The final push to National Signing Day is on, and the UMass Minutemen hosted their last recruiting weekend of the season over the last several days. The players visiting Amherst were varied in both position and notoriety, and UMass secured verbal commitments from four of them, and there could always be more.
The first commitment came early in the weekend on Friday night, as big lineman Zuriel Davis (Andrew Jackson HS, Jacksonville, FL) pledged to the Minutemen for 2016:
Davis is a beast on either side of the ball, but he’s being recruited to UMass as a defensive lineman. He’s 6’5″ and about 320lbs, and he’s damn near unblockable on the interior of the D-line. He’s powerful, disruptive, and commands a double team to be contained. He has had a good deal of interest from big-time schools such as FSU, Georgia, Miami, Florida, etc., but never received any offers. Davis’ issue has been his grades. They prevented him from receiving offers from some of the biggest schools in Florida, and he is still working in order to get qualified under the NCAA guidelines.
The good news is that Davis is much closer to actually being qualified than I would have originally thought, and while there is a danger that he does not qualify for the Minutemen next season, he is worth the roll of the dice given his great talent and high ceiling.
EDIT: Bob McGovern posted his always excellent recap over on the Maroon Musket this morning as well, and per that piece, Davis’ commitment is not currently accepted by the Minutemen staff. The academic concerns have prevented them from taking Davis as of right now.
Hopefully that gets cleared up for him and they’ll be able to take him; the situation there is worth watching closely going forward.
UMass’ second commitment came on Saturday in the form of athlete Martin Mangram (Buford HS, Buford, GA). Mangram, who’s older brother Brandon is also a Minuteman who just completed a redshirt season last year, is a terrific athlete from a powerhouse high school in a powerhouse state. He was a serious weapon on both sides of the ball for Buford but will be playing cornerback for UMass, and he has a real chance to come in and start next year out of the gate.
He’s a very highly-rated prospect and a great get for the UMass program, choosing the Minutemen over several P5 offers like Iowa, Iowa State, Syracuse, and others. Grabbing the brothers Mangram out of Buford over the past two seasons sets up a bit of a pipeline to the powerhouse Georgia high school, which is never a bad thing.
UMass’ third commit of the weekend was Bilal Ally, a 3-star running back from Jacksonville area in northern Florida (Clay HS, Green Cove Springs, FL):
Ally is a big steal for the UMass program, a prolific player in high school, especially as a senior, Ally had interest from some P5 programs (notably Georgia Tech) before an ACL injury in his junior year seemed to back some teams off. Ally rehabbed well however and came back extremely strong for his senior year. However his interest was still from the G5 with the likes of Akron and Troy as contenders for his services. UMass made the move though and I think teams are going to regret letting Ally get away from them.
Both Ally and Davis are from the Jacksonville area, and are great examples that UMass will go all over Florida (south, central, north, it doesn’t matter) to find talent and bring those players to Amherst. They LOVE Florida and are planting the UMass flag down there very effectively.
UMass’ fourth and final commitment from this past weekend (so far) is defensive lineman TJ Rayam from the Heart of Dixie (Thompson HS, Alabaster, AL). Rayam is a bit of an undersized DT at 6’1″ but he’s 300lbs and possesses very quick hands and feet, which are a great asset to him in the trench battles he’s involved in on the line. Rayam is also a champion wrestler in Alabama, and that type of strength is a virtue as a defensive lineman.
Rayam is definitely a sleeper, as UMass turned out to be his only FBS offer. He did also hold an offer from FCS Jacksonville State in Alabama, but Rayam chose the Minutemen and will make the trek north for his football career.
Rayam also has the football bloodlines as his dad Thomas played for the Crimson Tide and his uncle Hardy played for Notre Dame. He’s another player that teams will regret missing on in a few years.
Rayam and Mangram (and Ally and Davis) show just how much the Minutemen value the southern United States when it comes to recruiting. This weekend has netted four commits from Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, and UMass is really making their presence felt down there on the recruiting trail.
This weekend also had three future DLs on campus as commit Leyshawn Askew was also on his official visit, and the boys got together for a shot with their position coach Dave Sollazzo:
At the time that was posted they were 86th, and at the time this is being written they are actually sitting at 85th. For comparison, UConn is currently 92nd, Temple is 73rd, and Boston College is 70th. UMass is also currently 2nd in the MAC as far as ratings go, only behind Western Michigan (currently 61st nationally).
That’s an outstanding job by this staff identifying and landing players that are not only talented but fit the program’s needs. There are a lot of reasons why UMass is having this much success recruiting this season, but at the top of the list is certainly the opportunity for early playing time and the competitive schedule UMass has set up for themselves. Being and FBS independent is not ideal and hopefully not the case for all that long, but in the interim it is definitely helping attract players to Amherst in my opinion.
This was a great weekend for UMass, and National Signing Day is fast approaching on Wednesday, February 3rd. There are still commitments to take for UMass which makes the days leading up to it even more exciting, and I cannot wait to see how this class finalizes.
This weekend at the mass was unforgettable with my boys ⛽️💯
UMass’ #OptimusPrime16 rallying cry for recruiting the class of 2016 has nearly reached its crescendo on National Signing Day, but before that there is one final recruiting weekend push for commitments from some of the Minutemen’s top targets. That weekend begins today (Friday).
I’m piecing this together late on Friday afternoon, and will be updating it throughout the weekend as I did last weekend when UMass hosted the other half of their top targets. Once the weekend is complete and the commitments start rolling in (we hope) I’ll have another entry.
Here is the list of visitors this weekend (links go to 247 profile pages, if they have one), again courtesy of the #1 resource for UMass recruiting news, the Maroon Musket:
Here is the link to Bob’s piece on the visitors over on the Musket.
This is an interesting list of prospects, a varied mix from many different positions, though as you can see the majority of uncommitted prospects come from UMass’ favored recruiting territory down south.
Martin Mangram is the brother of current Minuteman Brandon Mangram, who signed with UMass last year in the 2015 recruiting cycle. Brandon redshirted this past season, and Martin has been a target of UMass’ from very early on in the 2016 cycle (they actually offered him in February 2015, shortly after Brandon signed with UMass). The two brothers are very similar, per Martin, and the chance to play together at the next level is a big draw. Martin unofficially visited UMass this past summer.
