Minutemen Open Paradise Jam Against Charleston

of Massachusetts Men's Basketball Notes & Information
Matchup	Massachusetts vs. Charleston
Date \| Times	Friday, Nov. 21 \| 3 p.m. ET
Location	St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands \| Paradise Jam
Twitter	@UMassMBB
Instagram	@umassbasketball
Facebook	UMass Men's Basketball

AMHERST, MASS. - The Minutemen fly to the U.S. Virgin Islands, opening the Paradise Jam against Charleston on Friday, Nov. 21 with tip-off set for 3:00 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).
This week for the Minutemen

The Matchup

Friday's matchup marks the third meeting between the two programs with the Minutemen holding a 1-2 record all-time.
The teams last faced each other on November 26, 2011 at the Battle 4 Atlantis, with Charleston claiming a 85-61 win.

Last Time out

Massachusetts utilized a 51-point first half performance to earn an 84-77 win over Central Connecticut State Sunday, Nov. 16 at the Mullins Center.
The Minutemen were led by Junior K'Jei Parker who set a new career high in points, scoring 22 points with six triples and two assists.
Leonardo Bettiol recorded his second double-double of the season with 19 points and 15 rebounds.
Marcus Banks Jr. contributed 11 points over the afternoon with four assists, three rebounds, and a pair of steals.

Scouting the Cougars

The College of Charleston comes into Friday's matchup off a 71-62 loss to Drake on Monday, Nov. 17.
Charleston head coach, Chris Mack enters his second season after leading the Cougars to a 24-win campaign a year ago.
Jlynn Counter leads the Cougars averaging 13.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. The grad transfer recorded 21 points against the Cougars loss to Drake.
Freshman Martin Kalu is right behind Counter, averaging 12.6 points per game. Kalu became the first Cougar in the program's Division 1 history to score in double figures in each of his first four career games.
On the defensive side, Chol Machot has tallied 10 blocks this season, with four coming against South Carolina State.

Year Four Under Coach Martin

Massachusetts basketball enters its fourth season under head coach Frank Martin in 2025-26.
Martin and the Minutemen finished the 2024-25 season with 12 wins, including seven in conference play. Under Martin's tutelage guard Rahsool Diggins had a breakout senior season, averaging a team-high 16.8 points on his way to earning All-Atlantic 10 Third Team honors.
In 2023-24 Martin led the Minutemen to their best season since 2014, finishing with a 20-11 overall record and securing a top-four seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship.
Coach Martin started his time in Amherst by leading the Minutemen to their best record under a first-year head coach since 1996 and the Myrtle Beach Invitational title during the 2022-23 campaign.
Martin holds a 338-249 (.576) collegiate coaching mark, picking up 171 of his wins in 10 seasons at South Carolina while recording 117 wins in five seasons at Kansas State.
Head coach Frank Martin picked up his 300th collegiate coaching win on Jan. 25, 2023 with a 85-76 win over Richmond.

On The Bench

Head coach Frank Martin boasts a talented staff full of experienced assistants featuring three former head coaches, two former McDonald's All-Americans and a former NBA lottery pick.
Associate Head Coach Allen Edwards was the head coach of the Wyoming Cowboys from 2016-20. Edwards' teams recorded 60 wins over four seasons, including back-to-back 20-win campaigns.
Assistant Coach Matt Figger spent the last three seasons at UT Rio Grande Valley after four seasons leading Austin Peay.
Assistant Coach Brian Steele enters his second second UMass after spending time on head coach Frank Martin's staff at South Carolina. Steele was a three-year letter winner at South Carolina as a student-athlete and served as a student assistant during the 2015-16 season in addition to the 2016-17 Final Four campaign.
Director of Player Development Anthony Evans spent five seasons as the head coach at FIU following six years as the head coach at Norfolk State. At FIU, Evans' teams ranked in the top-10 percent nationally from 2015-17 in the NCAA Academic Progress Report and coached multiple Conference USA all-league and all-defensive players.
Director of Player Personnel Doug Edwards ed the Seminoles to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 1990-93. The Miami, Fla. Native scored 1,604 points in his career and is the only player at FSU to score 500 or more points in three consecutive seasons. Edwards earned All-SEC Second-Team honors as a senior before being drafted with the 15th overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1993 NBA Draft.
Coaches Allen Edwards, Matt Figger and Anthony Evans combined hold 360 wins and two coach of the year awards at the division I level.
Head Coach Frank Martin coached now associate head coach Allen Edwards and director of player personnel Doug Edwards at Miami Senior High School.

Up Next

The Minutemen will face either Green Bay or Yale in game two of the Paradise Jam, with matchup details to be announced at a later date. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).

Scoreboard

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Marcus Banks Jr.

Leonardo Bettiol

Rahsool Diggins

K'Jei Parker