Panelists Set For Flagship Forum On October 23, Pres. By UMassFive

AMHERST, Mass. – Basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving, UMass Hall of Famer and 1996 Naismith National Player of the Year Marcus Camby, 2020 Calder Trophy winner Cale Makar and former UMass women's lacrosse captain and current Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins will serve as panelists during Flagship Forum on Friday, October 23, presented by UMassFive College Credit Union.

Registration for the event, featuring four of the best athletes to ever play for Massachusetts Athletics, is now open and free of charge. Space is limited, so be sure to register today at UMassAlumni.com/FlagshipForum!

Flagship Forum, a night with some of the best to ever wear the maroon and white, will be held virtually and begin at 7 p.m. (ET) as part of UMass Amherst Homecoming 2020 @HOME. The event will also include a live question and answer session with the panelists for registered attendees.

The event will be hosted by ESPN's Kevin Connors, who currently works for the network as a studio analyst for college football, college basketball and Major League Baseball. Connors is also the host of Baseball Tonight, a SportsCenter anchor and hosts a variety of programs on ESPN Radio.

Julius Erving – Men's Basketball – 1969-71
Unquestionably the greatest known athlete in UMass history, Julius Erving, known simply to the world as "Dr. J," played basketball for two seasons under legendary head coach and fellow UMass Hall of Famer Jack Leaman from 1969-71. During his two seasons, Erving averaged 26.3 points and 20.2 rebounds per contest. Incredibly, only once in his 52 career games did he fail to record a double-double.

Erving turned pro following his junior year, but not before leading UMass to two Yankee Conference titles and its first two appearances in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). He set UMass records, both of which have since been broken, in both scoring (1,370 points) and rebounding (1,049), in just two seasons, and his No. 32 hangs in the rafters of the Mullins Center as one of just five former basketball players in school history to have their number retired.

Erving went on to be one of the greatest players in both ABA and NBA history, leading the then New York Nets to ABA titles in 1974 and 1976, and the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers to the 1983 NBA championship. During his 16-year professional career, Erving was a five-time ABA All-Star, 11-time NBA All-Star and five-time All-NBA First Team selection. He was inducted into the UMass Hall of Fame in 1980, and the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.

Cale Makar – Ice Hockey – 2017-19
Makar, the 2019 Hobey Baker Award winner as the most outstanding player in college hockey, helped elevate Massachusetts hockey to unprecedented success during his two-year career, including the 2018-19 campaign with the program's first-ever Frozen Four and national championship game appearance. He finished his collegiate career with 70 points (21 goals, 49 assists) in 75 career contests and is the school record holder for career plus-minus at +41.

Chosen as the Hockey East Player of the Year by unanimous selection in 2019, Makar also received the Leonard Fowle Award as New England Player of the Year and the Bob Monahan Award (New England's Best Defenseman) in addition to being named a Hockey East First-Team All-Star and a New England All-Star that season.

The 2018-19 Massachusetts alternate captain guided the Minutemen to their first No. 1 ranking in school history in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, and the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The highest draft pick in program history (fourth overall in the 2017 NHL Draft), Makar signed with the Colorado Avalanche following his sophomore season, and led all first-year defensemen in goals (12) and was second in assists (38) and points (50) during his rookie season in 2019-20 en route to the 2020 Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie.

Marcus Camby – Men's Basketball – 1993-96
One of the most decorated athletes UMass has ever produced, Camby lettered from 1993-96 and led the Minutemen to the 1996 NCAA Final Four and a 35-2 record, the most successful season in program history. He was named a consensus first-team All-American that season as he averaged 20.5 points to lead the Atlantic 10. In his three seasons at UMass, he was a two-time NABC All-District selection, an Atlantic 10 First-Team pick twice and the league's Freshman of the Year in 1994.

He left UMass as the school's all-time leader in blocked shots in a career (336) and single-season (128). Camby scored 1,387 points in his career to rank in the top 10 after his final season in the maroon and white. The Minutemen won the Atlantic 10 regular-season and tournament championship in each of his three seasons. Camby was named to the ESPN Silver Anniversary All-Time Atlantic 10 Team in 2004.

He is the highest NBA Draft Pick in UMass history, being taken second overall by the Toronto Raptors in 1996. He played 17 seasons in the NBA, and was named Defensive Player of the Year during the 2006-2007 season. Camby was also a four-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team, is 12th on the NBA's all-time career blocks list, and led the NBA in blocked shots in a season three times.

He was inducted in the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame with the Class of 2010 and had his No. 21 retired in 2013.

Rachael Rollins – Women's Lacrosse – 1990-94
Rollins, a former captain for the UMass women's lacrosse team who scored 70 goals and 19 assists during her career with the Minutewomen, is currently the Suffolk County District Attorney and chief law enforcement officer for Boston, Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop.

She was the first woman elected as District Attorney in Suffolk County and the first woman of color ever elected to serve in the role in Massachusetts. An attorney for 20 years, she previously worked as a field attorney with the National Labor Relations Board, as an associate at the law firm Bingham McCutchen and as a federal prosecutor at the United States Attorney's Office in Boston.

Rollins was appointed by former Governor Deval Patrick to the Judicial Nominating Commission, was a past president of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, and also served a three-year term on the Boston Bar Association Council.

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