UMass basketball 2022 preseason special issue

A new coach and an Atlantic 10 championship. The Massachusetts basketball programs kick off their 2022-23 seasons on Monday, Nov. 7 with a double header in the Mullins Center. The Minutewomen come off a historic season with championship rings and a first-round exit in the NCAA tournament, finishing off the year 26-7. The Minutemen lost head coach Matt McCall and gained Frank Martin in the off season, along with almost an entirely new roster. UMass went 15-17 last season, ending its season in the A-10 quarterfinals.

But now it’s a new year, with new goals and opportunities for both programs.

Men’s basketball: 

The Minutemen roster will look a lot different on opening night, with several new players and transfers kicking off the Frank Martin era. Pedro Gray Soares breaks down the new roster.

UMass doesn’t start conference play until New Years Eve. Dean Wendel previews the Minutemen’s non-conference schedule.

Women’s basketball: 

With almost the entire roster returning, the Minutewomen only added more depth and talent to their roster in the off season. Lulu Kesin looks into what UMass gained and what a talented bench means for head coach Tory Verdi. 

Despite a 27-6 record, UMass fell to some talented A-10 teams last season. With big wins over conference rivals, tough losses midway through the year and now big name opponents on the road this season, Michael Araujo dissects the schedule for this season.

While most expect mirrored success from last year, Johnny Depin and Rachel Toth give their specific opinions on what the Minutewomen will do this year, either better or different from last season.

Podcasts

Joey Aliberti and Pedro Gray Soares discuss this upcoming season and on the women’s side, Michael Araujo and Lulu Kesin talk what this upcoming season may look like for UMass and what it needs to do to repeat success in the post season: https://dailycollegian.com/2022/11/the-mens-and-womens-hoops-preview/

A refresher on last year and what went down in the off season

In October, UMass welcomed both Assumption and AIC respectively into Mullins for exhibition games, in addition to hosting Mullins Madness for fans.

Matt Cross transferred to UMass in April, along with Tafara Gapare in July.

Frank Martin officially hired in March 2022, with the Martin era beginning shortly after in April. Martin added former Minutemen head coach Derek Kellogg to his coaching staff in August.

UMass women’s basketball won the A-10 tournament in March, taking down No. 1 Dayton. The Minutewomen danced as the No. 12 seed but fell to N0. 5 Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA tournament. 

Destiney Philoxy then announced she would return for her fifth year.

Sports editor Lulu Kesin contributed to this special issue, along with assistant sports editors Pedro Gray Soares and Johnny Depin, managing editor Joey Aliberti and beat reporters Rachel Toth, Dean Wendel and Michael Araujo.