Martin has been on the top of my list as a fan ever since he was offered by the staff. He’s an outstanding athlete and would be playing CB for the Minutemen. He’s got great footwork, very good coverage skills, and is not afraid to tackle. He’s a weapon on offense for his powerhouse high school team in Georgia (Buford) but plays both ways very effectively and would be outstanding for UMass should he commit. I feel pretty confident about Martin and UMass but as they say, don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
UPDATE #4 4:50PM 1/30/16 – Well, it would appear that I could have counted those chickens, as Martin Mangram has committed to UMass this afternoon.
Mangram is a huge get for the UMass program, a very talented player from a powerhouse high school in a state rich with talent. Not only will he be able to make an impact on the field for UMass as early as next year, the fact that we have signed him and his brother last year out of Buford High in Georgia means the Minutemen have laid the ground work for a bit of a pipeline to the Georgia power. That could be very valuable to them in years to come.
UMass’ commits this year have really bonded it seems and they are very quick to congratulate one another on joining the family. That camaraderie is great to see and hopefully it helps lead this class to do big things for this program.
Earlier in the weekend Leyshawn Askew was letting everyone know he was on his way. Askew was UMass’ very first commitment in the 2016 cycle back at the Clam Bake.
There are a few sleeper prospects on this list as well. Larnel Coleman, TJ Rayam, Chris Tucker, not a ton of info out there on any of them. Rayam is rated a 2-star prospect by Scout, but that’s the only ranking anywhere I could find for the three of them.
Coleman is a MA kid, which is nice, and he’s huge. I don’t know which position they’d recruit him for but I think DE might be the best fit based on his tape. If that were the case he’d be the 2nd 6’7″ player UMass has coming in at DE as Sharif Saleem is also committed for that position.
Tucker is another player that’s probably a defender once in college, and he looks dominant against his competition in his film, which is a good thing when that competition isn’t the best; you want the player you’re recruiting to dominate. I don’t think they’d recruit him to be a FB but you never know. Perhaps a move to OLB would be in Tucker’s future.
I’m a big fan of Rayam’s, who dad Thomas played for the Crimson Tide. Rayam’s offer list is just UMass and FCS Jacksonville St, and part of the reason he’s overlooked is his size. He only goes about 6′, but he does weigh 300+ pounds. He’s got very quick feet for a man his size and even quicker hands. I’d love to see UMass snag him out of Alabama and they seem like they could be in a good position to do so. Rayam is also a wrestling champion in Alabama, and those skills come in very handy for him in the trenches.
UPDATE #3 2:00PM 1/30/16 – Rayam looking good in the jersey, posting a photo with his primary recruiter RBs Coach Darrius Smith:
Martial Washington is an interesting prospect. He was committed to Georgia Southern but reopened his recruitment about a month ago. However when looking at his 247 page now you’ll see it says he is recommitted to GaSo as of two days ago. Unsure if that is accurate or not, but either way Washington would be a welcome addition to UMass’ secondary.
He’s a big (6’3″ 210lbs) safety who likes to come up in the run game and loves to hit. That kind of physicality is nice to see, and he would also continue the trend of bigger DBs that UMass has been targeting. I’m definitely a fan although with his recruitment played so close to the vest it’s difficult to tell how interested he is in UMass, though it is of course a good thing that he is visiting the final weekend of the cycle.
Zuriel Davis is a big target, in every sense of the word. He goes 6’5″ and 315lbs and goes by the nickname “Big Country”. He’s an absolute animal on either the offensive or defensive lines, though I think UMass probably has designs on him coming in to play the NG if they got him.
Getting him however is going to be the big challenge. While Davis has had some big, big interest from a lot of big, big schools, his grades prevented those schools from offering him. Schools in the Group of Five like UMass, as I have blogged about before, will target kids who may be in danger of not qualifying academically and try to get them signed in the hopes that they do make it. Big schools can move on to the next kid when something like that arises but schools like UMass can’t, so they have to roll the dice occasionally on a kid right on the cusp of making it.
I don’t know if Davis is on the cusp really, in fact I think he’s a little further away from that, but he’s such a talented kid that it’s worth the risk to try and land him.
I would love for Davis to be eligible and for UMass to steal him, but I’m not holding out hope for it.
Bilal Ally is an explosive RB from Florida who had some serious interest from places like Georgia Tech before he suffered a tough injury during his junior year. H came back very strong this season, with performances like a 496-yard, 6 TD effort in the FL playoffs this year.
I really like Ally and UMass likes him at RB. He’s got fantastic speed and explosiveness and is great in space. He’d make quite the addition to the already large and talented RB class UMass has recruited so far this year. He was down to UMass, App St, Troy, and Akron, though I think now it may be between UMass and Troy.
UPDATE #5 7:15PM 1/30/16 – Ally has just announced a commitment to UMass this evening, adding another dynamic 3-star weapon to UMass’ class this year.
Ally tore an ACL when he was a junior and that seems to have pushed some teams off of him. He came back very strong this year though showing no signs of slowing down because of it. UMass swooped in and stole him out of northern Florida and have made their very impressive 2016 class even better.
Andrew Ford is a really interesting offer. He originally enrolled at Virginia Tech out of Cedar Cliff HS in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania as a 3/4-star QB. He redshirted his first year and the subsequently asked for his release to transfer. He’s at Lackawanna CC now and per his tape, he is a December Grad who has 3 years to play 3 at the next level. Now obviously he did not sign early with anyone during the early JUCO signing period, but he did visit Iowa State and holds an offer from the Cyclones.
He would be an interesting recruit in the sense that were he able to enroll right away this semester, would UMass be able to count him towards last year? That would be huge if possible. Also, he would clearly indicate that the heir-apparent to the QB role in Ross Comis may not be as clearly ensconced as next year’s starter as we might think.
I do believe that schools should recruit one QB per cycle, though not always a JUCO transfer. If UMass is serious about bringing Ford in, who by the way is an impressive player with impressive tape, that means that they are saying the job is up for grabs. Not only that, in my personal opinion it would mean Ford would actually have the inside track to land it because I do not believe he would come to UMass without the chance to start at QB right away.
Sam Franklin as many will remember actually signed with UMass out of high school last year and was a surprise get for the Minutemen, a tall, talented 3-star WR that was ready to challenge for playing time and be a difference-maker right away.
However Franklin’s grades weren’t in order, and UMass had to get him in to prep school in order to fix them. He went to East Coast Prep in Great Barrington, MA, a specific half-year school geared towards athletes with grade problems.
He’s obviously completed that program, and he would be another kid that could count towards 2015 potentially if he were to choose UMass now. He may not of course, and it may not even be possible, but it is something to think about. Now Franklin is free to sign with any school, and he took an official visit to Temple last weekend. We saw with Artayvious Lynn that the fact that he may have signed with UMass last year does not mean he will do so again.
