In a time where everyone has to make adjustments, Matt McCall and the Massachusetts basketball team are no exception.
To get into the practice facility, each person must be screened by the team trainer, get their temperature checked and show no symptoms. This is in addition to testing to COVID-19 every Tuesday and Friday.
When players arrived on campus, they were only allowed in the gym one at a time with one coach, using one basket and one ball, which is cleaned after every use. Training has slowly progressed to having six players on the floor at a time, now being able to run three-on-three until all players are allowed on the court at once.
All players could be allowed back on the court as early as the middle of September, as long as there is no positive testing and the NCAA is able to set dates for the start of the season and tournaments.
With the new season comes along a new-look team. Only six players will return from last year’s roster, while six more will come in through recruiting and the transfer portal.
“We’ve built a roster here that’s pretty set for the next couple of years,” McCall said. “We’re deeper and extremely talented at every spot.”
TJ Weeks was a freshman who shined early on for UMass last season, averaging 14.7 points per game before suffering a sports hernia only 10 games into the year. Now, according to McCall, “You would never know that he had surgery last year. In his first workout I don’t think he missed.”
Noah Fernandes, a point guard transfer out of Wichita State, still has eligibility questions but would arguably be the top player from this year’s class if he were to play this season. McCall and his staff are optimistic that they will hear from the NCAA soon, but do not have any exact time as to when they will know if Fernandes will be eligible this season.
McCall cited on-ball defense as one of the Minutemen’s notable struggles last year, and as a result signed players such as Javohn Garcia, Fernandes and Cairo McCrory.
“That piece of it is huge,” McCall said. “I think we’ve got guys that are really good at that.”
Other struggles last year included depth at the power forward position, where Preston Santos and Dibaji Walker both had to play at times, even though both more naturally play on the wing. Along with its only true power forward, Samba Diallo transferring to Manhattan College, there was a very logical reason for UMass to bring in two new power forwards in Dyondre Dominguez and Ronnie DeGray III, to ease the stress of putting players out of position.
“Guys now are in the positions they should be in,” McCall said. “To make us almost ahead of the curve of where we were last year.”
Sophomore Kolton Mitchell has gotten the attention of UMass players, coaches and fans alike for his idea and creation of a video centered around social injustice in America, titled, “I’ve Had Enough…”
The video includes players and coaches wearing black T-shirts that either say “Black Lives Matter”, a quote relating to social injustice or even names of Black Americans who have been unjustly killed. Mitchell talks throughout the video about how he feels about what is going on and what we need to do as a nation.
When McCall saw the video, he was emotional and Facetimed Kolton immediately to talk to him about it.
“I couldn’t be prouder of him because he did that on his own,” McCall said. “I think you have to give your players a platform to speak and to speak exactly how they’re feeling.”
In a year where so many things have gone wrong, the Minutemen have stepped up and have a team that is as strong as it’s been in some time, while also being able to unify off the court for what they feel passionately about.
“The perception of UMass basketball has started to shift and change,” McCall said. “I think expectations are high. That’s what you want, you want to be in that position.”
Joey Aliberti is an Assistant Sports Editor and can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @JosephAliberti1.
