UMass transfer portal news - 2024

[NilesGold]

Josh Coen made all A10 first team…

Yeah…he made all A10, UMass got 20 wins….and a seat in front of the TV for the post season.

At the end of the day/season UMass did no better with him than it did without him.

That's only true if you disregard the regular season. I don't think I'm alone in placing value on regular season performance. UMass was better in 2023-24 than in any of the previous 9 seasons. Now, hard to say how good this team would've been if they'd added a different player instead of Cohen.

[NilesGold]

I'm gonna see who comes in before I weep about who leaves. Good luck to them all. I'm pulling for the guys who stick it out and play for UMass, not for the biggest bag. I trust that Frank reloads and we are still very competitive. He did it last year

Floyd, Umass is fucked for the short term. You should start weeping now.

Recruiting A-10 level players to come in for 1 lame duck season before they backslide is a recipe for disaster.

Get a grip man, you've been proven wrong enough times that you should realize you don't have all of the answers. Frank & staff did a tremendous job pulling together a team with only 3 returnees. I certainly won't guarantee future success, who knows, next year might be a mess, but it also might be better than this one. Who the fuck knows right now? We're certainly not fucked just because we've lost 2 players.

[kd68]

What does Coach Martin have to sell. Come to Umass, maybe we can win the tournament and get to the NCAA. Forget that we were in a two bid NCAA tournament conference and 4 bid NIT leaque, you are much better off in a one bid conference.

[TheOFFSeason]

Where Cohen ends up will be interesting…I’m guessing FM trys to lure more of a defensive/athletic/rim protector at the 5 and be more of a perimeter scoring/driving offense.

I can't remember exactly how he said it, but last off-season Frank said something to the effect of he wanted to get a back to the basket big man who he could run the offense through. I was and will continue to be skeptical of that plan for a team of UMass' resources. Having taken that path for 2023-24, does Frank want to go in a new direction for 2024-25, and why has his thinking changed?

In a quick chat after their summer session he mentioned that he had no rim protection/enforcer and it was going to be an issue in tougher matchups.
The problem is it is very difficult to find a defensive player that you can run offense through at this level…Dayton made the tournament as an at large because they have one…so you need to go one way or the other and I believe he will go the other way this year…just my opinion.

[TheOFFSeason]

Josh Coen made all A10 first team…

Yeah…he made all A10, UMass got 20 wins….and a seat in front of the TV for the post season.

At the end of the day/season UMass did no better with him than it did without him.

Interesting comment, by saying UMass did no better this season you are saying that you mostly judge a season on post season play…which is fine as everyone values things differently. I saw UMass this year as doing much better with this group than any team in a long time…besides winning more games they were much more enjoyable to watch. They weren’t flawless but they were engaged and gave great effort. Going forward, and I can’t remember who said it, but for the guys who mostly value post season appearances, the whole season will just be about 4 days in March, nothing up to that point in the season will matter at all.

[Steve81]

We have the university, facilities and Coach Martin to sell, not to mention winning mentality!

Blame the changes in the transfer rules and NILs and this stuff will probably continue. Snippet from the Gazette articles says.

This is likely just the beginning for UMass considering the landscape of college basketball, as the transfer portal officially opened for the offseason on Monday.

A year ago, the Minutemen only returned three scholarship players at the start of the 2023-24 season. Losing one of their leaders this early in the process doesn’t bode well.

Head coach Frank Martin will have some work to do to bring in more depth to his frontcourt, a position UMass was already thin at this year.

https://www.gazettenet.com/Sports/UMass ... l-54428919

It's very, very tough to compete with NIL money from the power conferences, including the Big East. In the BE next contract, each team will probably earn as much as the entire A10 conference of 15 teams. Of course the NCAA credit pool is sick compare to the A10. It's just challenging and please give to the NIL. Positive suggestion to do something about it. Each time you think or post something negative about our situation, donate $1 to Mass Collective. Perhaps save them up and donate monthly.

[NilesGold]

Where Cohen ends up will be interesting…I’m guessing FM trys to lure more of a defensive/athletic/rim protector at the 5 and be more of a perimeter scoring/driving offense.

I can't remember exactly how he said it, but last off-season Frank said something to the effect of he wanted to get a back to the basket big man who he could run the offense through. I was and will continue to be skeptical of that plan for a team of UMass' resources. Having taken that path for 2023-24, does Frank want to go in a new direction for 2024-25, and why has his thinking changed?

In a quick chat after their summer session he mentioned that he had no rim protection/enforcer and it was going to be an issue in tougher matchups.
The problem is it is very difficult to find a defensive player that you can run offense through at this level…Dayton made the tournament as an at large because they have one…so you need to go one way or the other and I believe he will go the other way this year…just my opinion.

Dayton can pull that off, but I agree that UMass can't really get a center who's both good defensively and someone you can efficiently run offense through... and I think it's better to get the defense than the offense. I don't think it's a coincidence that the vast majority of the top scorers in the A10 are guards or wings, and not post players.

[Sheck]

What does Coach Martin have to sell. Come to Umass, maybe we can win the tournament and get to the NCAA. Forget that we were in a two bid NCAA tournament conference and 4 bid NIT leaque, you are much better off in a one bid conference.

He can sell himself as a head coach, he can sell the fan support the team got last year and a program that is back on the upswing.

We're just gonna have to also play the game of poaching players from programs that are lower on the food chain.

[bunkerhill87]

Essentially college basketball players are on a 1 year contract. It has soured basketball. "Poaching" will now be the norm. Will be hard to follow player /team in this dynamic. this was not the spirit of the NIL. Ah well another thing ruined for the incredible money that's out there

[eldonabe]

Josh Coen made all A10 first team…

Yeah…he made all A10, UMass got 20 wins….and a seat in front of the TV for the post season.

