University of Massachusets Athletics
Men's Basketball Summer Preview
August 09, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Aug. 9, 2001
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Lappas-Era Begins in Amherst: Former Villanova coach Steve Lappas enters his first season on the UMass sideline intent on returning the Minuteman program to the national spotlight it enjoyed for much of the 1990s. Introduced as the school's 19th head coach on March 26, 2001, by Athletic Director Bob Marcum, Lappas' first UMass team will be built around nine returning letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team which finished 15-15 overall and after a 2-9 start, rebounded to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10 Conference at 11-5. Those nine returnees provided 59.2 percent of the scoring and 75.3 percent of the rebounding for a UMass squad which advanced to the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship game for the first time since winning the last of five consecutive titles in 1996. While past Lappas' coached teams have relied on strong perimeter play, it is likely that his first UMass team will look inside first. That's because the Minutemen return a pair of the A-10's best frontline players in 6-10 senior center Kitwana Rhymer and 6-11 junior forward Micah Brand. Rhymer, a third-team All-Atlantic 10 selection as a junior, was named the league's defensive player of the year and shared the league's most improved player of the year award with Brand. He was UMass' second-leading scorer a year ago at 9.9 ppg (10.1 ppg in league games only), and led the squad in rebounding (7.3 rpg, sixth in A-10) and blocked shots (63, 2.10 bpg ranked second in the A-10). Rhymer's 63 rejections equalled the ninth-best single-season total in school history, and pushed his career total to 137, good for fourth-place on the school's career chart. A member of the A-10's 2001 all-defensive team, Rhymer has improved his season scoring average every year, going from 2.5 ppg as a freshman to 7.8 ppg in 1999-2000 and 9.9 a year ago. He needs 374 points this season to become the school's 35th 1,000-point scorer. Brand, who shared the league's Chris Daniels Most Improved Player Award with Rhymer, averaged 4.3 ppg and 3.3 rpg as a freshman in 1999-2000, but increased those marks to 8.4 ppg (fourth on the team) and 4.7 rpg (second-best on the squad) a year ago. As a sophomore, he earned his first career start in the sixth game of the season and would go on to start 22 of UMass' last 24 games. Brand's 33 rejections last year ranked second on the squad and seventh in the A-10. Against A-10 foes, he averaged 9.0 ppg and 4.7 rpg. The third returning starter is 6-2 senior guard Shannon Crooks, who played much of last season at the point. He averaged 9.0 ppg as a junior and became the first player since Edgar Padilla in 1996-97 to lead the Minutemen in both assists (95) and steals (47) in the same season. Crooks ranked 12th in the A-10 in steals (1.57 spg), 13th in assist/turnover ratio (1.15) and 14th in assists (3.17 apg) as a junior. One of only two Minutemen to record at least one assist in every game last year (he has been credited with at least one assist in 37-straight games dating to the 1999-2000 campaign), Crooks nailed 18 treys a year ago, tops among 2001-02 returnees. He had 12 double-figure scoring games last year, and needs 306 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau in his collegiate career (includes 43 points from his freshman season at St. John's). A trio of 6-8 senior forwards, Ronell Blizzard, Jackie Rogers and Eric Williams, should provide quality minutes along the frontline. Blizzard averaged 1.6 ppg and a like number of rebounds a year ago, while rejecting 27 shots (third on the team), while Rogers contributed 6.6 ppg and 3.9 rpg and Williams provided 3.8 ppg and 3.5 rpg. All three came off the bench a year ago, but should push for bigger roles this season. Three sophomore swing players, Jameel Pugh (6-4), Willie Jenkins (6-6) and Dwayne Killings (6-0), round out the returnees. All three saw limited playing time as reserves last year, but will be counted on to step up their games this season. Pugh averaged 1.2 ppg and 0.8 rpg in 16 appearances, while Jenkins averaged 0.8 ppg and 0.4 rpg in 18 games and Killings 1.0 ppg and 0.7 rpg in three appearances.
