UMass hoop to benefit Food Bank

The University of Massachusetts men’s basketball team has added an exhibition game for a good cause.
The
Minutemen will host Division III Brandeis University at 7 p.m. on Nov. 4
at the Mullins Center. The game will benefit The Food Bank of Western
Massachusetts.
“For us to give back to The Food Bank is extra special
to me,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said in a statement. “We are doing
our part for the Pioneer Valley, my home, with this game to benefit The
Food Bank.”
To gain admission to the game, fans must bring two cans
of non-perishable food or a meal to be donated to The Food Bank. All
seating will be general admission.

100 Seasons of UMass hoop

UMass will be celebrating 100 seasons of UMass basketball this season paying tribute to the program's great players and coaches. The school actually began playing basketball in 1900, but had years without teams largely due to war. So this is season No. 100, a milestone year in season No. 1 of the Derek Kellogg era.

Throughout the year there'll be events honoring former players and teams as well as fan involvement.

...100 years til the celebration of 200 seasons of UMass basketball...

Sean Carter is official

The UMass roster continues to become clearer as Sean Carter is now officially a Minuteman.

...three months til Midnight Madness...

A completed staff: Antwon Jackson will fill Kellogg's assistant opening

UMass is expected to announce tomorrow that Derek Kellogg has hired former William & Mary assistant coach Antwon Jackson to round out the staff.

Jackson was at W&M for three seasons. The following is from his bio in the 2006-07 ODU media guide:

Antwon Jackson is entering his second season with the Tribe as an assistant coach. Jackson’s duties with the Tribe include recruting, team travel and working with the Tribe’s post players.

“Antwon has a year of experience under his belt and is a much more comfortable and confident coach,” head coach Tony Shaver said. “He is a very aggressive and eager recruiter.
He loves the world of recruiting and has helped us find some exciting players. Antwon is a big asset to our program here at William and Mary.”

Jackson came to W&M for his first college coaching position, after spending four years as an assistant boys’ basketball coach in the high school ranks. Two years ago, he was at Paul VI High School in Fairfax, Va., where he helped lead the team to an 18-8 record and an appearance in the Virginia Independent Schools championship game. Prior to that, Jackson was an assistant for three years at Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland.

He has also served as an assistant coach for the successful DC Assault and Maryland Select AAU teams. Typically one of the top AAU teams in the nation, DC Assault has produced many Division I and NBA players and coaches. Jackson also has worked at some of the top summer basketball camps in
the country, including the adidas Superstar Camp last summer, and the last five years at the Five Star Basketball Camp.

Along with his coaching positions, Jackson has spent the last 11 years at KPMG, LLP in Washington, D.C., and McLean, Va., most recently holding the position of senior associate in the company’s real estate and mortgage division. Jackson graduated in 1993 from Pikeville College in Pikeville, Ky., with a degree
in business management and accounting. AKentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honorable mention selection as a junior in1991-92 and as a senior in 1992-93. Jackson also led his team in assists each of those seasons.

...less than four months til Midnight Madness...

Heck of an ending

I like this team. I thought they were done down 12. I was formulating the eulogy column in my mind until Gaffney, Lowe and Harris carried UMass down the stretch. UMass held on 68-60.

...three days til Cuse II... 

Akron 58, UMass 53

UMass is starting to come back. Is it too late?

...5:45 left... 

This could end ugly for UMass

UMass looks shaky. Turnovers, missed shots and poor defense. Without a quick turnaround. It's softball season in Amherst. 

Akron 44, UMass 39.

...15:22 left in the game...

Akron quietly creeping back

It's 34-31 at the half. Lowe and Harris each had eight for the Minutemen.

... 20 minutes of basketball left...

Screeching Zips fans

The two Akron fans behind me may be louder than the 3,000 (I'm guessing) UMass fans in the building. I'm hoping her voice goes, because its a constant stream. Kind of like play-by-play in the
imperitave tense.

UMass is up 31-24.

...3:32 left in the first... 

Lowe speed

Someone just pointed out to me that Nick Dials' name is funny. He just shouted at his teammates to fire them up.

Lowe has realized he's way faster than anyone else on the court and is taking advantage.

UMass is up 27-16.

...6:39 left... 

UMass 20, Akron 12

Dante Milligan is Mr. NIT with six points already. It's an odd game so far, but UMass seems in control.

...11:26 left... 

UMass 20, Akron 12

Dante Milligan is Mr. NIT with six points already. It's an odd game so far, but UMass seems in control.

...11:26 left... 

Greetings from the Mullins Center one more time

Well this is definitely the last trip to the Mullins, this year. If there is an after this, it's all in New York State.

Max Groebe is still in Germany.

...one minute til tip... 

Well that's that

The way things have played out in the past few days, no surprise that UMass didn't get in. I guess you could gripe about Villanova, but...

The A-10 got two of the six bids to the non-power conference at-large bids. 

More later after the NIT bids come out.

 ...a little over two hours til NIT selection...

Forbes wins A-10 Player of the Year

Travis Ford said Gary Forbes was an Atlantic 10 Player
of the Year caliber player before Forbes ever played a minute at UMass. He's
proven prophetic. Forbes earned that award Monday and first-team all
conference honors.

Ricky Harris was the most improved player in the league.

More in a bit.

...three days til UMass vs. Rhodarlotte...

Atlantic 10 Awards

The Atlantic 10 asks the media to vote for its preseason all-conference awards, but doesn't trust us with the postseason ones. So they think we're good guessers, but not so good at actual evaluation.

I'm telling you this because the faux ballot you're about to see has no actual bearing on anything.

Player of the Year: Gary Forbes, UMass. He won't get it, at least I don't think so. But he leads the league in scoring. He's a top 10 rebounder on a team that has overacheived.
And who else deserves it. I would have voted for Drew Lavender, but he's struggled since getting hurt. Brian Roberts is a popular choice in conversations on this topic, but his team has sputtered down the stretch and several players including Forbes have better numbers.

Pat Calathes would be a fine choice, but has he had a better year than Forbes? I'd consider voting for Stanley Burrell (I'm writing this like my ballot matters even a little), for his defense which has been huge. But there's no chance he'll get it.

Coach of the Year: Losing to St. Joe's might have cost Sean Miller this award, but I wouldn't have picked him anyway. I don't like choosing a coach picked to finish first that does. So I'm going with Rick Majerus. Just kidding. Richmond took huge steps forward this year. Chris Mooney is my man.

Rookie of the Year: Kevin Anderson, Richmond. Nationally freshman have made a huge impact on several top 25 teams. That hasn't trickled down to the A-14 where few freshman have been difference makers.

Chris Daniels Award for Most Improved Player - Ricky Harris. Etienne Brower gets the award for most improved ankle, but Harris barely played a year ago and he's become indispensable.

Defensive Player of the Year: Burrell, Duh.

Sixth Man of the Year: Josh Duncan, Xavier. The Musketeers leading scorer doesn't start.

Disappointing team of the year: They don't actually confer this honor, but if they did, Fordham, which has been harder to watch than Sonic commercials, gets the trophy.

Greg Oden Award for a young man who looks like he's 45: Lavender.

* * *

I'm curious what UMass' margin for error for making the NCAA Tournament. I think it would certainly help to win at least one. The Minutemen might have been helped by St. Joe's winning so they'd have finished fourth. In that scenario they'd have likely played Xavier in the semifinals if they got that far. That would mean if they won one game, the worst they could do is lose to a top 10 RPI team, while not boosting another teams chances to pass them in the pecking order.

Now if UMass lost to Temple in the semifinals, would the Owls leapfrog them? I don't know.

...one day til W&M-GMU...

Houdini

An ugly one counts the same as a pretty. UMass survived 67-63. 20 each for Forbes and Harris.

UMass gets the three seed and the winner of URI and Charlotte and 9 p.m. Thursday.

...five days til then... 

UMass leading 15-8

Gary Forbes, who needs 21 points to win the A-10's regular-season scoring title has six of UMass' 15. The Minutemen are moving the ball well.

 The GW band is playing You Give Love a Bad Name.

Hockey is up 2-1.

 ...11:17 left in the first half...

Scenarios

Fordham beating St. Bonaventure earlier today knocked GW out of the A-10 Tournament next week in Atlantic City.

Dayton beating St. Joe's means the Minutemen would get third place if they win tonight. If they lose they can still get a bye if Xavier beats Richmond.

If Richmond wins and UMass loses, the Minutemen would be sixth as the Spiders and SJU would leap over them.

...40 minutes til tip-off... 

On the surface this seems good for UMass

From a GW press release:
Maureece Rice Dismissed From GW Men's Basketball Program

WASHINGTON, DC -George Washington University senior Maureece Rice (Philadelphia, PA) has been dismissed from the men's basketball program, GW coach Karl Hobbs announced Thursday. Rice was dismissed for failure to adhere to team rules, according to Hobbs.

This could go one of two ways.
1. GW is coming unglued and Saturday could be easy for UMass.
2. Rice, who has been suspended before this season, is a distraction or
a cancer. His departure is addition by subtraction and GW will play
better.

Rice has had a bad year as GW tried to make him a point guard. I asked
Ford about Rice today and he talked about how he was concerned about
Rice breaking out for a big game.

I imagine this changes the game plan.

...two days til UMass-GW...