At the end of the day/season UMass did no better with him than it did without him.

Interesting comment, by saying UMass did no better this season you are saying that you mostly judge a season on post season play…which is fine as everyone values things differently. I saw UMass this year as doing much better with this group than any team in a long time…besides winning more games they were much more enjoyable to watch. They weren’t flawless but they were engaged and gave great effort. Going forward, and I can’t remember who said it, but for the guys who mostly value post season appearances, the whole season will just be about 4 days in March, nothing up to that point in the season will matter at all.

College basketball is (almost) all about the post season tourney's. Umass has not been in one for a while and did not get in one this year. Sure they won more games so anecdotally, so yes, they were better. But on Selection Sunday, and runner up Monday Umass fans have to look forward to the exact same number of Umass games on the calendar left - ZERO.

There is very little difference (in the big picture) between a team that juuuuust missed versus a team that missed.

In 2 years, nobody is going to be saying "Man, remember that 23-24 team. Best Umass team in years!"..... No, they aren't.

That is the harsh reality.....

They going to a perennial 1 Bid league with a fractional chance of being that one bid, and now there is a decent chance that even if they earn that, it may be to play on Play-in Tuesday or Wednesday.... Fun Times.

[umasscollective]

We have the university, facilities and Coach Martin to sell, not to mention winning mentality!

Blame the changes in the transfer rules and NILs and this stuff will probably continue. Snippet from the Gazette articles says.

This is likely just the beginning for UMass considering the landscape of college basketball, as the transfer portal officially opened for the offseason on Monday.

A year ago, the Minutemen only returned three scholarship players at the start of the 2023-24 season. Losing one of their leaders this early in the process doesn’t bode well.

Head coach Frank Martin will have some work to do to bring in more depth to his frontcourt, a position UMass was already thin at this year.

https://www.gazettenet.com/Sports/UMass ... l-54428919

It's very, very tough to compete with NIL money from the power conferences, including the Big East. In the BE next contract, each team will probably earn as much as the entire A10 conference of 15 teams. Of course the NCAA credit pool is sick compare to the A10. It's just challenging and please give to the NIL. Positive suggestion to do something about it. Each time you think or post something negative about our situation, donate $1 to Mass Collective. Perhaps save them up and donate monthly.

We have a member meeting tonight at 730pm, Members check your email for the link.

Not a member yet? Join today and get access.

Thanks to all who support! We are working hard behind the scenes and trust, we will be just fine.

[NilesGold]

Yeah…he made all A10, UMass got 20 wins….and a seat in front of the TV for the post season.

At the end of the day/season UMass did no better with him than it did without him.

Interesting comment, by saying UMass did no better this season you are saying that you mostly judge a season on post season play…which is fine as everyone values things differently. I saw UMass this year as doing much better with this group than any team in a long time…besides winning more games they were much more enjoyable to watch. They weren’t flawless but they were engaged and gave great effort. Going forward, and I can’t remember who said it, but for the guys who mostly value post season appearances, the whole season will just be about 4 days in March, nothing up to that point in the season will matter at all.

College basketball is (almost) all about the post season tourney's. Umass has not been in one for a while and did not get in one this year. Sure they won more games so anecdotally, so yes, they were better. But on Selection Sunday, and runner up Monday Umass fans have to look forward to the exact same number of Umass games on the calendar left - ZERO.

There is very little difference (in the big picture) between a team that juuuuust missed versus a team that missed.

In 2 years, nobody is going to be saying "Man, remember that 23-24 team. Best Umass team in years!"..... No, they aren't.

That is the harsh reality.....

They are in a 1 Bid league with a fraction chance of being that one bid, and now there is a decent change that even if they earn that, it may be to play on Play-in Tuesday or Wednesday.... Fun Times.

To each his own I guess, but if you look back on a 10-20 season vs a 20-10 season, if neither has a post-season appearance, you're saying you feel no different about those two seasons? I mean, that's certainly not the case for me.

[eldonabe]

Interesting comment, by saying UMass did no better this season you are saying that you mostly judge a season on post season play…which is fine as everyone values things differently. I saw UMass this year as doing much better with this group than any team in a long time…besides winning more games they were much more enjoyable to watch. They weren’t flawless but they were engaged and gave great effort. Going forward, and I can’t remember who said it, but for the guys who mostly value post season appearances, the whole season will just be about 4 days in March, nothing up to that point in the season will matter at all.

College basketball is (almost) all about the post season tourney's. Umass has not been in one for a while and did not get in one this year. Sure they won more games so anecdotally, so yes, they were better. But on Selection Sunday, and runner up Monday Umass fans have to look forward to the exact same number of Umass games on the calendar left - ZERO.

There is very little difference (in the big picture) between a team that juuuuust missed versus a team that missed.

In 2 years, nobody is going to be saying "Man, remember that 23-24 team. Best Umass team in years!"..... No, they aren't.

That is the harsh reality.....

They are in a 1 Bid league with a fraction chance of being that one bid, and now there is a decent change that even if they earn that, it may be to play on Play-in Tuesday or Wednesday.... Fun Times.

To each his own I guess, but if you look back on a 10-20 season vs a 20-10 season, if neither has a post-season appearance, you're saying you feel no different about those two seasons? I mean, that's certainly not the case for me.

It's a fair point, but you are thinking in the moment. This season will be little more than a blip if they cannot follow it up with a final push over the top to a post season tournament.

[Cahoonaville]

https://247sports.com/season/2024-baske ... nkey=24146

[TruBluMaroon]

Looks like some players (JC) are treating college basketball like professional baseball; play at AA - move up to AAA - get a shot at The Show.

As long as guys think they can get playing time, many won’t care where it is!