He moved to safety early on this season at ECP, and while he was a WR when he signed last year, he could play either spot for UMass should he sign again. Personally I would put him at WR because of the need there; we wanted him there once before.
UPDATE #1 8:35PM 1/29 – Zuriel Davis enjoying himself so far, and enjoying the world-class dining that UMass is famous for. Minutemen fans will have to hope that his academic situation is not a hindrance.
This is another impressive list of players checking UMass out, and we’d welcome them if they wanted to be Minutemen and part of #OptimusPrime16. I look forward to following along on the weekend and to seeing who ends up joining the movement.
UPDATE #2 10:10PM 1/29/16 – Well Zuriel Davis didn’t waste any time as he tweeted out that he committed to UMass on Friday night.
So Davis’ commitment (which I have to mention has not yet been confirmed by the coaching staff but I’d think it’s legit) would be big for UMass as he is very, very talented. It just comes down to whether or not he’ll be able to qualify. This YouTube video interview with him at the Blue-Gray All-American Bowl talks a little about that. The audio is a little rough but take a look:
So if that’s the case and he’s at a 2.2, he’s not that far off from being qualified provided he gets an acceptable test score. The last I saw was that Davis had earned a 21 on the ACT, which combined with a 2.2 GPA means he is close but not quite there. He will certainly need to finish out strong though.
This is a link to the NCAA Initial Eligibility Guidelines which states that a player must have a minimum 2.3 GPA in core courses, among other requirements, in order to be eligible. Davis with a 2.2 is in fact right on the cusp of that.
Make sure to check out these highlights of Davis as well. This could turn out to be a serious steal for UMass if he makes the grade.
When he was at the Blue-Gray All-American Bowl they did evaluations and this is what they had to say about Davis:
Zuriel Davis, DL, Jackson (FL): After an impressive effort in this environment, the scholarship count continues to climb, and climb, for the 6-4 and 340-pounder.
NFL Veteran Evaluation: “No one could block Davis. He went out and handled his business. Watch, he will play some big-time ball in college soon,” Darby said.
The UMass football program’s #OptimusPrime16 was in full swing this past weekend as the Minutemen hosted their first of two official visit weekends prior to National Signing Day.
My previous blog entry attempted to chronicle the weekend’s festivities as best I could through social media, and it appeared that the Minutemen football program was making a great impression on the assembled group of some of UMass’ very top targets.
It made so good an impression on two that they decided to pledge to the Minutemen for the 2016 season.
The first commitment we heard about on Sunday was from 3-star defensive end Charly Timite out of Simon Gratz High in Philadelphia.
If Simon Gratz sounds familiar it’s because UMass’ most recent commit prior to this weekend, RaQuan Thomas, also attends Gratz, and he is pictured with Timite in the above photos from Timite’s Twitter timeline (say that five times fast).
Timite is a bit of an interesting case, as he’s only got a couple of seasons of actual varsity football experience. He actually attended a different high school in Philadelphia for his first three years, a high school that doesn’t offer football. He played on the Gratz team as a junior while attending Engineering & Science High, and transferred to Gratz for his senior season. You can read about that and a bit of Timite’s background here from the Philadelphia Daily News.
Timite will be a welcome addition to the Minutemen defense with his power and raw athleticism off the edge as a rusher. He’s got great size at 6’3″ 250lbs and once he gets into a collegiate strength and conditioning program (now run by Commonwealth native Joe Connolly) he’s only going to get stronger, and he’s pretty strong as it is. He’ll have his chance to contribute early just like every other recruit in this cycle but I can see him marinating a little bit myself, getting stronger and more accustomed to the grind, and then exploding on the scene in a year or so.
Make sure you check out that power Timite possesses in his tape here. He chose the Minutemen over a host of FCS offers, and I think he’ll look to make other FBS programs regret not taking a chance on him; UMass is fortunate to have secured his commitment.
Palmer was originally a Syracuse commitment whose recruitment opened back up in January after the new coaching staff at Cuse advised him they would not honor his pledge due to academic concerns. He had committed to the Orange very early on in the process and had totally shut down his recruitment, so to have him come back on the market so late was very good for UMass. You can read more about his decommittment from Cuse in this piece from Syracuse.com. Palmer’s grades will be an issue unless he can correct them prior to attempting to enroll at UMass, though I’m confident that he is focused on nothing else, as it is the key to achieving his dreams.
Palmer, who is from Little Silver, NJ and attends Red Bank Regional High, is a good story for Minutemen fans to get to know, as he suffered a great loss prior to his senior season. His father was shot and killed and as you might expect it affected him deeply. It prevented him from being with his team for a long time but once he came back he worked very hard to regain his form and once he did he was better than ever,
Check out a video piece from Shore Sports Zone on Palmer below. He was one of three finalists, along with UMass commit Tyler Thompson, for the area MVP award that ended up going to Boston College signee Anthony Brown.
Palmer has very good size an athleticism at the WR spot and UMass is in dire need of players at the position to help replace the departing Tajae Sharpe among others. Palmer’s 6’3″ frame will set him up to be an outside WR for UMass and he does a great job of high-pointing balls and making tough catches. He’s difficult to tackle and can be explosive in space. Check his film here and hope that he manages to correct any outstanding academic issues so that he can contribute to UMass next season.
Palmer chose UMass over an FBS offer from Old Dominion and a few FCS offers like UNH and URI.
Later on in the evening on Sunday UMass picked up two more commitments, the first of which was 3-star OLB prospect Taylor Riggins from the Aquinas Institute in Rochester, NY.
Happy to announce that I am now committed to UMass. Thank you to everyone who was involved in the process. pic.twitter.com/htTDMkSHID
Riggins goes 6’3″ 220lbs and was an all-around athlete for the Aquinas Institute in high school. He played OLB, DE, TE and RB, and will be an OLB for UMass once enrolled.
There are a few similarities between Riggins and Palmer as well. Both were committed to Syracuse at one point this season. They had both committed early and shut down their recruitment, and they only recently both came back on the market. They were both encouraged to decommit from the Orange by the new coaching staff, though in Riggins’ case it was because the new staff did not see a fit for him at the school any longer.
Riggins’ father Elgin was less than pleased with the situation with Syracuse as you can read here from Syracuse.com. Riggins ended up decommitting at a very late point in the process (as did Palmer) and that has worked out REALLY well for UMass in this case as they were able to secure commitments from both of them.
