University of Massachusets Athletics
Lappas Brings In Strong Class
July 21, 2003 | Men's Basketball
July 21, 2003
STEADY AT THE POINT:
Third-year guard Anthony Anderson returns to lead the Minutemen at the point after ranking as the team's second-leading scorer (11.8 ppg) and rebounder (4.3 rpg) a year ago. Anderson led UMass in seven different categories a year ago - minutes (36.1 mpg), field goal attempts (254), three pointers (74), three-point attempts (189), free throw percentage (.757), assists (107), and steals (38). He ranked among the Atlantic 10's top 10 in five categories. On track to earn a fourth season of competition by graduating by May 2004, Anderson already ranks as one of the most prolific three-point shooters in school history. He's fifth on the school's all-time charts for both three-pointers made (145) and percentage (145-372, .390), while ranking seventh in three-point attempts (372). Anderson, who needs just 367 points to become the school's 35th career 1,000-point scorer, already owns two of the top 10 places on the school's single-season chart for three-point goals made.
DANDY ANDY:
The play of Anthony Anderson a year ago usually dictated UMass' fortunes. In the Minutemen's 11 victories, Anderson averaged 16.3 ppg and connected on 56.5 percent of his field goals, 55.4 percent of his three-point goals and 86.7 percent of his free throws. But, in the team's losses, Anderson scored at a 9.1 ppg clip, and shot just 33.3 percent from the field, including 30.6 percent from three-point range.
SUPER SOPH:
Sophomore forward Jeff Viggiano started 21 of 29 games as a rookie and averaged 7.0 ppg and 2.9 rpg. One of 16 true freshmen in UMass history to start at least 20 games, and the first since Tony Barbee and Harper Williams each made 26 starts in 1989-90, Viggiano drew 21 straight starts to end the campaign. He recorded nine double-digit scoring games in his rookie year, the most for a true UMass freshman since Marcus Camby recorded 14 such performances in 1993-94.
GET YOUR SCORECARDS:
Massachusetts' 2003-04 roster will feature five players making their Maroon and White debuts, and only three Minutemen (Anthony Anderson, Marcus Cox, and Brennan Martin) who have been in the program since the beginning of the Steve Lappas Era. The roster includes two true freshmen in Art Bowers and Maurice Maxwell, a redshirt freshman in Stephen Briggs, sophomore newcomer Rashaun Freeman, and Lappas' first-ever junior college signee, Chris Chadwick. All told, eight of UMass' 11 scholarship players are either in their first or second year in Lappas' program.
DIALING LONG DISTANCE:
The three-point shot has become an important part of the UMass offense since Steve Lappas' arrival. His first two teams rank first (587 in 2001-02) and second (544 in 2002-03) in single-season three-point attempts. His first squad made more three-point goals (204) than any other team in school history, and his second unit made 164 treys, the fourth-best one-season performance in school history. Massachusetts has made at least one three-point goal in 151 straight games heading into the 2003-04 season.
GARDEN PARTY:
For the third time since the 1993-94 campaign, Massachusetts will open its season in the Preseason National Invitation Tournament. The Minutemen will tip off their 2003-04 campaign in Amherst against St. Francis (N.Y.) on Nov. 18, with the winner moving on to tackle either Texas Tech or Davidson in a second-round game on Friday, Nov. 21. UMass owns a 4-2 all-time record in the Tournament, including a runner-up finish in 1993 when it knocked off No. 1 North Carolina in overtime, 91-86, before falling to No. 6 Kansas in the title game, 86-75, at Madison Square Garden. In their second appearance, to open the 1998 campaign, the Minutemen split a pair of games. Atlantic 10 teams are 13-11 all-time in the Preseason NIT.
THREE-DOT DATA:
The final recruiting rankings for the Class of 2003 are in, and according to PrepStars, Coach Steve Lappas and his staff inked a pair of top 100 high schoolers in No. 44 Art Bowers and No. 86 Lawrence Carrier. Maurice Maxwell was ranked as the nation's 230rd-best player, while incoming junior college transfer Chris Chadwick was rated as a top 100 transfer from the two-year college ranks. UMass was one of two A-10 teams to crack the publication's top 50, as Temple was just ahead of the No. 48-ranked Minutemen at No. 42... Former Central Connecticut State assistant coach Patrick Sellers has taken over Chris Walker's position on Lappas' coaching staff. Sellers, who spent the past four seasons as an assistant on Coach Howie Dickenman's CCSU staff, was the 1991 East Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year and still ranks tenth on the school's all-time rebound list with 581 boards... Eleven of the 16 members of last year's Atlantic 10 All-Conference units are slated to return in 2003-04... A-10 teams also return 44 of 60 starters (73.3 percent), with UMass being one of 11 teams to return at least three starters from a year ago. A-10 programs also return 73.6 percent of their offensive firepower from a year ago, with four teams (Fordham, La Salle, Saint Joseph's and Temple) returning more than 80 percent of their 2002-03 offensive output.