The New Guys: The UMass coaching staff got a late start on spring recruiting, but was still able to sign a pair of quality preps in 6-2 guard Kyle Wilson and 6-6 forward Brennan Martin. Wilson averaged 24.0 points and 9.5 assists as a senior at White Rock Christian Academy in British Columbia, and was ranked as Canada's top point guard. Known as a deadly three-point shooter, he nailed 12 treys in one game last year and hit 42 percent from beyond the arc as a senior. UMass' other prep recruit, Martin, averaged 14.5 ppg and 4.0 rpg for coach Kevin Keates' 27-1 Hargrave (Va.) Military Academey team. He shot 53 percent from three-point range, and had originally signed with Villanova, but was released when Lappas moved to UMass. In addition, a pair of Bay State preps who sat out last season due to academics, guard Anthony Anderson and forward Raheim Lamb, will be eligible. Anderson averaged 24 points and 10 assists as a senior at Lynn English High School, while Lamb averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds for Boston's English High School. Both players garnered all-state honors, and Lamb was able to practice with the Minutemen last season. Three players who inked with UMass during the Fall 2001 early-signing period, Eddie Basden, Mauricio Branwell and Jeremiah King, were released from their national letters of intent last spring by the University.
What's Gone: UMass lost the second-leading scorer in school history in guard Monty Mack, forward Winston Smith and guard Jonathan DePina, to graduation. Mack, who finished his career with 2,183 points, led the Minutemen in scoring a year ago at 19.5 ppg and earned first-team All-Atlantic 10 honors for the second-straight season. The all-time leading three-point shooter in school history (331 made treys), Mack also played more minutes (4,391) than any other player in UMass history. Smith started 26 games a year ago and averaged 3.1 ppg and 3.2 rpg, while DePina averaged 5.8 ppg and 2.2 rpg, while dishing out 94 assists (second on the team).
The Coach: A new era in UMass basketball history began on March 26, 2001, when Athletic Director Bob Marcum introduced Steve Lappas as the school's 19th head coach. Lappas joins the UMass staff after nine highly-successful seasons at Villanova University, where he guided the Wildcats to a 174-110 (.613) record, seven postseason appearances (four NCAA, three NIT), six 20-win campaigns, a Big East regular-season title (1996-97), a Big East Tournament crown (1994-95) and the school's first-ever National Invitation Tournament championship (1993-94). The sixth-winningest coach in Big East history (and the third-winningest among active league coaches at the time he left the Main Line with 97 Big East victories), Lappas had six players selected in the NBA Draft, including lottery picks Kerry Kittles and Tim Thomas, and led the Wildcats to their highest place ever in the wire service poll, No. 2, in December, 1995. In the classroom, every one of his seniors at both Villanova and Manhattan graduated. All-told, Lappas owns a 230-172 (.572) record, which includes a 56-62 (.475) four-year mark at Manhattan College. At Manhattan, Lappas improved the Jasper win total every year, going from seven in 1988-89, to 11 the following year, 13 in his third season and 25 in his fourth and final campaign (1991-92). His last Manhattan team won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season title, and advanced to the third round of the NIT. Prior to moving to Manhattan, Lappas spent four seasons as an assistant to Rollie Massimino at Villanova, and was a coach on the Wildcats' national championship team in 1985. Coach Lappas' staff includes assistant coaches John Leonard, Andrew Theokas, Chris Walker and director of operations Brian Loyd. The five-man staff has a combined 48 years of Division I coaching and administrative experience, and four of the five had successful D-I playing careers.
A Greek Vacation: The UMass basketball team will get a head start on the 2001-02 season when it travels to Greece, Aug. 12-23. The Minutemen, travelling overseas for just the second time ever and for the first time since a mid-season excursion to France and Germany for the Buckler Christmas Classic in December, 1994, will play four games in Greece. UMass is slated to play the Greek National Team participating in the Mediterranean Games on Aug. 14 and 16, the Greek National Team on Aug. 17 and Greece's entry into the European Championships on Aug. 19. None of the games, of course, will count on the record for the upcoming season, but they will allow coach Lappas and his staff the opportunity to coach the nucleus of the 2001-02 team in game situations prior to the official start of the season.
