. If you could earmark it for a regular date, where fans could schedule around it and plan for it, it could grow into something very very good."

UMass coach Derek Kellogg said for one day it would put their sport at the forefront of a professional sports centric city.

"Let's make one day 'College Basketball Day in Massachusetts.' It would be bring some light to the game in a place that has not been traditionally a college basketball area," he said. "If we can do it for a weekend, or a day, and move everything to the city of Boston, I'd be all for it."

Harvard coach Tommy Amaker offered similar sentiments.

"I would love for us to have a chance to all play. I think it would be neat for the schools, for our fans and this market," he said. "It would be great if we did it on a consistent basis and made a big deal out of it like they do at other places."

HEALTH - When the Minutemen officially begin practice this weekend, they'll be down three players. Junior forward Sampson Carter has a groin and hip injury.

Freshman guard Jordan Laguerre has a stress fracture in his shin and will be out "for a little while" according to Kellogg.

Freshman big man Cady Lalanne is still recovering from a broken foot and is expected back in about 10 days.

COEN ON WILLIAMS - Coen said the Minutemen should have high expectations for new point guard Chaz Williams. Coen coached against Williams during the point guard's freshman season at Hofstra.

"UMass fans are in for a lot of fun. He's just an exciting player, so quick with the ball," Coen said. "He puts a lot of pressure on defenses. He can get in the lane, make 3-point shots and he makes the game easier for his teammates. He was an elite competitor in our league. He's going to be a terrific player."

LOCKOUT OPPORTUNITY - A day after the NBA cancelled the first two weeks of its season, the local coaches were trying to reach out to idle Celtics fans.

"It's a great opportunity. There's lot of people that want basketball that aren't going to have it," BC coach Steve Donahue said. "A great option is to come to college basketball."

Jones was previously the head coach at Columbia, where NBA commissioner David Stern was formerly the head of the board of trustees.

"I was joking that I was going to send David Stern a text telling him to keep the lockout going," Jones said. "We can benefit from it. People that want to see basketball, maybe we can grab a few of those people and make them BU fans."

AFTERNOON MADNESS - The Minutemen have switched their dance party to a beach party. Instead of the Friday night dance party-themed practice kickoff event that was originally planned, UMass will instead host "The Bash at Southwest Beach," Saturday from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at the Horseshoe Courts in the Southwest Residential Area.

Both the men's and women's basketball teams will be announced. There will be prizes, including a trip to the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament in the Bahamas, and live music.

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.