Category Archives: Quick Hits

Apr 29 2013

Chaz Williams not declaring for NBA Draft, will return to UMass for senior season

chaz

Stephen Sellner/Collegian

Breathe a sigh of relief, UMass men’s basketball fans, Chaz Williams isn’t leaving just yet.

The junior point guard considered entering the upcoming NBA Draft right up to Sunday’s midnight deadline, but ultimately decided against it and will return to the Minutemen for his senior season.

Here’s what he tweeted moments before the midnight deadline:

Williams is coming off a standout junior campaign in which he averaged 15.5 points per game and 7.3 assists per game (which led the Atlantic 10) as he led UMass to the A-10 Tournament semifinals and a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. He was also named to the A-10 first team for the second straight season.

Williams will return to a Minuteman backcourt next season that will include transfer guard Derrick Gordon, who was forced to sit out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. The two are expected to be one of the best backcourt duos in the conference.

Stephen Hewitt can be reached at shewitt@student.umass.edu and followed on Twitter @steve_hewitt.

Apr 27 2013

Former UMass RB Michael Cox drafted by New York Giants

Taylor C. Snow/Collegian

Taylor C. Snow/Collegian

Former Massachusetts running back Michael Cox was selected by the New York Giants with 47th pick of the seventh round (253rd overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft on Sunday.

Cox, who joined the Minutemen in the summer of 2012 after receiving his degree from Michigan, ran for 715 yards and five touchdowns on 198 attempts in 2012. Should he make Giants’ 53-man roster (which might be a long shot given his seventh-round status), Cox would join former UMass wide receiver Victor Cruz in New York as the newest NFL player to come from the Minutemen’s ranks.

Though the Giants selected running back David Wilson in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft, there is potentially room on the depth chart for Cox following the free agency departure of long time back Ahmad Bradshaw.

Here’s what ESPN had to say about the pick:

Cox graduated from Michigan and then transferred to Massachusetts to get more playing time. He has good size and adequate speed, but limited experience is an issue and he hasn’t shown he can contribute on third down.

Here’s the full story on DailyCollegian.com.

Apr 26 2013

Rapid Reaction: UMass 16, Delaware 8

The Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team (7-7, 2-4 Colonial Athletic Association) kept its CAA Tournament hopes alive Friday night with a convincing 16-8 win over Delaware at Garber Field.

Offensive explosion: The Minutemen offense came alive Friday night with 16 goals against the Blue Hens. A majority of those goals came in the second quarter when UMass scored eight goals on 21 shots.

Manny and Smith: The two main offensive weapons for UMass were seniors Kyle Smith and Will Manny. Smith scored six goals while Manny tallied four.

Senior Night: Friday was Senior Night for UMass and as a result, the Minutemen celebrated the accomplishments of its eight seniors – Bobby Tyler, Ryan Hollenbaugh, Brett Tobin, Colin Fleming, Smith, K.R. Jurgelevich, Jake Smith and Manny.

The Minutemen will now have to wait and hope that Towson defeats Saint Joseph’s and Penn State defeats Hofstra. If both of those teams win tomorrow, UMass will make the CAA Tournament as the No. 4 seed.

Apr 26 2013

1st Half Thoughts: UMass 11, Delaware 4

The Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team leads Delaware, 10-4, at halftime. Here are some thoughts from the first two quarters of play.

Senior strength - In a must-win game on Senior Night to have a chance to keep the season and careers of eight players alive, UMass’ seniors came up big in the first half. The Minutemen have had arguably their best offensive half of the season much to the credit of their senior class, which has been responsible for eight of UMass’ goals so far. Kyle Smith has five goals for the Minutemen while Will Manny (two goals, two assists) and Colin Fleming have also found the scoreboard. UMass’ struggles this season, especially offensively, could be credited to a lack of cohesion with the ball after both Manny and Fleming missed significant time with injuries. But the Minutemen have looked more in sync offensively than they have all year and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Taking advantage - Delaware has played like a team with nothing to play for tonight, and UMass has taken advantage. Joe Calvello has dominated the faceoffs, and even assisted Smith for a goal right off the draw following a Blue Hens goal. Calvello even scored a goal of his own off a faceoff at 6:30 of the second quarter. On top of that, Delaware has struggled to keep possession as the Minutemen have made forcing turnovers look easy. It all started on UMass’ first goal of the game at 11:39 of the first quarter. The Minutemen were a man up and Blue Hens goalkeeper Conor Peaks failed to make a clear. Instead, Manny scooped up the groundball and got his team on the scoreboard. Delaware has struggled offensively as well. While the Blue Hens have found a way to beat UMass goalkeeper Zachary Oliveri at times, they’ve taken some poor shots that have gone way off target.