Another Tough Slate: After playing one of the toughest schedules in school history a year ago (College RPI.com and Jeff Sagarin ranked the 2000-01 schedule as the 17th-toughest, while Collegiate Basketball News ranked it 18th), the Minutemen will tackle another challenging slate in 2001-02. But that's really nothing new, as over the last eight seasons, only once has the Massachusetts strength of schedule been ranked lower than 56th in degree of difficulty among Division I institutions, and four times in that stretch it has had an SOS ranked among the nation's top 20. Ten postseason teams from a year ago dot this year's slate, with UMass scheduled to play eight games against 2001 NCAA Tournament entrants (Holy Cross, Boston College, Ohio State, Xavier, Temple-2 and St. Joseph's-2), and five contests against teams that participated in the 2001 NIT (UConn, Dayton, Richmond and St. Bonaventure-2). In addition to playing 13 games against 2001 postseason teams, the Minutemen will play 18 games against teams which finished last season with a .500 or better record, and 22 games against teams which ranked from 1-150 in the final 2000-01 Collegiate Basketball News RPI Report.
New-Look A-10 in 2001-02: In its 26th season of competition, the Atlantic 10 will revert to an East-West divisional format in 2001-02, with UMass returning to the East along with Temple, St. Joseph's, St. Bonaventure, Fordham and Rhode Island. The West will be comprised of Xavier, Dayton, Duquesne, La Salle, George Washington and first-year member Richmond. Each team will play a home and home series against the other teams in their respecitive divisions (10 games total), and face the teams in the opposite division once (three teams at home and three on the road), for a total of 16 league contests. Final 2000-01 opponent overall records and RPIs for UMass' 2001-02 non-conference and league foes can be found in the column on the left-hand side of this page.
Consistent Success: The Minutemen, who have posted 12-straight winning A-10 records (after posting no winning marks, just two .500 records and 56 victories in their first 13 seasons in the league) since a 5-13 mark in 1988-89, own a 138-56 (.711) record in regular-season league play since then and have captured 10 league titles (five regular season, five tournament) in that time frame. Last year, after a 2-9 non-conference start, Massachusetts went 11-5 in the A-10 (its eighth 11-win league mark in the last 12 seasons), good for fourth place in the standings, and advanced to the title game of the Verizon A-10 Tournament for the first time since 1995-96, but dropped a 76-65 decision to Temple. Over the last 12 seasons, UMass owns a 269-125 (.682) overall record, an average of 22.4 wins per season, and has posted seven 20-win seasons and 11, .500 or better campaigns in that stretch.
Rhymer Ready for "Second" Senior Year: Senior center Kitwana Rhymer, the 2001 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year and a third-team all-league selection, will be a cornerstone of UMass' 2001-02 team. In addition to those honors, Rhymer shared the league's Most Improved Player honor with teammate Micah Brand and was named to the league's all-defensive team. Rhymer ranked second in the A-10 in blocked shots (2.10 bpg), a figure (63) which equalled the ninth-best mark in school history. He also led the Minutemen in rebounding last year at 7.3 rpg (sixth in the A-10), and ranked second in scoring (9.9 ppg). Rhymer averaged just 8.6 ppg and 6.4 rpg in 21.2 minutes of work in the non-league schedule, but came back to average 10.1 ppg and 7.3 rpg in 31.0 minutes in regular-season A-10 play. In the A-10 Tournament, Rhymer took his game up another notch, averaging 13.7 ppg and 10.7 rebounds en route to a spot on the all-tournament team. He shot 52.0 percent from the field in the tournament, and averaged 2.0 apg and 1.0 bpg as UMass advanced to the title game for the first time since the 1995-96 season. Rhymer recorded a team-best nine double-doubles a year ago. His selection to the All-Defensive team marked the fifth-straight season a Minuteman had been named to that squad, while he was the first player in school history to claim the Defensive Player of the Year honor and he and Brand were the first to win the Chris Daniels Most Improved award.