Riggins is a great athlete and will be a very good OLB for this team. He’s aggressive and heady and makes smart reads all over the field. Check the tape here and be thrilled that the new Syracuse staff decided to let a very talented kid walk at such a late hour. The Orange’s loss is the Minutemen’s gain. Twice.
Riggins’ options weren’t that limited by his late reopening, as he picked UMass over an FBS offer from Buffalo and a handful of Northeast-area FCS programs.
Finally on Sunday night what I believe is the Minutemen’s fourth and final commitment of the day announced his decision, defensive back Bakhari Goodson from Wekiva High in Apopka, FL.
Goodson is an unrated prospect at the current time, with not much available on him from the traditional recruiting services. He may be a sleeper but he was clearly a high target of the Minutemen staff; he got an in-home visit last week from Coaches Walker and Costello, and he was invited to this weekend in Amherst.
We do have his most recent tape here that shows he’s got a bit of a nose for the ball and some athleticism in space when returning the ball. He can play either safety or cornerback, it will be interesting to see where he’s worked in once he arrives at UMass.
It looks like Goodson chose UMass over an offer from former MAC foe Akron. His status as a sleeper should only motivate him at the next level.
UMass scored an impressive haul of prospects on Sunday after #OptimusPrimeWeekend was over, and I don’t believe that they will be the last commits UMass secures after this weekend. Some players may take longer to decide, they may take their remaining visit before coming to a decision, but they will end up picking UMass in some cases and this recruiting event will have helped lay the ground work.
Defensive back Chris Tooley enjoyed the trip and although he did not commit we can hope UMass is in a good position to land him once his visits are over. I believe he takes a visit to Louisville next weekend.
Also, for the glass-half-empty folks, don’t read too much into a certain prospect’s tweeting, or lack thereof, after this weekend. Not every player gets on Twitter to say what a great time they had, so if your favorite recruit didn’t say anything about this weekend, that doesn’t mean UMass is out.
This weekend by any measure was a huge success for UMass football. They secured four commitments (and could end up with more) from some of their top targets and they showed off their growing program in a great light.
I’m very much looking forward to next weekend’s similar recruiting weekend and to the future commits that UMass is sure to land because of it.
UMass’ recruiting rallying cry this year has been an interesting hashtag initially created by Tight Ends Coach Steve Costello. He wanted to come up with a phrase that helped represent something indestructible, something that would represent a new era for UMass Football, and the leader of the Autobots fits that description to a ‘T’.
Bob McGovern did a piece over on the Maroon Musket about #OptimusPrime16 and what it means to UMass football, so make sure to read it if you haven’t already.
#OptimusPrime16 has really taken off with the kids UMass is recruiting; recruits love to get behind a hashtag these days as part of the buy-in for a program, and #OptimusPrime16 has been working well for the Minutemen when it comes to the recruits they are targeting.
Obviously UMass is not at the level of a bigger program whose hashtag(s) would have an even bigger impact, but for the level the Minutemen are at they have done well to get their rallying cry trending among their top targets.
This weekend in particular was dubbed ‘Optimus Prime Weekend’ by the staff as they have some of their highest potential targets in Amherst officially visiting the school. Again, courtesy of the Musket, the official list of visitors is below:
(You can also link to Bob’s article for this weekend here)
It’s about 10:00 AM Saturday as I’m writing and posting this, and the players arrived on Friday. They’ve been posting updates to social media as the young whipper-snappers these days are wont to do, and I’ll try to intersperse some of those updates throughout the entry here.
There are a long of very talented players on campus over this weekend, and it is imperative that the Minutemen staff put their best foot forward while highlighting all the positives that UMass has to offer. I have no doubt that they will do just that, and I’m confident that there will be commitments coming out of this weekend on top of the three players visiting (Burch, Rodgers, Ingram) who have already pledged to the Minutemen.
Tyrek Tisdale would be the highest-rated recruit to ever commit to UMass should he decide to make Amherst his destination. He’s a dynamic, explosive athlete that could line up almost anywhere on offense. He was previously committed to the Florida Gators before reopening his recruitment. He’s currently down to UMass and Maryland, who he’s scheduled to visit next weekend.
Jessie Britt was a Western Kentucky commit until about a week ago when he decommitted prior to a trip to visit the University of Arizona. He’s being looked at as a slot WR for UMass and would be a fantastic one, he’s got skills at the position that would have Minutemen fans coming out of their seats on Saturdays. He was scheduled to visit WKU next weekend but may not after he decommitted; my personal opinion is that he’s down to Arizona and UMass.
Chris Tooley is a teammate of Tisdale’s (and of commit Cycoby Burch) at Oak Ridge High in Orlando. He’s a cornerback that UMass could certainly use, has a nice blend of physicality (he jams very well) and athleticism in coverage. We can hope as Minutemen fans that the Oak Ridge boys want to play together at the next level, and UMass gives them a rare opportunity to do just that. Tooley visited Florida Atlantic last weekend, don’t know if he has any other visits on the docket.
(It looks like the Oak Ridge boys had their teacher accompany them on their OV, so we can also hope that the high and rising academic profile of UMass appeals to her; it’s a much better university than a lot of the other schools these guys are being recruited by)
UPDATE 1/23/16 12:05 PM – nice group pic of the Orlando-area players on the visit this weekend with their family members and teacher: Ingram (#21), Tisdale (#1), Tooley (#3) and Burch (#6).
Sadiq Palmer and Taylor Riggins were both previously committed to Syracuse before the coaching change in Western New York caused them to reopen their recruitment. They are both guys from the Northeast (Palmer from NJ, Riggins from WNY) and would both be late steals for UMass if they were to commit to the Minutemen. Palmer’s an explosive talent at WR and has the height as well, and Riggins is a versatile athlete that would likely play OLB for the Minutemen, which is where he was committed at Syracuse. UMass could really luck out with those two, and they are in a good position as both players other offers are from Northeastern FCS programs or similar FBS programs to UMass (Old Dominion for Palmer, Buffalo for Riggins).
Charly Timite and Jordan Young are both Pennsylvania guys (Timite from Philly, Young from Coatesville) and both are underrated athletes that would look good for UMass. Timite is a very raw defensive end as he’s only got about two years of football experience, but he’s a big body with room to grow and athleticism from the position for days. Young is a dual-threat QB in high school though it looks like he’s being recruited to college more as an athlete. He’s got good size as well (6’3″ 210lbs) and would look good as a WR I think if UMass were to put him there. Timite has only FCS offers besides UMass, and Young has FBS offers from ODU and Temple, where his dad Anthony Young is a Hall-of-Famer.
