After six months with the Massachusetts men’s basketball team, freshman forward Tafara Gapare announced Georgia Tech as his new destination Tuesday.
As reported by Joe Tipton, Gapare will join a new-look Yellow Jacket roster led by first-year head coach Damon Stoudamire.
NEWS: UMass transfer Tafara Gapare has committed to Georgia Tech, he tells @On3sports.
Former 4⭐️ recruit.
Story: https://t.co/a9Se8w944C pic.twitter.com/MxDBawFVnk
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 25, 2023
Things never fully came together in Amherst for the consensus four-star recruit from Wellington, New Zealand, who 247Sports ranks as the seventh highest UMass basketball recruit of all time. Gapare averaged 3.4 points and 2.1 rebounds on 31.2 percent shooting in his lone season as a Minuteman.
After arriving just before the start of the season following visa issues, Gapare received limited minutes over the first month of the season, as he wouldn’t play over 10 minutes in a game until UMass’ Dec. 2 matchup against Harvard. In Cambridge, the freshman saw his first major performance, scoring eight crucial points and three rebounds to help the Minutemen notch a 71-68 win.
From there, Gapare solidified his spot in the UMass rotation, playing in every game over the remainder of the season. His season-high in points occurred on Dec. 5, when he scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting at home against Albany. Other double-digit scoring nights would happen on Dec. 11 with 13 points against Hofstra and Feb. 18 with 11 points against Rhode Island.
Despite the highs, Gapare’s minutes fluctuated as the season went on, with the freshman notching single-digit minutes 11 times. Gapare played 15 minutes combined over his final two games in a UMass uniform, a number that he had tied or eclipsed over the Minutemen’s previous three games.
Frank Martin on Tafara Gapare’s development/playing time (🧵):
“Too many people correlate talent with playing time. It’s like ‘he’s really good!’. Well, guess who recruited him here? Me. I think I had that one figured out.”
— Dean Wendel (@DeanWende1) December 7, 2022
Gapare is now the third UMass player this offseason to complete a transfer, following Dyondre Dominguez (Arkansas State) and Noah Fernandes (Rutgers). Three players are still in the portal.
Dean Wendel can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @DeanWende1.