Chart Climbing with Kitwana: Kitwana Rhymer heads into his senior season with 137 career blocked shots, which ranks fifth on the all-time school chart. First-place Marcus Camby's 336 career blocks are well out of Rhymer's reach, but he needs just 86 rejections to climb into second place on the UMass career list. Having improved his scoring average every season he has been in Amherst, Rhymer needs 374 points (an average of 13.4 ppg over a 28 regular-season schedule) to become the school's 35th career 1,000-point scorer, and 242 rebounds (an 8.6 rpg average) to crack the UMass top 10 in that category.
Brand Hopes to Build on Super Soph Season: Perhaps no Atlantic 10 player stepped up his game more from the 1999-2000 season to last year than UMass' Micah Brand, who shared the league's Chris Daniels Most Improved Player Award with teammate Kitwana Rhymer. Brand, who averaged just 4.3 ppg and 3.3 rpg in 29 appearances as a freshman in 1999-2000, earned his first career start in the sixth game of his sophomore season and went on to start 22 of UMass' last 24 games and finish with marks of 8.4 ppg (fourth on team) and 4.7 rpg (second on squad). In A-10 play, Brand averaged 9.0 ppg and 4.7 rpg. He tallied 12 double-figure scoring games a year ago, but eight of those came efforts came in Minuteman setbacks. Brand and Rhymer were the first players in school history to win the league's Most Improved Award.
To Catch a Crook(s): Senior guard Shannon Crooks has been a steady performer at both ends of the floor during his first two seasons in a Maroon and White uniform, and the UMass coaching staff is expecting big things from him in 2001-02. The first UMass player since Edgar Padilla in 1996-97 to lead the Minutemen in both assists (95) and steals (47) in the same year, a feat Crooks accomplished a year ago, his 9.0 scoring average ranks second among Minuteman returnees. The fifth-year senior (he began his collegiate career at St. John's) heads into his final season 306 points shy of 1,000 for his collegiate career (and 349 points to reach that plateau in his UMass career). He needs 105 assists to crack the UMass career list, 29 steals to make the school's career theft chart. Crooks nailed 18 treys a year ago, tops among UMass returnees (the other eight returning letterwinners had a combined 13 among them), and was one of two Minutemen to have had at least one assist in every game a year ago. He has had at least one assist in 37-straight games and in 61 of 63 career games as a Minuteman. One of four former Bay State preps on this year's roster, Crooks recorded 12 double-figure scoring games last year, including a season-high 20 points against Iona in the season-opener. UMass owns a 4-0 mark in Crooks' career when he scores 20 or more points in game.
Mack was One of A-10's Best: First-team All-Atlantic 10 and NABC/Chevrolet All-District selection Monty Mack carried a UMass team that was 2-9 in the non-conference portion of its schedule to an 11-5 mark in the A-10, a fourth-place finish (a game out of second-place in the standings) in the regular-season race and a runner-up finish in the Verizon A-10 Tournament. A three-time All-Atlantic 10 selection (two first-team awards, one second team) and four-time coaches all-district pick (three first team, one second team), Mack became the first UMass player since Marcus Camby in 1995 and 1996 to earn consecutive first-team all-league honors. He finished his four year career as UMass' all-time leader in minutes played (4,391), three-point goals made (331) and attempted (910), while ranking second in scoring (2,183), field goals made (766), field goals attempted (1,879), free throw percentage (.792), steals (154) and games started (119). Mack, who averaged 19.5 ppg as a senior in 2000-01, tallied 20 or more points 18 times last season, part of 26 double-digit scoring games he turned in over his 29 appearances. Fifty-four of Mack's 110 career double-figure scoring games were 20-point scoring games, eight more than Julius Erving produced in his two-year, 52-game career, and three shy of Jim McCoy's school-record 57 from 1988-92. He recorded at least one 20-point scoring game against every league opponent in his career, and had two or more such efforts against nine of 10 A-10 schools. In last season's Verizon A-10 Tournament, Mack averaged 22.7 ppg and shot 56.0 percent (13-for-25) from beyond the three-point line. He was the first player in A-10 history to record career totals of 2,000 points, 300 made treys, 250 assists and 150 steals, while playing 4,000 minutes. No A-10 player nailed as many career treys as Mack, as he made 20 more than No. 2 Tom Pipkins of Duquesne (311). He hit at least one three in 28 of 29 games a year ago, including each of his last 23 games. Mack's 95 three-pointers last year were the third-best one-season total in school history. Only the second player in school history to record three consecutive 500-point seasons, Mack's 566 points last year ranked as the eighth-best single-season effort in UMass history.