Antione Webster is a physical safety and a player that has some big-time interest from schools in power conferences. At one point he was committed to FAU but it would appear that UMass is in a decent spot to potentially secure his commitment; I’ll admit I didn’t think he was as high a target for them as he clearly is. He’s a big-time hitter, plays the safety position with a chip on his shoulder and brings some attitude, which every secondary needs to be successful.
Bahkari Goodson is a bit of a sleeper, not much out there on him in the traditional places, only enough to know that I think UMass might be his only offer. He is a target for UMass though without question, he got an in-home from Coaches Costello and Walker prior to coming up for this visit.
Both Shakur Cooper (Coral Gables, FL) and Antoine Brooks (Duval, MD) were surprises for this weekend, hadn’t heard their names mentioned with UMass before Friday. Both talented players, but Cooper is currently committed to Florida International and Brooks suffered a very serious injury this season, though he was a strong dual-threat QB/athlete prior to it. You can also read about his recovery here.
The group visiting Amherst this weekend is one of the most talented ever, and UMass has made it a point to target speed and athleticism in this recruiting class aggressively. They’ve identified very good players and those players are just as interested in UMass as the Minutemen are in them.
Now obviously the Minutemen will not secure a commitment from everyone visiting this weekend (or next weekend) but they should get pledges from some of them, and added to what UMass has already done this cycle, it certainly sets up to be the best class in UMass history.
UPDATE #3 1/23/16 9:15 PM – Cycoby Burch (who’s already committed) liking his trip so far, which is awesome. Hope his teammates Tisdale and Tooley feel the same, along with the rest of the visitors this weekend.
The UMass Minutemen added two more players to an already impressive haul for 2016 with the commitments of Peytton Pickett and RaQuan Thomas this week.
Pickett, a 2-star RB from Arlington, TX (Sam Houston HS) and Thomas, a 2/3-star OG from Philadelphia, PA (Simon Gratz HS) both bring talent to the Minutemen along with adding to depth on the roster that the 2016 class is greatly increasing.
Pickett goes 5’10” 194lbs and is the 3rd RB to commit to UMass this year, following Tyshaun Ingram and Tyler Thompson. He’s quick, decisive, and powerful despite being a smaller back. He makes his cuts aggressively and has shown some good improvement and growth from his junior to his senior year at Sam Houston. He’s a good looking runner that should fit in well for the Minutemen.
Seeing as how Lorenzo Woodley and Shadrach Abrokwah are no longer with the program (along with others, see the updated roster) and Jamal Wilson has graduated, the RB depth after last year’s true freshman Marquis Young and Sekai Lindsay was lacking. With Ingram, Thompson, Pickett, and potentially another RB recruit coming in, that issue has been addressed aggressively by the coaching staff.
There was some confusion about a month ago when it was reported that Pickett has signed with UTEP and would be enrolling early (he’s graduated high school) for the Miners. As it turns out he did not sign a National Letter of Intent, he signed a Financial Aid Agreement, which is not binding.
In fact, the school went so far as to publish an official announcement (which has since been taken down) and that could be trouble for UTEP as Pickett was technically an unsigned recruit.
As such he was able to receive an offer from UMass, officially visit the school and give his commitment. He won’t be enrolling at UMass until the fall semester. Pickett choose the Minutemen over offers from UTEP, Kansas, New Mexico, and others.
Thomas checks in at a massive 6’4″ 345lbs and he is every bit of that. He’s a big-time mauler on the line and would probably be a guard for UMass once he comes in. He’s got FBS size already, and one can only imagine the growth curve he could have once he’s involved in a D1 strength and conditioning program. His tape (which you can see here) is impressive, and with a little seasoning perhaps I think Thomas could be a great interior lineman for UMass going forward.
Thomas’ story is a lot more than football though, as in October of 2013 he was shot five times at a gathering after a football game in Philly. He almost didn’t make it but came through, and worked extremely hard to get back on the football field. make sure you check out these articles from MaxPreps and Philly.com on Thomas’ recovery and road back to the football field.
It’s an inspiring tale of perseverance and determination and I’m thrilled that he’s earned a scholarship from UMass, which is a great school on top of a D1 football program. He picked the Minutemen over an offer from Temple as well.
UMass has been doing exceedingly well on the recruiting trail so far this year, and starting tomorrow they will begin hosting prospects on official visit weekends for both the 22nd and the 29th. We could and should see even more commitments come out of those events where some of the top prospects UMass is after will be in Amherst experiencing UMass.
I’ll have a post on the first weekend hopefully Friday or Saturday, but before I do, make sure you give a click to my piece from Hustle Belt on these new commits as well.
The University of Massachusetts continued it’s hot streak on the recruiting trail Friday with the commitment of RB Tyler Thompson, a composite 3-star back from Ocean Township HS in Oakhurst, NJ.
News of Thompson’s commitment was first reported by Bob McGovern Jr. and the Maroon Musket in a piece you can check out here.
Thompson, while a very talented back, was a surprise commitment for the Minutemen as he hadn’t been linked to UMass through any of the traditional recruiting services. I personally had no idea he was being recruited by UMass, but then again I’m just some guy with a blog so that’s not groundbreaking…
Thompson, who’s rated between two and three stars depending on the recruiting service (247, Scout, Rivals, ESPN) comes in as a composite 3-star on 247 sports with a grade of .8381. His is particularly highly regarded on 247 where he has a grade of an 87 and comes in as the #43 RB nationally. In the composite Thompson is rated as the #73 RB nationally.
When checking out Thompson’s film on Hudl, you can see that he isn’t a particularly flashy, nor is he indecisive. He looks for his lanes, makes his cut, and goes. He has very good speed which he uses to his advantage as well, but he’s not a guy that’s going to dance looking for the best spot. Confident decision-making is key at the RB position and Thompson has that at the HS level.
Thompson is not the biggest back you’ll see (available information varies but it’s safe to say he’s about 5’11” and 190 lbs) but he still is not afraid to get hit to gain yards. He makes defenders work to tackle him, has a shiftiness that’s very useful, and while he tends to run outside the tackles more than in, he can go up the middle if necessary. Wherever the lane is, that’s where he goes.
He does an admirable job in the passing game as well, which is an area you might see him contributing earlier on in his UMass career with a guy like Marquis Young getting the lion’s share of the carries.
