• Player
• Seasons: 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000
• Number: 23
• Position: F
• Height: 6' 6“
• Weight: 226 lbs.
• Hometown: North Attleboro MA
• High School: North Attleboro
• Prep School: none
• Transfer From: none
• Birthdate: November 25, 1977
• Date of Death: December 30, 2024¹⁾²⁾³⁾

• In-state product recruited by John Calipari and staff
• Defense first guy: 3x honoree to the Atlantic 10 Defensive Team, often drawing the assignment against the opposition's top scorer
• Played in 120 games for UMass, at the time good for 9th highest in school history, started 100
• 3x honoree to the Atlantic 10 Academic Team
• Stats from Sports Reference

• Named to Atlantic 10 All-Defensive and All-Academic teams, the third time he was honored for each
• Team co-captain, along with Chris Kirkland
• Played in all 33 games in the season, started in 29
• Led team in rebounding in two games. Led team with 6 assists in victory against La Salle
• 3rd on the team in assists (67), 4th in steals (33)
• Lowest turnovers/game per 40 minutes (1.8)

Biography heading into the season:

• An Academic All-America Candidate
• Returning starter at the small forward position
• The team's best leaper, capturing the slam dunk title during Midnight Madness all four years he has competed
• Has an overall GPA of 3.16 in Sport Management

• Selected to the Atlantic 10's All-Defensive team and All-Academic team
• Averaged 5.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game
• Played in all 30 games in the season, started in 29. Only exception was Senior Day (Temple 2/28)
• 4th on the team in minutes at 29.5 per game
• Shot 60% from the floor (56-94)
• Ranked second on the team in blocked shots (24) and assists (55) and fourth in steals (19)
• Lowest turnovers/game per 40 minutes (1.9) of any player with over 100 total minutes
• Held Connecticut's Richard Hamilton to 11 points on 3 of 11 shooting, with four turnovers
• Scored a career-high 15 points at St. John's, while allowing Ron Artest only nine points
• Pulled down a career-best 12 rebounds in the upset win against Kansas, while holding Kenny Gregory to six points and two rebounds
• Allowed Texas' Kris Clack only nine points on 3 of 11 shooting, with four turnovers
• Totaled 11 points and eight rebounds at La Salle
• Named to the preseason Atlantic 10 All-Defensive team
• Pizza Hut Academic All-Star of the Game for the CBS broadcast of the UMass/Temple game

• Started all 32 games at small forward
• Averaged 4.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game
• One of the nation's top defensive stoppers
• Named to the Atlantic 10 All-Defensive team
• Earned a spot on the Atlantic 10 All-Academic team with a 3.25 GPA
• Held Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Cuttino Mobley to 2-of-7 shooting and 12 points in game at Rhode Island
• Helped hold St. Louis' Larry Hughes to 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting in NCAA first round, below Hughes' average in season PPG and FG%
• Limited George Washington's Yegor Mescheriakov to 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting in UM's 31-point home win
• Held Boston College's Antonio Granger to 2-of-12 shooting and eight points in UM's win at the FleetCenter
• Forced Colorado's Kenny Price to a season-low 10 points before Price fouled out in UM's win over the Buffaloes
• Held Xavier's Darnell Williams to nine points on 2-of-5 shooting in UM's road win. Babul also scored eight points on 4-5 shooting
• Limited Coby Turner of Dayton to seven points on 2-of-6 shooting with no three-point field goal attempts in UM's 16-point home win
• Held Davidson's Mark Donnelly to 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting in the non-conference road win
• Held Melvin Levitt of Cincinnati to seven points on 1-of-13 shooting in the game in Cleveland
• Scored a career-high 13 points in second game against Fordham
• Had a season-high nine rebounds vs. UNC Charlotte
• Had 10 points while playing a 35 minutes in second game vs. St. Joseph's
• Had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists vs. La Salle
• Scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds in the season-opener at No. 15 Fresno State
• Scored six points against Seton Hall in the third place game at the Great Alaska Shootout
• Had six points, five rebounds and three steals at St. Joseph's

• Averaged 1.5 points and 2.0 rebounds per game
• Played in 25 games, making 10 starts
• Won the team's slam dunk contest during Midnight Madness
• Played both the small forward and big guard positions
• Played a season-high 32 minutes at Wake Forest, scoring six points and pulling down nine boards

• Coached basketball at several levels, last at Thayer Academy
• See our old bio page or his Wikipedia page for more info

• Played for coach Don Johnson at North Attleboro High School
• Rated among the top 60 high school seniors in the nation and the top five in Massachusetts by Reidel's Roundball Review
• Parade All-American Fourth Team in 1996⁴⁾
• Averaged 20.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game during his senior year
• Averaged 13.7 points per game while leading his Boston area team (alongside teammate Monty Mack) to the Boston Shootout title in the summer following his senior year
• Averaged 22.3 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in his junior season
• Two-time Hockomock League All-Star choice
• First team All-Scholastic pick during his junior year
• NAHS retired Babul's jersey in 2026⁵⁾⁶⁾

• Twin brother Jon played at Georgia Tech
• Son of Mike and Joan Babul