The Massachusetts men’s basketball team began its season Monday in the brand-new, $24 million, 56,500-square-foot John Francis Kennedy Champions Center.

The new facility holds both the UMass men’s and women’s teams, and includes its own practice courts, offices and meeting rooms that were previously held at the Mullins Center. The Champions Center also offers 24/7 access for all of its players.

“It’s a blessing to be able to work in here every day,” point guard Trey Davis said. “We can come here any time of the day or night. It’s good for the whole team; it gives us more time to work.”

“I’ve had a couple nights here after midnight and a couple really early mornings. Sometimes you’re by yourself and other times you’re with a teammate. It’s all set up to make you a better player on and off the court,” forward Malik Hines added.

While there is still work being done on the interior of the building, both the Minutemen and Minutewomen have moved into the new Champions Center and will perform all of their practices in the new facility.

Freshmen eligibility

After missing last season as academic non-qualifiers, both Hines and center Raashan Holloway are on the team and expected to play in the 2015-16 season. Hines (6-foot-9) and Holloway (6-foot-10) are expected to replenish the Minutemen’s frontcourt that lost Cady Lalanne and Maxie Esho to graduation.

According to UMass coach Derek Kellogg, Hines injured his knee in a private workout on Friday and is listed as day-to-day throughout the first few days of practice. Holloway, listed at 280 pounds, is continuing to work on his conditioning with the training staff and will ultimately determine his status for this upcoming season.

“He has something that we haven’t had in a while, which is a huge presence in the paint. He’s highly-skilled, but can he keep up with how we want to play? That’s really the question,” Kellogg said.

Kellogg added: “He’s done it for short bursts. And when I say short, I mean very short bursts at this point. Now we’re going to see if we can elongate some of those bursts. He does have a chance to be a good player here if he can get himself in the kind of condition that we need him in.”

The status of Luwane Pipkins also remains up in the air, as the freshman guard is still waiting to hear back from the NCAA to see if he is academically cleared to play.

Pipkins, although not allowed to practice with the team, was still at the Champions Center on Monday for individual workouts.

“He hasn’t been deemed anything yet by the eligibility center. So right now, it’s in limbo,” Kellogg said. “We’ll be patient. There are some things that they’re waiting on from high school, things of that nature.”

Seth Berger returns from injury

After missing the last 24 games of the season with a left foot stress fracture, Seth Berger said his foot was feeling “better than ever,” despite suffering minor setbacks while UMass was on its trip to Europe over the summer.

Berger, who started in all eight of his appearances in 2014-15, said the majority of the rehabilitation process was spent doing corrective exercises with associate athletic trainer Dave Maclutsky to try to strengthen the muscle to prevent future injury.

“I’m feeling as good as I was at the start of last season,” Berger said. “I’m really looking forward to starting practice and testing it out.”

Kellogg said that Berger did get hurt prior to the season, but didn’t specify if it was related to the stress fracture or not.

“Seth hurt himself in a pick-up game. (He) will probably be out all week until we come back after the fall break,” Kellogg said.

Berger, who qualified for a medical redshirt last season, had no complaints of any recent injuries and was seen doing shooting and positional drills with the team while the media was present.

Wojewodzic no longer with team

Walk-on Mike Wojewodzic is no longer with the team after he was charged with operating under the influence, negligent operation and a marked lane violation early on the morning of Sept. 20.

According to the police report, Wojewodzic crashed into a tree and improperly passed two vehicles while driving on North Pleasant Street that night. He admitted to responding officers that he had been drinking earlier in the night and agreed to a chemical breath test at Amherst Police Department.

UMass associate athletic director Molly O’Mara released the following statement on the athletic department’s behalf: “Mike Wojewodzic is no longer with the UMass men’s basketball team as he is dealing with University sanctions. We won’t comment further.”

UMass spokesperson Ed Blaguszewski did not have anything to comment on the issue and said that this was a problem that the athletic department was dealing with.

Wojewodzic didn’t appear in any games last season, but he did make the trip to Europe with the team over the summer.

Andrew Cyr can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Andrew_Cyr.