Thompson picked UMass over offers from several “bigger” programs including Boston College, Virginia, Pittsburgh, and more. He may have been lower on some schools’ boards due to an injury he suffered his junior year where he broke his leg pretty severely. Despite that setback, Thompson came back just as strong as he had been and went on to have a great senior season this year.
Check out this YouTube video from Shore Sports Zone to see Thompson’s story in more detail. And below is a story on Thompson’s commitment to UMass from SSZ complete with his high school stats.
As I mentioned Thompson was a surprise get for UMass, and his commitment may have a bit of a ripple effect for some other players UMass is recruiting at the same position.
Thompson is the 2nd running back to commit to UMass in 2016, the other being Tyshaun Ingram. Ingram had mentioned the possibility of potentially playing safety for UMass when he committed, but his best work seems to be from the RB spot. Tyrek Tisdale is an all-purpose back that the Minutemen coaches are really hot after, and he has UMass in his final two with Maryland. Tisdale would certainly come in at UMass as a RB should he commit, and he will remain a priority for the staff until signing day.
The group that would likely be most affected would be the trio of Jo-El Shaw, Bilal Ally, and Peytton Pickett. Shaw was committed to Western Michigan when he officially visited UMass the weekend of December 7th, but has since backed off that pledge. Bilal Ally is officially visiting Amherst the weekend on January 29th, and Peytton Pickett officially visited UMass yesterday per the Maroon Musket:
In other recruiting news: Peytton Pickett (RB, Texas) and Cody Banks (TE, UCF transfer) are also taking official visits to #UMass today.
Those players may have had their potential spots taken by Thompson, or the number of available RB slots in the Minutemen’s 2016 class would have decreased by one. Either way we’ll have to keep a close eye on the recruiting situation going forward with only three weeks to go before National Signing Day.
Thrilled to have Tyler Thompson as the newest member of the Minutemen, and I can’t wait to see who’s next.
The UMass Minutemen added a nice piece to their program yesterday with the commitment of transfer safety Pat Amara Jr. from the University of Pittsburgh.
Amara, who just finished his sophomore season in the Panthers’ secondary, will have to sit out next season per NCAA transfer rules. He will have two years of eligibility remaining beginning with the 2017 season.
Amara is a great get for the UMass program because not only does it add a talented player in a position where you can never have too much depth and skill, he is also a young man of extremely high character who’s spoken highly of by those around him.
Amara was a 3-star recruit coming out of West Catholic High School in Philadelphia (247, Rivals, ESPN) who at the time held an offer from the Minutemen. He was highly sought after before finally settling on Pitt, but he didn’t get there without some trials and tribulations.
This story from 2014 highlights the difficulties that Amara had to overcome to earn his chance at a football scholarship, including a tough familial situation and homelessness. Amara never gave up and earned numerous offers to play at the next level, taking the chance to play for the home state Panthers.
(Thanks to Twitter follower @JoeDapps for sending me the link)
Unfortunately Amara’s playing time diminished from his freshman to his sophomore seasons, and that seems to be the primary reason he elected to complete his degree with his final two years of eligibility at UMass.
This is a good piece on Amara’s announcement that he was going to transfer and the reasons behind it from my SBNation colleagues at Cardiac Hill, a Pitt Panthers community.
Amara’s high character is probably the thing I’m most excited about as a fan of the transfer, as while UMass may not have a character problem in the locker room, it can never hurt to add people to the program who are of high moral standing. He’s an incredibly hard worker, and on top of all of that, he can ball out at safety.
Wednesday evening the 10 football-playing conferences of the NCAA voted on the hot-button issue for this off-season: whether to allow conferences to deregulate the manner in which conference championship games are held.
Previously, conferences were required to have a minimum of 12 members in order to hold a championship game, and those members had to be split into divisions. Only the two division winners were allowed to compete in the championship game.
The proposed change, sponsored by the Big XII Conference (which only has 10 teams), was to allow for total deregulation, meaning that conferences of any size could determine championship game participants in any manner they chose.
Here's my advance on the Executive Council meeting where Big 12 will pitch for title game deregulation https://t.co/A0MTdoxfeI via @mySA
The Big XII feel like they should not be forced to expand, because they like the level of competition within the conference, the round-robin scheduling where everyone plays everyone else, and because they felt that on the whole there were no “worthy” candidates to be added to the conference at the current time. They want to be able to contest a championship game among their current members.
BYU, Memphis, Cincy, UConn, UCF fans won't like this, but Big 12 isn't enamored with any of those schools. None are Must Haves, to them.
Proponents of expansion claim that as all the other Power 5 conferences have at least 12 teams and follow the existing regulations, the Big XII should be forced to do the same. They also all have an advantage when it comes to the College Football Playoff because the 13th game factors in greatly to the Committee’s decision when it comes to choosing the participants.
The Big XII was burned in the first year of the CFP when both TCU and Baylor were left out (they were 2014 co-champions), and they were almost victimized again this year’s champion Oklahoma just made it into the dance as the #4 seed.
It became quite clear to the Big XII that they needed to host a championship game, they just want to do it on their own terms, i.e. with their current membership.
There’s always politicking when it comes to votes such as these, and while initially it seemed near certain for the Big XII’s proposal to fail, on Wednesday evening they reached a compromise on the structure of the amendment that will allow them to host a championship game without having to add any members.
DI Council approves proposal allowing FBS conferences without 12 members to hold conference championship football games.
So the Big XII got its way in the end, and now they will not have to expand in order to host a championship game as early as next year. The above statement says basically that they “have to think about it” but give me a break, all this nonsense means they’re going to do it.
There are other rippling effects from this decision passing, including one for the UMass football program.
For UMass, it basically means that the program is going to be independent for longer than the three initial years the athletic department prepared for.
UMass had hoped that if the Big XII was forced to expand, they would look to the American Athletic Conference for one or even both new members, opening potentially a couple of spots for the Minutemen to land in what is their preferred spot.
It’s no secret that UMass desperately wants to be in the AAC with rivals like UConn and Temple. Hell, even if UConn had miraculously gotten a spot in a Big XII expansion, UMass would have jumped at the chance to take their place in the AAC. They need the stability and the security and would have taken an opportunity to join even if one of their primary reasons for wanting to be there was leaving.
So as it stands UMass will likely be independent past the 2018 season, which is the last of three seasons currently scheduled as an independent team (the 2019 season is also beginning to shape up as an independent year as well).
