2021-22 Season
The 2021-22 UMass Minutemen men's basketball team will represent the University of Massachusetts.
The season will represent the 113th season of basketball in the school's history.
Current Record: n/a
Conference Record: n/a
Off-Season News
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Several incoming transfers, noted in the roster below.
Assistant Coach Tony Bergeron's contract has been bought out and he will not return, per reports in the Boston Globe
3) and MassLive.
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Bergeron's history at Woodstock Academy led to several players coming to UMass. How his departure impacts their intentions remains to be seen.
Head Coach Matt McCall will be back, per Athletic Director Ryan Bamford.
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Projected Roster
This makes assumptions that 2020-21 players will return. Will update as we hear definitive info.
| # | Name | Height | Weight | Class | Pos. | Hometown / HS / Prep / College Transfer | Status |
| | Buttrick, Trent | 6-8 | 240 | Gr. | F | Bloomsburg PA / Bloomsburg HS / Community School of Naples / Penn State | Announced intention to transfer on 4/7/21.6) UM announced signing on 4/15/21.7) |
 | 13 | DeGray, Ronnie | 6-7 | 220 | So. | F | Parker, CO / Woodstock Academy | |
 | 4 | Dominguez, Dyondre | 6-8 | 195 | So. | F | Providence, RI / Woodstock Academy | |
 | 11 | Fernandes, Noah | 5-11 | 172 | Jr. | G | Mattapoisett, MA / Woodstock Academy / Wichita State | |
 | 1 | Garcia, Javohn | 6-2 | 175 | So. | PG | Pickerington, OH / Brewster Academy | |
| | Kelly, CJ | 6-5 | 190 | Sr. | G | Long Island, NY / Queens High School of Teaching / Norfolk State / Albany | 4/7/21: initial report that he will transfer in.8) CJ confirmed on 4/19.9) |
| | Kelly, Rich | 6-1 | 175 | Gr. | G | Shelton, CT / Fairfield Prep / Quinnipiac / Boston College | 4/15/21: Report that he would transfer in was retweeted by Coach McCall.10) |
 | 20 | Marcus, Ryan | 6-3 | 175 | So. | G | Wakefield, MA / Wakefield HS | Preferred walk-on11)12) |
 | 5 | McCrory, Cairo | 6-5 | 185 | So. | SG | Hartford, CT / Masters/Northwest Catholic / Woodstock Academy | |
 | 3 | Mitchell, Kolton | 6-3 | 175 | Jr. | G | Fort Myers, FL / Victory Rock Prep | |
 | 2 | Santos, Preston | 6-6 | 180 | So. | G/F | Warwick, RI / Woodstock Academy | Opted out of the 2020-21 season for personal reasons. Announced his intention to return to the team in 2021-22.13) |
| | Steadman, Michael | 6-10 | 215 | Gr. | F | Union City, CA / City College of San Francisco / San Jose State / Montana | Announced intention to transfer on 4/6/21, which Coach McCall retweeted.14) |
 | 24 | Walker, Dibaji | 6-7 | 190 | Sr. | F | Columbus, OH / Woodstock Academy / Cleveland State | |
 | 23 | Weeks, TJ | 6-4 | 185 | So.* | G | Warwick, RI / Woodstock Academy | |
* Eligibility difference.
TJ Weeks requested and received a medical redshirt for the 2019-20 season, having only played in the first 10 games before sitting out the rest of the season.
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2020-21 players lost:
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Mark Gasperini announced that he will not pursue another year of eligibility and end his playing career.
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Brian Mathews (6-9 215 Center, Chicago IL / DePaul College Prep) had verbally committed in August 2020,23)24)25)26) and signed an NLI in November 2020,27) but it was announced he re-opened his recruiting on 4/17/21.28)
Schedule
Many of the non-conference game plans were put in place before the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. How these plans materialize in the future is to be determined.
Jamaica Classic: UM was slated to participate in November 2020, but the event was cancelled.
29)30)31)32) Organizers say they will try to resume the event in 2021, but not sure if any of the expected 2020 teams will participate.
Akron (Home): A return game from Akron is expected, but not confirmed.
33) We played at Akron in the 2019-20 season. A home-and-home basketball series may have been tied in with the UMass/Akron football games contract.
34)35)
Central Florida (Home): Prior to the pandemic, a deal was made where UMass would visit UCF in the 2020-21 season, with a return game in 2021-22.
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Fairfield (Home): A return game from Fairfield was expected, given we travelled to them in 2019, but a return game was never confirmed.
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Harvard (Home): We were expected to host Harvard in 2020-21 to conclude a series.
38) However, the Ivy League has decided to cancel all winter sports for 2020-21.
39) Whether or not that game gets scheduled in 2021-22 remains to be seen.
Penn State (Home): This season's game will begin a home-and-home series, in conjunction with an agreement for UM/PSU football games.
40)41)
Rutgers (Home): We were expected to host Rutgers in 2020-21 to conclude a series.
42)43) Whether or not that game gets scheduled in 2021-22 remains to be seen.
Sacred Heart (Home): We were expected to play SHU in 2020-21. Whether or not that game gets scheduled in 2021-22 remains to be seen. This may be a one-off game, but not certain.
44)
UMass-Lowell (Home): Prior to the pandemic season of 2020-21, we had hosted UML for our season opener for the previous four seasons. Whether or not we host them again in 2021-22 remains to be seen.
The
Atlantic 10 and Mountain West conferences agreed to play 10 games this season. Exactly which teams participate, and schedule details, are all TBA.
45)46)
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Athletic Director Ryan Bamford has stated that he will continue to explore opportunities in conjunction with football and men's basketball scheduling, like what we've done with
Akron,
Rutgers,
South Carolina and
Georgia.
48)49)