1

CADY LALANNE

AMHERST - As he walked around the University of Massachusetts campus Thursday going from class to class, Cady Lalanne was counting down the hours until the team's 3:30 p.m. practice.

After a year off as an academic nonqualifer and a month off with a foot injury, the Minuteman freshman finally gets to practice again. Lalanne isn't even cleared to go full speed yet, but after so much time away, he's relishing being part of the team.

"It feels good to be out there playing basketball again. I just got to get back in shape," said the 6-foot-8 big man.

Lalanne, a native Haitian, was Rivals.com's No. 21 ranked power forward coming out of high school in Orlando, Fla. He was recruited heavily by the Minutemen, but signed a letter of intent to play at Georgia.

But after not getting the required mix of core course grade point average and standardized test scores, Lalanne couldn't enroll at Georgia because the Southeastern Conference doesn't allow nonqualifiers. UMass was happy to bring him aboard.

The Minutemen have a long history of players going from sitting out to standing out. Donta Bright, Tyrone Weeks, Lari Ketner, Monty Mack and Rashaun Freeman highlight a list of players who all sat out their first year before eventually earning all-conference honors. Like each of them, Lalanne admitted the year off was difficult.

"I went from high school and winning games to being here and not being able to work out at all," he said. "It was hard, even small stuff like going out to eat with the team, I wasn't able to do that. The players were good helping me get through it."

Early in fall workouts, Lalanne suffered a broken foot that required a pin to be inserted on Sept. 13. The injury cost him considerable stamina as he could lift, but not run.

His running is still limited, but he has worked out with senior Sean Carter on post play before and after practice, and on off days. His potential is peaking through.

"He shows some glimpses, blocking shots and shooting 3s. He can do it all," said sophomore teammate Jesse Morgan, who sat out the first half of last season. "I'm excited to have him on our team this year. I knew what he could do."

UMass coach Derek Kellogg's praise was more restrained than Morgan's.

"He's looking pretty good. He's still not 100 percent. I'm not certain what he'll be able to do this year, but he's a big body inside. He looks pretty good strength wise. He's not anywhere near game shape because he hasn't played up and down yet," Kellogg said. "He's pretty good in the half court. He can catch the ball on the block and make some plays. It'll give us a different dimension if he can get in shape and play at the level we need him to play at."

Kellogg was optimistic that he'd recover quickly.

"He's an unbelievable kid, the last one in the gym after practice," he said. "I think the sky is the limit once he's able to go full speed."

Lalanne knows that extra running and some draining practices await him when he's ready, but after so long away from the game, even those sounded appealing. "I haven't practiced in so long. I haven't played basketball in so long," Lalanne said. "I'm excited to be here."

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.