UMASS NOTEBOOK

RALEIGH, N.C. – Kitwana Rhymer must have felt just a bit on the elderly side Saturday afternoon. Because when the 23-year-old took to the hardwood of North Carolina State’s Entertainment and Sports Arena, one of his former pupils – by the name of Julius Hodge – joined him.

“I’ve known Kit for a long time,” said Hodge, who in 31 minutes of play, mustered only three points against the UMass defense – that score being a trey from the left corner to tie the game at 35-35 with 17:31 left in the second half. “When I was a kid, I used to go to St. Raymond’s basketball camp. And he was the coach of my team for two of those years.”

Both products of St. Raymond’s high school in the Bronx, N.Y., Rhymer and Hodge are in different stages of their careers. Rhymer is a proven fifth-year senior, with last year’s Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year award to his credit, while Hodge, a 2001 McDonald’s All-American is still trying to prove why he was so highly touted as the No. 1 high school shooting guard in the country last year.

“We went to the same school and everything and I remember coaching him as a little kid in the camps,” Rhymer said. “He’s a good player. He’ll definitely be good down the line.”

So far this season, Rhymer is averaging eight points, six rebounds and over three blocks in UMass’ four games. While Hodge, New York’s 2001 Mr. Basketball, has averaged 10.7 points and five boards in the Wolfpack’s seven contests.

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At the beginning of the year, Steve Lappas said the No. 3 spot was the only questionable position in his lineup. But that has now changed. Willie Jenkins and Raheim Lamb are sharing time at small forward and are doing quite well for themselves and forcing Lappas to shy away from the small, three-guard set.

Saturday, Jenkins netted a career-high 12 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists in 23 minutes. He also added six free throws to extend his streak of consecutive free throws after the 4:50 mark of the second half to 12 (coincidentally, where all of his attempts have come this year).

Lamb added just two points and two rebounds in 17 minutes of play, but did not turn the ball over for the first time this season. Together, the two are averaging 13 points and over eight rebounds a game.

“[Willie] runs the floor well, he knocks down shots, he’s hit clutch free throws in the last few games, it says a lot,” Shannon Crooks said. “Raheim – he just keeps going to the board, getting put backs, and we need guys like that on the team.”

Lamb sat out last year as a partial qualifier, but under Proposition 48, was able to practice with the team for the entire season. Jenkins, on the other hand, was eligible to play, but managed only 75 minutes the entire season. So far this year, he has 81 and has started all four games.

“I’m not saying Bruiser (James Flint) wasn’t a good coach, but his system wasn’t doing it for me, so if he was staying I think I would have had to transfer,” Jenkins said. “But then Lappas came in, so everybody started at zero. And that let me know that if I work hard I will get playing time.”