ravis Ford is getting his shooter.

James Life, a 6-foot-4 guard from Manatee Junior College in Florida, said Tuesday he will attend the University of Massachusetts.

Life, who scored 55 points in a game this season, holds several Manatee scoring records including career points (1,341) and 3-point field goals (179). He was named the junior college player of the year in Florida and was a second-team junior college All-American.

He visited Amherst during the weekend and said he planned to sign his national letter of intent Tuesday evening.

''I'm going to UMass. It was a beautiful campus, beautiful people. I liked it,'' said Life, who will be a junior and have two years of eligibility.

Ford and his staff had recruited Life while they were at Eastern Kentucky, but Life wanted to play at a higher level and eventually gave a verbal nonbinding commitment to Utah State.

When Ford was hired at UMass, Life contacted him to find out if he was still interested.

''It was fate that they ended up at UMass. It was definitely fate,'' said Life, who attended Cape Coral Mariner High School in Fort Myers, Fla., before enrolling at Manatee. UMass associate head coach Tim Maloney was the head coach at that high school before breaking into college coaching. Maloney left before Life was in high school, but remains connected to the area.

Ford cannot comment on any new players until a letter of intent has been signed and delivered to UMass.

But since being hired last month, Ford has been emphatic about the Minutemen's need for outside shooting help.

''I'm a shooter. I'm known for my shooting,'' Life said. ''I can shoot the NBA three real well. I'm a proven scorer at every level I've played. I'm a shooter, a slasher, a little bit of both.''

And Manatee coach Brac Brady said, ''He's got a very quick release on his jump shot and he has 3-point range out to NBA range.

''He's a very good shooter, but he's also deceptively quick. He can get by you. He's one of those guys that just knows how to get the ball in the hole ... I truly believe offensively he is without a doubt a high-major player,'' Brady added.

Life said the opportunity for playing time at UMass and its style of offense clinched his decision.

''Coming out of junior college I know I only have two years left, so I wanted to come in somewhere I could play a lot,'' he said. ''They're going to be a run-and-gun type of offense. That's the way I played in high school and we were pretty fast-paced in junior college.''

Life joins Mount Vernon (N.Y.) High School point guard Chris Lowe in Ford's first UMass recruiting class. The Minutemen have at least one scholarship still available and could have another depending on whether Alassane Kouyate chooses to finish his career despite chronic knee problems.

Lowe still needs to achieve the necessary combination of core grade point average and standardized test scores to be eligible as a freshman.

Ford could choose to pursue another point guard or combination guard as competition for Lowe or as insurance in case he is not eligible.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com.

MHERST, Mass. - UMass men's basketball coach Travis Ford announced his second recruit on Thursday as National Junior College All-American James Life has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Minutemen starting in the Fall of 2005.

A guard, Life is one of the most decorated junior college players in the nation as he was third in the nation in scoring at Manatee Community College in Bradenton, Fla., this past season scoring 25.4 points per game. The native of Leigh Acres, Fla., Life stands 6-4 and weighs 190 pounds and played his high school basketball at Mariner High School in Cape Coral, Fla. Life will have two years of eligibility with the Minutemen.

He was honored as a second team National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American in 2005 in addition to being the Florida Community College Athletic Association (FCCAA) Player of the Year, NJCAA Region VIII Player of the Year, Florida State Player of the Year and Suncoast Conference Player of the Year. He was also a member of the FCCAA All-State First Team and the NJCAA All-Region VIII Team.

"We are thrilled to have James joining the UMass basketball family," said Ford. "He is a Junior College All-American, who was among to top scorers in the country. James is a deadly shooter from the perimeter that we were seeking. James lives and breathes basketball. He is a gym rat who will be a great addition to our team."

Life had a tremendous two-year career for Manatee CC setting 12 school records. He stands as the school's all-time scoring leader (1,341) as well as holding career marks in scoring average (22.5), three-point field goals (179), free throws made (286).