There is always a chance something could change, like the AAC could decide it wants to increase its membership to 14 teams, though that is certainly highly unlikely. It’s a waiting game for UMass now, watching to see what happens next with realignment.
The problem a lot of people have with this change, including many Big XII fans, is that it could very easily lead to the collapse of the conference when new TV deals get negotiated for the other P5 conferences, specifically the B1G and SEC. A lot of people feel that without expansion now, the other P5 conferences will bide their time and then poach the Big XII when the money is available. The domino effect from realignment such as that would be drastic, but it also wouldn’t happen until about 2026.
You get a sense from a lot of folks that the Big XII is trying to have its cake and eat it too with this change, and that the other P5 conferences, while not thrilled the Big XII doesn’t just sack up and do what the rest of them do, are willing to wait for their opportunity to steal whichever teams they want once they have the chance down the road.
There is also the possibility that the Big XII, instead of expanding now, waits a couple years and then offers invites to teams based on a myriad of other factors, not the least of which is a potential cable network. They could wait to see if other teams do enough to elevate themselves to a level that the Big XII finds worthy of conference membership, or they could reevaluate their decision and just want to get the league to 12 teams to stay on par with the other P5 conferences (and to potentially prevent them from poaching teams down the road).
This is a quote from the president of the University of Oklahoma:
President Boren seems strongly in favor of adding teams to the conference, and there are other school presidents who share that sentiment. At this stage however, they were not able to convince a majority to add teams.
One thing to look for re: a Big XII network is the possibility UConn gets selected because they are in a region where a lot of TV sets and viewers reside. It would be tough to go to the AAC for UMass without UConn there, but Temple would be there, and the conference is roughly 2,588% better than the MAC.
It’s important to note that this decision today does not mean that the Big XII can’t expand, only that they don’t have to. There does seem to be the possibility that the Big XII might expand by say the year 2017, which again would mean UMass is independent slightly longer than they initially hoped but that they would also have a chance to find a home within a manageable time frame.
These are not gospel remember, they are just tweets, but they are from a user who provides a lot of info on the Big XII, including this most recent expansion/deregulation topic:
There’s a lot of conference politics going on over there in the Big XII, and unfortunately it’s kind of screwing with the rest of the college football world. We’ll see what may end up transpiring there.
It’s a tough situation, and UMass is out in the cold until something gets done or someone gets poached, then the door is open.
The other major effect of this rule change, albeit flying somewhat under-the-radar in the wake of the Power 5 Big XII, is that the Sun Belt is also very likely to alter its membership now that the new deregulation has passed.
Currently the Sun Belt has 11 football-playing members, two of which (Idaho and New Mexico State) are affiliate members in football-only. They are adding a 12th member, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, starting in 2017 (the Chants will be full members of the conference).
When the Western Athletic Conference stopped sponsoring football, many of its member institutions joined up with the Mountain West Conference, but two (Idaho and NMSU) were not invited and left to play as independents during the 2013 season. The Sun Belt threw both schools a lifeline with an agreement to allow them as affiliate members on a 4-year deal that could be “revisited”after two years, which is where we are right now.
The Sun Belt does not like the fact that NMSU and Idaho are affiliate members, but they also don’t want either school as a full member because they are huge geographic outliers to their conference footprint, along with the fact that neither school is very good at football. In fact, NMSU attempted to sway the Sun Belt to allow them in as full members by offering to pay over $4M dollars to the conference in multiple aspects but the Sun Belt declined their proposal.
Given that the contract Idaho and NMSU have with the Sun Belt allows for their affiliate membership to be revoked this off-season, you can almost bet the house that those two teams are going to be forced out as soon as legally possible. Then, once CCU joins the Sun Belt in 2017, they’ll have a 10-team league in a situation just like the Big XII, where they can play 9 conference games and hold a championship game.
What will NMSU and Idaho do though? Where do they go?
Idaho is weighing all their options, including potentially reclassifying back down to FCS. The Vandals made the jump to FBS in the mid-90’s and have been a bad to terrible team for basically that entire time. They have one winning season since the year 2000 and are so isolated where they are located that it makes scheduling a significant challenge. All their traditional rivals are located in their old conference (Big Sky) and they have scuffled ever since they made the jump.
No one really wants to see a team be the first ever to reclassify back down to FCS (even if they do now employ a certain former UMass head coach), but it may not be a bad move for Idaho given what they’ve done in 20 years. There are going to be a LOT of people trying to compare UMass’ situation with that of Idaho, a lot of people who want UMass’ move to fail, but the situations are not similar, at least not at the current time. If in another 15 years UMass has had only one winning season and is a punchline then we can talk. Until then I choose to focus on Temple’s turnaround as a comparable situation for UMass and not Idaho’s.
No idea what NMSU’s plan would be though I believe that independence is on the horizon for them myself. They don’t have any indication that they would drop football or reclassify. Location is an issue for them as well but both the Mountain West and Conference-USA could potentially be landing spots for them. Now I want to stress that there has been absolutely no indication that such a thing could happen (NMSU getting bailed out again) but they are a geographic fit for the MW and they would be an IDEAL travel partner for UTEP in C-USA.
But the MW is at a comfortable 12 teams and didn’t add NMSU when they had the chance the first time, and C-USA is going to be at 14 teams once UAB rejoins in 2017. I don’t see C-USA as the first conference to go above 14 members, despite the convenience that NMSU would bring to UTEP (which is about 40 minutes away) as UTEP is currently a big outlier in C-USA. NMSU’s basketball is also very good, which would help C-USA, but it’s not enough to throw the whole conference out of alignment IMO.
What that means for UMass is that if one or both those teams are independents, you can guarantee that the Minutemen will be entering in to a scheduling agreement with them promptly. Independents need games in November, particularly late November, very badly. And if one or two new independent teams come on the market as it were, you can bet that they will be UMass’ opponents in future Novembers until conference affiliations are reached.
Realignment is a very fluid topic, a lot of moving parts and potential changes. As of right now, UMass’ best chance to benefit from realignment and end up in the AAC was voted down, but that doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen. Perhaps it will take a little longer than everyone hoped, and perhaps we will have to survive as an independent in football longer than the initial three year plan, but that can be done. Long-term independence for UMass football is not tenable, but short-term, maybe 5-7 years, that can be survived, and I believe it will be. I also believe that we will be in the AAC when all is said and done, and the trials and tribulations the school weathered will all have been worth it.
