Barring any other departures, the 2017-18 UMass men’s basketball roster appears to be set as the commitment of B.C. High guard Carl Pierre leaves new coach Matt McCall without any more scholarships to offer.
Including Pierre, McCall has added seven players since being hired in late March. Three will be eligible immediately, while four will sit out.
His first roster will feature four big men and five guards/wings on scholarship and two walk-on guards.
Point guards Returning: Luwane Pipkins
Arriving: Jaylen Brantley (Maryland graduate transfer)
Sitting out 2017-18: Keon Clergeot (Memphis)
Departing: DeJon Jarreau
Brantley and Pipkins will likely both see time at point guard and will almost certainly play together as well. Both guys are undersized.
C.J. Anderson has played some point before and could do so again in a pinch.
Wings Returning: C.J. Anderson, Unique McLean, Rayshawn Miller (walk-on), Jaylen Franklin (walk-on)
Arriving: Carl Pierre (freshman)
Sitting out 2017-18: Kieran Hayward (LSU), Curtis Cobb (Fairfield)
Departing: Donte Clark, Zach Lewis, Seth Berger, Ty Flowers
Unless McLean, who redshirted last year, or Pierre steps in and provides a scoring presence right away, there isn’t an eligible pure scorer in the bunch here, which is why either Brantley or Pipkins will almost certainly see time off the ball. Cobb and potentially Haywood could help there in 2018-19.
Anderson’s versatility and ability to guard multiple positions will likely help him see plenty of minutes.
Miller and Franklin are both generally considered better than most traditional walk-ons. Injuries or foul trouble could offer one or both of them a chance at an expanded role.
Frontcourt Returning: Rashaan Holloway, Chris Baldwin, Malik Hines
Arriving: Khalea Turner-Morris (freshman)
Sitting out 2017-18: Jonathan Laurent (Rutgers)
Departing: Brison Gresham, Zach Coleman
It’ll be interesting to see how McCall utilizes his bigs. Holloway figures to be a focus. Can Hines, who’s been mostly a center, play power forward alongside Holloway? Can Baldwin build off of a strong finish to his freshman year?
How much can Turner-Morris contribute right way?
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage