Punter makes impression at tryout
By Marty Dobrow, The Daily Hampshire Gazette, 11/8/1995

For the next week and a half, Andy Maclay will continue to be the punter for the University of Massachusetts football team. After that, the 6-foot-4-inch freshman apparently will trade in his helmet for hightops and join the basketball team.

In last night’s exhibition game, he sat on the team bench in street clothes.

UMass, looking to bolster its thin roster, had a second round of walk-on tryouts recently. Maclay, evidently with the blessing of football coach Mike Hodges, took part and stood out from the pack. He was a fine high school hoop player in Stroudsburg, Pa., and should give the guard corps added depth in practice, along with some spot duty in games.

UMass already has two walk-on guards in Giddel Padilla and Ross Burns. The scholarship crew at guard consists of Edgar Padilla, Carmelo Travieso and Charlton Clarke.

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Ajmal Basit, a 6-9 standout from Jersey City, N.J., is expected to make an unofficial visit to the UMass campus in the next few days. Should Basit commit, UMass would have four recruits in the early-signing period, having already landed guard Monty Mack from South Boston High, swingman Winston Smith from Elizabeth, N.J., and forward Mike Babul from North Attleboro.

Basit plays for Bob Hurley Sr. at St. Anthony’s High School.

Last night’s announced attendance of 8,750 was not quite a sellout.

UMass punter calls audible: Hoop!
By Marty Dobrow, The Daily Hampshire Gazette, 11/16/1995

AMHERST — He has proven his ability to hit the three-pointer in football. Now the question is: Can he do it in hoops?

On Saturday, Andy Maclay will make his final appearance of the season as the punter and placekicker for the University of Massachusetts football team. As of Sunday, he will be a full-fledged member of the UMass basketball squad. Nine days later he will don the uniform for the first time as the Minutemen take on top-ranked Kentucky.

“The whole thing is just overwhelming,” Maclay said yesterday. “It hasn’t really hit me what I’ve gotten myself into.”

The 6-foot-4-inch, 190-pound Maclay has emerged as a significant member of the football squad this fall. He earned the starting punter’s job in camp, and has performed solidly all year. Last week his punts pinned Boston University inside its 15-yard line twice in the closing minutes to secure a 28-23 win. The No. 1 kickoff man, Maclay also stepped in for field goal duty last week when coach Mike Hodges elected to replace the struggling Eric Oke.

Maclay responded by booting his first college field goal, a 21-yarder.

Like any good kicker, Maclay is keeping his head down. He’s not looking ahead to his soon-to-be high-profile status as a walk-on for the No. 7 ranked basketball team. He admits it’s a struggle.

“With the basketball program getting as much exposure as it does, it’s hard to not think about it,” Maclay said. “But right now I have a commitment to the football team. When that’s done, then I can concentrate on basketball.”

Maclay made his recruiting trip from Stroudsburg, Pa. last January. Hodges brought him and a number of other recruits to see the UMass-Temple basketball game at the Mullins Center.

Many recruits would have found the atmosphere exciting and thought seriously about coming to play football at UMass. Maclay found it exhilarating, and thought seriously about playing basketball at UMass.

He was a three-sport athlete at Stroudsburg High. A swing man in basketball, he scored 1200 points in his career, and attracted interest from several Division 2 schools in Pennsylvania, as well as from the Div. 1 program at Rider. He admits, though, that he would never have been considered scholarship material at a place like UMass. At least not in basketball.

“Basically, all I was thinking about was making sure that my parents wouldn’t have to pay to send me to school,” Maclay said. “That was something that I had always thought about. My dream was to turn around and say, ‘All that money you saved up for me to go to school, you can keep it. I’ve found someone who is willing to help me out.’”

Maclay worked out a deal with Hodges that allowed him to try out for the basketball team as a walk-on. When walk-on tryouts came around, he went to the Mullins Center and did his best, but didn’t hear anything for several days. Finally he got the word: In late November he would be taking his athletic talents indoors.¬ He attended a Sunday night basketball practice not long ago to learn the rudiments of the system. Coach John Calipari came up to Maclay and introduced himself.

“He said it like I wouldn’t know who he was already,” Maclay said with a laugh. “Last week he sat on the bench in street clothes as UMass played its first exhibition game. It was hard for him to wipe the look of wonder off his face.

“The perspective of being on the floor with those guys in the huddle was really exciting,” he said.

The football team has been supportive, according to Maclay. During a recent practice in the snow Hodges kidded his kicker that he must be thinking about the warmth of the Mullins Center.

After Saturday he can think about it for the rest of the winter. “This is something that I’ve thought about my whole life,” Maclay said. “It worked out really well.’”