The UMass Basketball program has had a bit of a struggle since making it to the NCAA tournament in 2014. They’ve been on a downward track that is likely to see them finish at .500 or below once this season is over. But despite that, Derek Kellogg and his staff have been on fire on the recruiting trail, and late last night they completed what is arguably the best recruiting class in UMass history with the addition of 6’8″ wing Tyrn Flowers out of Sacred Heart (CT) and the NY Rens AAU program:
Breaking – Sacred Heart (CT) & @RENShoops 6'8 F Tyrn Flowers tells me he has committed to UMass. Another major coup for Minutemen in '16.
Flowers is often referred to as a late-bloomer, as he’s just went through a growth spurt where he grew four inches in the past year and a half. He’s not the most athletic forward but he’s effective in space and can really stretch a defense out with his range. He shoots threes with confidence and his new-found size allows him to play an inside game as well.
Rep-Am Sports ‘The Zone’ article on Flowers’ commitment to UMass, complete with some video of Tyrn.
Flowers is perhaps the perfect capstone to the Minutemen’s 2016 class as he brings multiple elements to the group that were not yet represented. You’ve got a big point guard who can distribute and create his own shot when needed in DeJon Jarreau, an incredible, jump-out-of-the-gym athlete who can defend well in Unique McLean, a stretch-4 big man in Brison Gresham who can post up and score underneath, bring the ball outside when needed and defend, and a classic enforcer on the glass and rim protector in Chris Baldwin who can vacuum up rebounds and put-back points. Now you add Flowers, a stretch wing who’s a serious threat from beyond the arc who can also play an inside game and you’ve basically got what could be a ridiculous starting five in about 2-3 years.
Given the depth of the Minutemen’s class coming in next season (PG LuWane Pipkins, sitting out this season as an academic non-qualifier, will be eligible, along with transfer SG Zach Lewis) you could possibly even see Flowers redshirt in order to acclimate to the college game. That’s an enviable position for UMass to be in, being able to voluntarily sit a highly-sought 3-star wing for a season because of the glut of talent available to you.
While Coach Kellogg faces (some deserved, some way overboard) criticism because of the team’s generally mediocre performances over the past several seasons, his work on the recruiting front has earned the former Minuteman guard the luxury of sticking around for a minimum of two more years. One can only hope that this recruiting class, a class that is currently Top 25 in the nation, will be able to lead the Minutemen back to the NCAA Tournament promised land. A deep tournament run in the next 2-3 years is an achievable goal, and I can’t wait to see if it happens.
I haven’t hit any other UMass sports on the blog here since I started it, but I wanted to make sure I did a post on one of UMass’ new big men making the move from high school basketball in Louisana to the NEPSAC and ND Prep in Fitchburg.
Gresham’s (and teammate DeJon Jarreau’s) commitment to UMass is well-chronicled so we won’t need to go over that, but what was supposed to be their last hurrah as teammates at McDonogh 35 High School in New Orleans this season before moving on to UMass has not played out as many thought it would.
Jarreau started the season off on fire, but Gresham was forced to sit because of an eligibility issue that kept him off the floor. Now I want to make it clear that I don’t know the details as to what that eligibility issue was, but from the scuttlebutt that’s been floating around it appears it was NOT academic (which frankly is great news) but rather something related to how many varsity seasons Gresham had already played for McDonogh 35.
Because of that, Gresham made the decision to transfer in order to get on the floor this season. I’d have to think that he was aided in that decision by the UMass staff since he’s making a big move, coming up to play for Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg instead of looking for a prep school closer to home.
'16 PF Brison Gresham tells me he is transferring from McDonogh 35 (LA) to Notre Dame Prep (MA).
(Make sure you give that MassLive report a click too if you haven’t seen it)
Notre Dame Prep is a long way from The Big Easy, but this move is great for Gresham in numerous ways.
Primarily, he gets to play. He wasn’t playing at McDonogh, and whatever the issue was down there, it’s clear it wouldn’t have gotten resolved in order for him to finish his high school career as a Roneagle.
Also, he gets to form a powerful front court tandem in Fitchburg with another future teammate:
Gresham (@bri_son32) will be teammates will fellow #UMass signee Chris Baldwin (@ChrisBaldwin413) up at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, MA
Getting to team up with Chris Baldwin makes ND Prep a force in the NEPSAC and gives them a potentially dominant forward pairing. It also allows Gresham to gain some vital familiarity with Baldwin because ideally those two guys are going to be paired up in the Minutemen front court for the next four years. Getting a jump on learning each other’s moves and style will be big for their future at UMass.
Moving to Massachusetts several months earlier than planned will be a difficult adjustment for Gresham without question, as it would be for any 18 year old kid who has never lived away from home before. But, while it won’t be easy, it will be beneficial. Gresham is going to get a jump on getting used to Massachusetts, and he’s going to do it in the winter too.
For a kid from New Orleans, you may as well get thrown in the deep end when it comes to New England weather. He’s going to be able to familiarize himself with Massachusetts and New England, the region, the people, everything, and that will make it much easier when he does enroll at UMass in the fall. He’ll also be able to help his best friend Jarreau a little bit as well with the move, he’ll have some experience.
Playing in the NEPSAC is outstanding for Gresham’s development as well. While it might be the final thing I’m mentioning in my opinion it’s arguably the most important. The NEPSAC is the best high school basketball in the country, and Gresham getting the chance to significantly increase his level of competition at this stage is very good for his maturation as a player.
Gresham is coming in midway through the prep season here in New England, but he should still be able to get in a good amount of game action, and of course there are playoff matchups as well.
The ND Prep schedule for this season wasn’t readily available. The ND Prep website doesn’t appear to have been updated in about four years, and I personally couldn’t find the complete schedule anywhere else.
However, ND Prep Head Coach Ryan Hurd was kind enough to reach out on Twitter and provide a schedule for this season. Very nice of him, and hopefully it helps bring a few UMass fans to ND Prep’s games for the remainder of the year.
This is the complete Notre Dame Prep schedule for the 2015/16 season:
There’s a lot of games left starting January 9th against some great competition.
The BABC Showcase against MacDuffie looks like it will be a good matchup, and it’s too bad that UMass signee Unique McLean is no longer with MacDuffie as that would have added even more Minutemen flair to the game.
There’s also the National Prep School Invitational down in Providence where ND Prep will be taking on a team like IMG Academy, one of the nation’s premier athletic prep schools.
Hopefully UMassNation will be able to get out and support two of our future Minutemen as they team up against some of the best high school basketball players and teams the nation has to offer. Should be very exciting.
Fire The Musket 