As a sophomore in 2004-05, he played in 30 games, scoring a school-record 762 points. That mark was also the most of any junior college player in the nation this past season. He made 91 three-point field goals, also a school-record and third-most of any player in the country. He also averaged 4.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for the Lancers. Life also shot 77.3 percent from the free-throw line (183-of-237). The 183 made free throws also set a Manatee single-season record.

He scored a school-record and career-high 55 points against Pasco-Hernando CC on Feb. 9, as he hit 10-of-14 three-point field goals in the game which he shot 20-of-32 overall from the floor.

He played in the Men's All-Star Classic at Chipola College following the regular season.

"We are very proud of James, not only for what he has accomplished on the basketball court, but for how he has developed as a person and as a citizen," said Manatee CC head coach Brac Brady, who led the Lancers to a 15-15 record in 2004-05. "He has represented himself and the school well since he has been with us."

As a freshman at Manatee CC, Life also led the Lancers in scoring as he averaged 19.6 points per game as he shot 55.2 from the floor (110-of-199) and 75.2 percent from the foul line (103-of-137). He also averaged 4.3 rebounds per game for a team which went 18-12.

At Mariner High School, Life played for a late Frank Morris, who passed away during Life's freshman season at Manatee CC, and was a great inspiration to Life in his career. As a junior, he scored 31 points per game.

James J. Life was born on Oct. 19, 1983 and is the son of Myrna Flores.

ravis Ford didn't hide his team's need to add a shooter from the day he was hired last month.

The new University of Massachusetts men's basketball coach made that a priority right away in his recruiting. That focus paid off Thursday when junior college standout James Life's national letter of intent arrived in Amherst.

''James Life definitely fills a need. He's somebody that can really shoot it from the perimeter and score,'' Ford said. ''He's got experience. He's got great credentials obviously.''

Those credentials include 762 points last season (25.4 points per game) for Manatee Community College, the most of any junior college player in the nation.

The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Life recruited the Minutemen almost as much as they recruited him. The new UMass coaches had pursued him when they were still at Eastern Kentucky, but Life wanted to play at a higher level. When Ford was hired in Amherst, Life got in touch with him.

''He called us. He said congratulations and asked if we'd be interested,'' Ford said.

Life visited campus last weekend and decided to commit to the Minutemen.

UMass hasn't had many junior college players in recent years. Ford emphasized the importance of picking the right spot when recruiting junior college prospects.

''You bring junior college kids in for a specific need. We needed outside shooting,'' Ford said. ''More and more, the high-major schools like we are taking junior college players, more than they did five years ago.''

Life joins Mount Vernon (N.Y.) High School point guard Chris Lowe in Ford's first recruiting class. With three weeks left in the spring signing period, Ford said he hopes to sign one more player this spring and is not focusing on one specific position.

''We're looking at everything,'' he said. ''We've filled two needs. At this point we're looking for the best player, whoever it might be.''

Ford said the newcomers will join a group of returning players who are improved.

''The backbone of our team is the returning players. These other guys are going to have to come in and fit in and earn their spot. We're leaning on the returning players a lot,'' said Ford, who singled out considerable progress by Artie Bowers and Jeff ''Big Deli'' Salovski. ''The players have seen their improvement and we've seen their improvement drastically.''

NEARING A RESOLUTION - Ford's lawyer, Brent Rice, was in Richmond, Ky., Thursday attempting to work out a settlement to resolve the legal dispute between Ford and Eastern Kentucky. The school is seeking money from Ford for leaving with two years remaining on his contract.

When Ford was hired last month, he and UMass athletic director John McCutcheon made an agreement outside the new coach's contract that UMass would pay a portion of Ford's buyout up to $190,000.

''There are discussions going on between Travis' lawyer and Eastern Kentucky. Hopefully it will be resolved soon,'' said McCutcheon, who said he expects UMass to pay something but is not sure how the negotiations would turn out.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com.