he University of Massachusetts men's basketball team could have a new point guard and assistant coach in place early next week.

Mount Vernon, N.Y., high school guard Chris Lowe appears to be the Minutemen's top target to fill the team's immediate need for a point guard.

He is expected to visit campus this weekend and meet with new UMass coach Travis Ford.

Lowe, who is listed from 6-foot-0 to 6-foot-2 on various Web sites, is the latest in a long line of Division I players from Mount Vernon, including current Chicago Bull rookie and former Connecticut star Ben Gordon.

NCAA coaches are not allowed to comment on unsigned players.

However, veteran recruiting analyst Dave Telep of Scout.com praised Lowe's potential.

''Chris is a solid prospect. He comes from a program with a history of winning,'' Telep said. ''He's not a guy who makes a lot of mistakes. He's improved his jump shot to mid-range. He's a guy that will run your team. He will get you into your offense and take care of the basketball. The kid is used to winning. I think that's an important thing.''

Lowe will play for the New York team in the Old Spice Red Zone All-Star Shootout in Chicago on April 16. The annual game is a showdown between the best high school players in New York and Chicago.

ASSISTANT INTERVIEWS - Ford met during the Final Four weekend in St. Louis with four potential candidates to fill the final assistant coaching vacancy on his staff. He said he plans to decide later in the week who he will hire.

''There are four guys I'm looking at right now. Everyone has their strengths. I'm trying to decide which strength we need the most,'' said Ford, who has been living at the Campus Center Hotel while he tries to sell his Kentucky home and find one in Massachusetts. ''I'll decide by the end of the week.''

Included among those four are former UMass player and current Rhode Island assistant coach Tyrone Weeks and Dagan Nelson, a former Stony Brook assistant coach who worked with Ford for two seasons at Eastern Kentucky. Ford did not identify the other two candidates.

TEAM MEETING - Ford returned from the Final Four Monday and met with his players and began individual instruction with them Tuesday.

He hopes to use the remainder of the school year to get to know his players and prepare them for his level of intensity.

''I want to develop a relationship with them off the court before I develop one on the court,'' Ford said. ''It's important to me that they trust me. I'm an intense coach and it's important that when I get on them on the court, they don't take it personally.

''The biggest thing is I want them to get a quick understanding of how hard they're going to work,'' Ford added. ''I want them to understand that in UMass basketball we only play one way. Whether it be individual instruction, weight-lifting or conditioning, we do it to the best of our ability and harder than everybody else.''

Matt Vautour can be reached at [email protected].

he University of Massachusetts men's basketball program could find out shortly whether Chris Lowe is its point guard of the future.

The spring national of letter intent signing period begins today and runs through May 15.

The 6-foot-1 guard from Mount Vernon, N.Y., visited campus last weekend. UMass currently has no point guards on its roster.

The Minutemen are also looking at Moberly (Mo.) Area Community College point Maurice Gibbs, who helped lead the Greyhounds to the championship game of the National Junior College Championships.

BANQUET - The men's basketball program held its postseason banquet Tuesday night.

Neither former coach Steve Lappas nor the Minutemen's scholarship seniors, Anthony Anderson and Chris Chadwick, attended the event.

Lappas sent a letter which thanked the players and praised their accomplishments.

New coach Travis Ford spoke briefly as he continued to encourage estranged fans to return to the program.

IN LIMBO - UMass is waiting to hear whether Olivier Lamoureux will be granted a medical redshirt. The freshman from Canada suffered from several injuries last year and appeared in only one game.

The new coaching staff and redshirt sophomore Alassane Kouyate are continuing to monitor the status of his knees to determine if he will continue his basketball career.

''We'll figure it out together,'' Ford said. ''If he can play that's great. If not we'll try to find a way to keep him involved. It'll be a group decision for what's best for him.''

RADIO TEAM HONORED - The Minuteman broadcast crew of Bob Behler (play-by-play), Kevin Kennedy (analysis), Matt Goldstein (halftime/postgame) and Adam Frenier (producer) were honored by the Associated Press for best play-by-play broadcasts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Behler's crews have won the award three times in past four years.

MISCELLANEOUS - Ford still has one assistant coaching job to fill. ''Hopefully we'll have somebody hired in the next week or so,'' he said.

West Virginia assistant coach Jeff Neubauer was hired to replace Ford at Eastern Kentucky on Monday. Ford had coached the Colonels for five seasons before he was hired last month by UMass to succeed Lappas.

Matt Vautour can be reached at [email protected].

MHERST, Mass. - New University of Massachusetts basketball head coach Travis Ford announced the signing of his first UMass recruit to a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday, as point guard Chris Lowe (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) has signed to join the Minutemen basketball team for the 2005-06 season.

