Inspired by the famous words of former Boston Celtics All-Star Antoine Walker, the Massachusetts men’s basketball team announced on Sunday that it will be leaving the NCAA and the Atlantic 10 Conference to go on tour with the Harlem Globetrotters.
UMass coach Derek Kellogg explained in a press conference the reason for leaving such an elite basketball conference at the highest level of college basketball.
“Because there are no 4-pointers,” Kellogg said.
Looking back on those famous words once used by Walker when asked by a reporter why he shot so many 3-pointers, Kellogg realized how bored his players had been chucking up 3s just seconds into the shot clock every trip down the floor. He thought they needed a new challenge.
Kellogg believed that boredom inevitably cost his team when it went 6-for-26 from downtown in its 71-58 loss to Stony Brook in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament to cap off a disappointing season for the Minutemen.
“It wasn’t a matter of not making the NCAA Tournament that made us disinterested in playing in the NIT,” shooting guard Freddie Riley said. “We were just so tired having to run so far down the floor to stop and shoot the 3.”
UMass no longer has to worry about that since the Globetrotters added the 4-point shot, which is located on each side of midcourt 35 feet away from the basket and 12 feet behind the NBA 3-point line, back in 2011.
The announcement comes just days after the Globetrotters dropped the Washington Generals from their regular schedule because they wanted a team that would be more willing to take the 4-pointer on a regular basis.
“This has got to be the most exciting moment in my basketball life,” forward Raphiael Putney said. “I was promised a chance to shoot all the 3s I wanted in college, no matter how much it hurt the integrity of the game. But 4s?! This is a dream come true.”
The Minutemen now have a much shorter journey down the floor to get the maximum value out a shot, putting themselves in position for future success.
“All we need to do is play UMass basketball and we’re bound to make noise against such a storied team,” Kellogg said.
In honor of Walker, Kellogg announced that every player on the team will wear No. 8 and will do the shimmy-shake after each made 4-point shot.
Armand Hammer can be reached at [email protected].
