2002-03 Season

The 2002-03 UMass Minutemen men's basketball team represented the University of Massachusetts. The Head Coach was Steve Lappas. The team played its home games primarily in the Mullins Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, and was a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

The season represented the 94th season of basketball in the school's history.

• Final Record: 11-18
• Conference Record: 6-10¹⁾ (Fourth place, East Division)
• A-10 Tournament: 0-1 (Lost in First Round)
• Postseason: None
• PS/G: 61.7 (306th of 327)²⁾
• PA/G: 66.5 (90th of 327)³⁾
• SRS: -1.98 (179th of 325)⁴⁾
• SOS: 3.52 (95th of 325)⁵⁾

Home game attendance average: 3,504⁹⁾

Year 2 of the Steve Lappas era.

Lots of roster changes from the previous season:

• Shannon Crooks, Kit Rhymer, Eric Williams, and Ronell Blizzard all finished their eligibility.
• Willie Jenkins, Jameel Pugh, and Dwayne Killings all transferred elsewhere.
• Marcus Cox became eligible after sitting out under the transfer rules.
• Gabe Lee became eligible after sitting out as a medical redshirt.
• New recruits from Steve Lappas and staff: Michael Lasme, Jeff Viggiano, and Alassane Kouyate.
• New walk-on Arthur Onuora.

Stephen Briggs was another recruit who was expected to play, but got himself kicked off the team.

UMass started the season at the Maui Invitational, with two tough games, #19 Indiana and Utah, and the Minutemen dropped both. They managed a win over the host team, D2's Chaminade.

Returning to the Northeast didn't help much, as UM delivered a humbling 45-point performance against Central CT State, then double-digit losses to BC and UConn, for a 1-5 record. A narrow home win over Florida International was followed up by another bad loss, a 52-point performance against Lafayette in Springfield.

UM got it together a bit with four straight wins in their next non-conference games, including a nice 12-point win over NC State. But as the A-10 slate began, we stumbled out of the gate to an 0-5 mark, including three more games where we failed to crack 60 points. On January 23, we stood at 6-11 / 0-5.

We played .500 ball for a while, and at 11-16, prepared to host St. Bonaventure on March 5. The day before, Bonnie players decided to shut it down, forfeiting our game.

The regular season ended with a 6-10 conference record. As the East #4 seed, we drew a home game in the tweaked conference tournament format. But, we didn't take advantage, lost by 11 to GW, and closed the season at 11-18, our fewest wins since the '80s, and a two-game regression from the previous season.

Our scoring output, which was already low in 2001-02, took another dip south, down to 61.7 ppg, lowest in the league and 306th in the nation (out of 327).

Player capsules:

• Senior Jackie Rogers was our primary frontcourt weapon. He led the team with 12.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, and shot a hair under 60% from the floor (.599).
• In the backcourt, Anthony Anderson improved, raising his numbers across the board, and was the only other Minuteman to average in double-figures, with 11.8 ppg.
• Michael Lasme contributed well for a freshman, and was our third-leading scorer (7.5), also helping Anderson at the point.
• Micah Brand regressed, losing minutes to newcomer Gabe Lee. His numbers dropped to 7.6 ppg and 4.1 rpg, a tough way to end his career after being named the A-10's Most Improved Player two seasons prior.
• Rookie Jeff Viggiano did pretty well, shooting .547 from 2, but took a lot of 3s and only hit .230. He got 25.4 mpg and tallied 7.0 ppg and 2.9 rpg.
• Fellow rookie Gabe Lee also showed some promise at center, with 5.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and led the team with 46 blocks.
• UConn transfer Marcus Cox got more minutes than he did in Storrs, but improved his other numbers only marginally, finishing with 4.8 ppg and 2.5 rpg.
• Bruiser-recruit Raheim Lamb saw his role diminish, and numbers went with it, down to 3.4 points and 2.7 boards. He ultimately left the team before the season finished.
• Brennan Martin got some more minutes in his second season, but productivity only improved marginally.
• Kyle Wilson only played 16 minutes across four games early in the season, and he transferred out before the Spring semester.
• Alassane Kouyate and walk-ons Pack Kotaridis and Arthur Onuora combined for five points in limited action.

Category leaders highlighted. Clear leaders in yellow.

No Minuteman ranked within the Atlantic 10's top 10 in scoring or rebounding, or top 5 in assists average.

More stats: Sports-Reference.com

No Minuteman made any of the post-season teams.

Anthony Anderson, week ending 1/4¹²⁾

Jeff Viggiano, week ending 12/28¹³⁾

* Eligibility difference

• Anthony Anderson can regain his fourth year of eligibility (2004-05 season) if he completes academic requirements by the end of the 2003-04 academic year.

Stephen Briggs, who was expected to play this season, ultimately never did, and was dismissed from the program.

Due to the NCAA “5/9 rule” which allow an institution to sign five men's basketball players in one year and nine over a two-year period, UMass could only have 12 players on scholarship this season, and could only use one of the two available scholarships.¹⁴⁾

This year's roster was a mix of some remaining Bruiser players, and new Lappas players:

Head Coach: Steve Lappas
Assistant Coaches: John Leonard¹⁵⁾, Andrew Theokas, Christopher Walker