"We are thrilled to welcome Chris Lowe to the UMass basketball family," said Ford. "He is coming from one of the finest programs in America. He experienced great success in high school and we are looking for him to be a player which we can build our program with. We are looking forward to making Chris into the best player, student and person he can be at UMass."

Lowe, who stands 6-0, 160 pounds, comes to UMass from Mount Vernon High School in New York where he was a two-year starter for the Knights. He led the Bob Cimmino-coached squad to the New York State Class AA Federation Championship and the Class AA New York State Public Title in 2004 with a 27-3 record. The Knights were ranked No. 7 nationally in USA Today's Super 25 Final Rankings.

In the championship game, Lowe made a name for himself with tenacious defense holding future then-Lincoln High School point guard Sebastian Telfair to a season-low 14 points in a 66-52 victory. Telfair later skipped college and went on to be the No. 13 pick by the Portland Trailblazers in 2004.

As a senior, this past season, Lowe averaged 12.9 points and 6.5 assists and 4.5 steals per game as he was named to Westchester County's Section I First Team, All-Conference and honored as a Second Team Journal News All-Star. The Knights finished 20-4 this past season falling in the Class AA Championship game. As a junior, he was named honorable mention by the Journal News.

In addition to his scholastic play, Lowe was a standout for the famed AAU New York Panthers as well as being named one of the top point guards at the Reebok ABCD Camp last summer.

Mount Vernon has produced many college and NBA stars including most recently Ben Gordon of the Chicago Bulls, who led UConn to the 2004 National Championship.

Christopher Lowe Jr. was born on July 17, 1987 and is the son of Christopher Lowe Sr. and Sonya Griffin.

ew University of Massachusetts men's basketball coach Travis Ford filled a need and answered concerns about recruiting, all in one afternoon.

Chris Lowe, a 6-foot point guard from Mount Vernon (N.Y.) High School, committed to play basketball for the Minutemen next year.

Getting a point guard was critical for UMass, which lost its only experienced ball-handlers from last season's team - Anthony Anderson and Chris Chadwick.

''We're very excited about Chris Lowe and the things he brings to our program,'' Ford said Wednesday. ''He comes from a highly successful high school program with a good coach.

''He's a proven winner. That's extremely important especially when you're going to have to come in and play,'' Ford said. ''We chose him because he started in a program for two straight years where not many people get to start for two straight years.''

When Ford was hired, some people questioned his ability to recruit in the Northeast. Landing a player from Mount Vernon, a school that traditionally has been rich with Division I talent, could help reduce those concerns.

Mount Vernon, the 2004 New York Class AA public school champion, was ranked No. 7 nationally by USA Today.

''We are thrilled with the decision,'' Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino told the Journal News of Westchester County. ''UTEP and Fordham were right there. But Chris fell in love with UMass when he visited there. They totally needed Chris. UMass was left without any point guard whatsoever. So he's going to play and play a lot. They were thrilled to get him.''

Lowe averaged 11.1 points and 6.5 assists as a senior.

In the 2004 championship game, Lowe earned considerable attention for his defensive performance against Sebastian Telfair. He held the current Portland Trailblazer to a season low 14 points.

''Defensively I do think he's further along,'' Ford said. ''He's very quick. He's been challenged by some of the great offensive players around and he's done an incredible job. He's also been a very good lead guard. He's been surrounded by good players and made them better. That's what we're going to ask him to do for us.''

Dave Telep of Scout.com praised Lowe's potential last week.

''Chris is a solid prospect. He comes from a program with a history of winning,'' Telep said. ''He's not a guy who makes a lot of mistakes. He's improved his jump shot to mid-range. He's a guy that will run your team. He will get you into your offense and take care of the basketball. The kid is used to winning. I think that's an important thing.''

Lowe will play for the New York team in the Old Spice Red Zone All-Star Shootout in Chicago Saturday. The annual game is a showdown between the best high school players in New York and Chicago.

The Minutemen have at least two more scholarships to offer and potentially a third if redshirt sophomore Alassane Kouyate decides to end his career because of injuries to his knees.

Ford will likely continue to search for backcourt help. The Minutemen are looking at Moberly Area (Mo.) Community College guard Maurice Gibbs. He averaged 14 points and led Moberly to the finals of the national junior college tournament. He's considering Georgetown and a handful of Big 12 Conference schools.

''We'd like to get a combo guard as well,'' Ford said. ''We still have some needs for perimeter shooting. We're going to see what's out there and hopefully sign a couple more.''

Matt Vautour can be reached at [email protected].