SWAT Squad: UMass led the Atlantic 10 in blocked shots last year with an average of 5.07 rejections per game (a league-best 152 on the season, 19 more than it recorded in 33 games in 1999-2000, and the ninth-best single-season mark in school history). The Minutemen, who recorded five or more snuffs 17 times a year ago, return 97.3 percent of their rejections (148 of 152) from a year ago. UMass had recorded a block in 95-straight games until being held without a rejection in a 75-66 loss to Temple in the title game of the Verizon A-10 Tournament, March 10, 2001. Kitwana Rhymer led the Minutemen and ranked second in the A-10 Conference with 2.10 bpg (63 on the season), while Micah Brand (33, 1.1 bpg) ranked second on the team and seventh in the A-10 and Ronell Blizzard (27, 0.9 bpg) was third on the squad and 11th in the league. Those three players had more blocked shots (123) as a trio than nine other A-10 schools had for the entire season, and Rhymer's total by itself stood ahead of one team.
On the Inside: The Minuteman frontline played an important role in UMass' A-10 success a year ago, accounting for 49.9 percent of the offensive production (34.6 ppg, compared to 31.9 ppg vs. non-league foes). While packing an offensive punch, the frontline also allowed UMass to outrebound its opponent by +3.2 in A-10 play (compared to a -2.1 margin in non-league games). In UMass' run to the A-10 Tournament title game, the frontline provided 41.5 percent of the offense and helped the Minutemen outboard two of three opponents and play the third team (Temple) even on the glass. Against league foes, Kitwana Rhymer, Micah Brand and Jackie Rogers did most of the damage. Rhymer averaged 10.1 ppg and 7.3 rpg vs. league foes, while Brand averaged 9.0 ppg and 4.7 rpg, and Rogers contributed 7.9 ppg and 4.6 rpg. In its homecourt win over Rhode Island, the UMass frontline tallied a season-high 61 points, including career-high efforts from Rhymer (30 points) and Rogers (18).
Getting Defensive: A trademark of the UMass basketball program over the last 13 seasons has been stingy defensive play, and that was again the case last season. For the year, Minutemen opponents hit 41.3 percent from the field (40.3 percent by A-10 foes), 32.0 percent (32.3 percent by A-10 opponents) from three-point range. Massachusetts ranked fourth in the A-10 in scoring defense for all games (68.2 ppg, which marked the 10th-straight season the Minutemen held their foe to a season mark below 70.0 ppg) and third in field goal percentage defense (.413), while it was second in scoring defense for league games only (64.9 ppg) and third in field goal percentage defense (.403).
The Minutemen at Mullins: Massachusetts, which went 6-4 at the Mullins Center last season (7-4 overall at home, including a win over Duquesne at the Springfield Civic Center), stands 76-22 (.776) entering its 10th season of play in the building, 54-15 (.783) all-time vs. A-10 opponents. The Minutemen have posted a winning homecourt record for 19-straight seasons, including each of the nine seasons they have called the Mullins Center home. Not only will the 2001-02 campaign mark UMass' 10th season of play at Mullins, but the Nov. 24th game against Marist will mark the 100th game in the building's history. UMass is 22-7 (.759) all-time at the Mullins Center against non-league foes.