Apr 26 2013

Pregame notes: UMass vs. Delaware

MASSACHUSETTS MINUTEMEN (6-7, 1-4 CAA) VS. DELAWARE BLUE HENS (5-9, 1-4 CAA) 

GAME NOTES

  • The Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team comes into tonight’s regular season finale with its CAA Tournament hopes at stake. The Minutemen not only need to top Delaware tonight, but they also need losses from both Hofstra and Saint Joseph’s tomorrow night to clinch the fourth and final postseason spot, and earn the right to take on Penn State in Wednesday’s first round matchup. UMass hasn’t won a home game since its season opener against Army back in February. The Minutemen’s eight seniors — Will Manny, Kyle Smith, Ryan Hollenbaugh, Bobby Tyler, K.R. Jurgelevich, Brett Tobin, Colin Fleming and Jake Smith — were honored before the game for Senior Night ceremonies.
  • The Blue Hens come into tonight’s game with virtually nothing to play for but pride after losing to the Nittany Lions last Saturday, eliminating them from postseason contention. Delaware could very well play spoiler for UMass tonight with a win on Senior Night at Garber, led by senior midfielder Nick Diachenko with 33 goals for the season.

STARTERS

UMass

Attack – Will Manny, Kyle Smith, Grant Whiteway

Midfield – Ryan Izzo, Joe Calvello, Brett Tobin

Defense – Ryan Hollenbaugh, Kyle Karaska, Jake Smith

Goal – Zach Oliveri

Delaware

Attack – Eric Smith, Ian Robertson, Brian Kormondy

Midfield – Connor McRoy, Nick Diachenko, Danny Keane

Defense – Trip Ashley, Brandon Worrall, James Connelly

Goal – Conor Peaks

Apr 25 2013

Former West Virginia guard Jabarie Hinds transferring to UMass

Former West Virginia point guard Jabarie Hinds is transferring to UMass, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.

Hinds, a sophomore, will have to sit out the 2013-14 season per NCAA transfer rules and will suit up for the Minutemen beginning in 2014-15. He’ll have two years of eligibility.

Hinds appeared in all 32 games for the Mountaineers last season as he averaged 7.4 points and 1.6 assists per game, but he lost his starting spot late in the season. Last week, Zagoria reported that Hinds narrowed his list to UMass and Atlantic 10 rival Saint Joseph’s.

The 5-foot-11 guard will join fellow transfer guard Derrick Gordon as well as Trey Davis in the backcourt in 2014-15. All three will be juniors at that point, which makes the backcourt loaded even after Chaz Williams graduates next year.

Stephen Hewitt can be reached at shewitt@student.umass.edu and followed on Twitter @steve_hewitt.

 

 

Apr 13 2013

1st Half Thoughts: UMass 7, Drexel 7

The Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team is even with Drexel at 7-7 at the half. Here are some thoughts on the first half of play.

Star power - Trailing 2-0 early, UMass’ top attack unit took it upon themselves to lead a 4-0 Minutemen run to give them a 4-2 lead early in the second quarter. Grant Whiteway scored twice in the sequence while Will Manny got a goal and two assists. Kyle Smith also got a pair of big assists in that stretch while midfielder Connor Mooney notched UMass’ third goal while a man up. Smith then came up huge late the first quarter as he scored twice less than 30 seconds apart in the final 90 seconds of the half to put UMass up 7-6. The top attack  The ball movement and offensive play was the best its been all season for that short period of time. That’s the type of offensive efficiency that UMass needs for 60 minutes to be successful.

McIntosh, Trizano in control - UMass had trouble containing Drexel star attack Ben McIntosh, who has three goals and an assist to the lead the Dragons and put them back ahead in the second quarter. The junior has a team-high 28 goals and will continue to be the biggest threat to UMass in the second half. Nick Trizano was also key in killing the early Minutemen momentum in the second quarter, scoring twice in a short span of time to turn a 4-2 UMass team into a tie game.

Taking advantage - The Minutemen had four man-up opportunities in the first half and they capitalized twice. The first was on Manny’s first quarter goal when Drexel had two one-minute penalties at the same time. The second carried into the second quarter when Mooney scored 23 seconds in to give UMass the lead at the time.