ld habits can die hard, even for basketball coaches. New University of Massachusetts coach Steve Lappas, who spent 13 years at Villanova, including the last nine as head coach, admitted to a recruiting faux pas when he attempted to sell a prospect on the idea of helping UMass play for the Atlantic 10 championship.

Lappas told the recruit he would be playing in New York.

The A-10, however, holds its conference tourney in Philadelphia. The Big East, Lappas's old conference, plays its tourney at Madison Square Garden.

''I was on the phone telling the recruit he'd get the chance to play in New York,'' Lappas said, chuckling. ''And my 13-year-old daughter was in the background going, `What are you saying? It's in Philadelphia!'''

It was an awkward moment in Lappas's transition to Amherst. He has to connect new faces with new names, become accustomed to new affiliations and adopt new practices.

Such as identifying himself as being from UMass and not Villanova.

''Yeah, I've had to stop myself a couple of times,'' Lappas said with a laugh. ''But when you've been at a place like Villanova for 13 years, including four as an assistant, you get accustomed to saying great things about Villanova and telling kids, `Come to Villanova! Come to Villanova!' So it's a bit of a transition.''

Lappas has tried to smooth out some of the bumps stemming from a spate of defections by recruits who had committed to former coach Bruiser Flint, then backed out after Flint was dismissed.

Jeremiah King, a 6-foot-2-inch guard from Paterson, N.J., and Maurecio Branwell, a 6-8 power forward from Notre Dame High in Fitchburg, were granted releases from their letters of intent and are expected to join Flint at Drexel.

A third recruit, Eddie Basden, a 6-6 forward from Greenbelt, Md., also gained his release but is weighing his options and could wind up going to prep school.

Despite those defections, Lappas signed his first recruit, Kyle Wilson, a 6-2 guard from White Rock, British Columbia. Wilson, who was ranked Canada's top prep point guard after averaging 28 points and 13.5 rebonds at White Rock Christian Academy, had verbally committed to play for Lappas at Villanova but instead will join him in Amherst.

''It made me feel great that he wanted to come with me to UMass,'' Lappas said. ''He's a very heady player and he makes all the right decisions with the ball. He's capable of shooting the three, and that's something we're going to need around here, especially after losing someone like Monty Mack.

''When you lose a guy like Monty, whom the offense seemed to revolve around, it's going to be tough to replace that,'' he said.

Wilson, who shot 42 percent from the 3-point arc last season, hit 12 in one game. He also won a world 3-point shooting contest in France as a junior.

Wilson's defection from Villanova led to another. Brennon Martin, a 6-6 forward from Hargrave Military Academy, also is headed to Amherst.

Lappas's Big East connections also proved fruitful in landing another prospect, this one from Connecticut. Marcus Cox, a sophomore guard at UConn, said he will transfer to UMass, where he will have to sit out a year.

Cox, who averaged 2.7 points and 1.7 rebounds as a sophomore, was suspended for two games in early February when he was arrested for possession of marijuana. Cox served his suspension and returned to the team but wound up playing in only three of the last 12 games at UConn, sitting out the last six. According to UConn officials, Cox will leave the school in good standing.

The Connecticut Player of the Year when he came out of Kolbe Cathedral High in Bridgeport, two years ago, Cox seemed to get lost in the shuffle when the Huskies stockpiled guards, including Taliek Brown, Tony Robertson, and Robert Swain. With Ben Gordon coming into the fold as a freshman, Cox looked to be the fifth guard in a five-man rotation.

''The reception I've received from kids in the home and everyone here has been tremendous,'' Lappas said. ''There's a lot to sell here at UMass. It's a great state school with a good tradition and a beautiful new building, so there's a lot of good selling points.''

he University of Massachusetts men's basketball recruiting picture is looking bright.

Sources in Philadelphia said 6-foot-6 swingman Brennan Martin of Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., will sign with UMass. He would join 6-2 guard Kyle Wilson of Surrey, British Columbia, as Lappas' first signed UMass recruits.

Both players had originally planned to attend Villanova while Lappas was there. Martin's signing announcement could come today.

Martin, who is from Santa Margarita, Calif., had signed with Villanova. Wilson had given only a verbal commitment.

But when Lappas came to UMass March 25, both players began rethinking their plans.

Villanova hoped Martin would remain in the Wildcats' program under new coach Jay Wright, but instead, he went through the process of being released from his letter of intent. He visited UMass, and gave a verbal commitment.

Martin, who has a 3-point shooting touch that fits Lappas' style, went to Hargrave after failing to qualify academically at Texas A&M, his first choice last year. He is expected to be eligible in 2001-02. The main issue is not expected to be academics, but the procedure by which he was released from his letter of intent.

UMass has also been recruiting 7-footer Chris Charles of Milwaukee, and has been expected to sign 6-4 guard Marcus Cox, who is transferring from Connecticut. Cox transfer is not official, however.

In addition, 6-9 low-post player Gabriel Lee of Northfield Mount Hermon School has verbally committed to UMass. He will redshirt next year with a shoulder injury.

The recruiting merry-go-round has left UMass with an apparently solid recruiting class, albeit with different names and styles than had been expected. Before the forced resignation of Bruiser Flint March 12, UMass signed guards Eddie Basden and Jeremiah King, and forward Mauricio Branwell.

King and Branwell are expected to follow Flint to Drexel. When Flint left UMass and Basden pulled out, Maryland renewed its interest in the 6-5 shooting guard who is the best prospect of the three, and who could wind up in prep school next fall.

But Lappas is reshaping the roster with an eye on perimeter shooting, and Martin is considered a difficult matchup for opponents because of his size. If he plays small forward, his shooting touch would mark a change in style at UMass, where small forwards have often not been scorers and have rarely expected or been encouraged to shoot 3-pointers.

Hargrave has been a UMass feeding ground before. It sent Inus Norville and Andre Burks to John Calipari's Minutemen in the mid-1990s.

While Lappas and Flint have been bringing their past reputations and recruiting contacts to new places, Wright was left with only nine scholarship players after Martin pulled out. He has outstanding recruiting credentials of his own, however, so the transition may be temporary.

The releases of Martin and the three UMass recruits also indicate a growing trend in college basketball, where some schools are showing less reluctance to release players from their letters of intent, if those players signed with coaches who are no longer at the school.