The Comeback Kids: On 17 occasions over the last seven seasons, including twice last year, the Minutemen overcame a double-digit deficit at some point in the game to claim victory. UMass' most-recent double-digit rally to win effort came last year against Dayton, when it overcame an 11-point first half deficit to beat the Flyers, 62-57, at the Mullins Center, Jan. 18, 2001. In last year's game against George Washington in Amherst, UMass overcame a 15-point deficit with 1:07 left in the first half to beat the Colonials, 76-60, at the Mullins Center. The deficit was the largest the Minutemen had overcome to win since rallying from 16 down to beat Maryland, 50-47, Dec. 2, 1995.
Quick Tips: In 14 of its 15 wins last season, UMass out-shot its opponent (the lone exception was in the victory at Temple), and in 12 victories its bench outscored its opponents bench (exceptions were at GW and vs. St. Bonaventure and St. Joseph's in the A-10 Tounrmanet)...over the last two years, Massachusetts owns a 21-5 record when scoring 70 or more points, including last year's 8-3 mark...UMass hit 50.0 percent or better from the field in seven of 30 games a year ago, and has won 18-straight games when reaching the 50.0 percent mark since an 88-83 loss to George Washington in the quarterfinals of the 1998 A-10 Tournament...the Minutemen were outrebounded in their first six games last season, but outrebounded 17 of their last 24 opponents and for the season were a +1.5 rpg on the glass...in A-10 play, UMass held a +3.2 rpg advantage on the boards and outrebounded 10 opponents...in last year's game at Rhode Island, the Minutemen recorded a +23 advantage on the glass, their largest in a game since a +26 rebound effort against St. Joseph's, Feb. 28, 1996...in 24 of 30 games last season, UMass held its opponent to under 50.0 percent shooting from the field...in 14 of its 15 wins a year ago, Massachusetts opponents hit less than 45.0 percent from the floor, with 11 shooting 40.0 percent or less...UMass used six different starting line-ups a year ago, as eight players started at lest one game...the Minuteman bench, which scored a season-high 37 points against Fordham, provided 17.6 ppg (18.9 ppg vs. in league play), compared to 15.9 ppg (13.5 in A-10 action) for their opponents...UMass was 5-4 in games decided by five or fewer points last year, after going just 1-6 in such games during the 1999-2000 season...the Minutemen have made at least one three-point goal in 93-straight games, since a 1998 first-round NCAA Tournament loss to St. Louis, while their opponents have made at least one trey in 37-straight games...UMass was 14-0 last season when leading with 5:00 to play, and is 78-9 over the past five seasons when owning the lead after 35 minutes...for first time since the 1985-86 season, UMass had just one player finish the season with a double-digit scoring average, as Monty Mack was the team's only double-figure scorer for the year...UMass has produced at least one all-conference performer for 18-straight seasons...20 of UMass' 30 games last season were against 2001 postseason tournament entrants, and the Minutemen fashioned a 7-13 record in those games (5-8 vs. 2001 NCAA Tournament field, 2-5 vs. 2001 NIT entrants)...Massachuetts was 8-11 away from home last season, including a 5-3 mark vs. A-10 opponents, only the second time in the last 12 seasons it failed to post a .500 or better mark away from home...Ronell Blizzard's seven blocked shots against Boston U., matched the best single-game effort in the A-10 last year, as Xavier's David West also turned in a seven-block game...UMass coach Steve Lappas, who led Villanova to the 1994 NIT title, and Duquesne's Danny Nee, who guided Nebraska to the 1996 NIT crown, are the only active coaches in the Atlantic 10 to win a postseason NCAA or NIT championship...when UMass beat Dayton in Amherst last year, it marked the 1,000th win in school history...the Minutemen take a 1,010-894 (.531) record into their 93rd season of intercollegiate basketball competition.