UMass Recruiting Staff is Horrendous

Memo Coach Ford:

Why bother recruiting a 2 star Guard when your back court is jammed up for the next 3 years with Gibbs, Gurley, Lowe, Harris, Glass, Correia & Groebe. 

Go Recruit some 7 footers like Thabeet !  Quit wasting your time recruiting Guards!  We need big men to compliment Lo, Lang, Lynch, & Gaffney. 

Prep schools have the talent & so do Junior College Transfers.

I know your busy coaching, however your assistants who are supposed to be assisting you in recruiting are doing a horrendous job!

Reach out to former alumns, young kids these days were in diapers the last time UMass was ranked #1.  Their clueless Dr. J, Rick Pitino, Al Skinner, Lou Roe, Marcus Camby were part of this once illustrious East Coast powerhouse program during the mid 90's.

I talk to kids all the time at prep school games, and they have no clue who UMass is.  This is disgraceful to a University who once had people across the country talking about Amherst, MA and the elite program John Calipari had built in Western Massachusetss.  UMass misses out on recruits from in state Massachusetts as well as the Northeast region New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Philadelphia, & Rhode Island. 

This problem needs to be addressed ASAP.  Xavier and other programs in the Conference/Region have stepped it up!

The Campus sells itself & the Mullins Center is not a hole in the wall gym!

GoodTymes7, excellent post on UMass recruiting.  I totally agree with you regarding it's ineptitude when it comes to landing top recruits sans transfers.  It's been a long time since John Calipari snatched Marcus Camby from Jim Calhoun's back yard. 

One point I need to make is that I don't think Travis Ford wants to bring lumbering 7-footers into his program because they don't fit his up-tempo style of play.  It seems like he is trying to build a program similar to what Kentucky had throughout the 1990's; plenty of gaurds and point-forwards and a very, very, very up-tempo style on both ends of the court.  This year's team is more of a Ford style team w/ the offense going through the gaurds (Lowe, Forbes, and Harris) than last year's team whose offense went through the twin towers of Lasme and  Freeman.  As long as Ford is at the helm,  we will see more small ball and less playing time for traditional big men....The style of play worked in Lexington and it should work in Amherst as well.

I know you are very high on Papa Lo, but he probably won't see much PT until next year.  It could be a conditioning thing, which is why we see Dante Milligan getting into foul trouble game after game (tired players tend to make mistakes).  However, w/ the end of Milligan's tenure at UMass getting closer we may see Lo step up as the big man and it may be why Ford and company are not chasing any big man recruits.

I agree with you Umass99, however bringing in another 2 star guard won't compensate for the lack of available big men the squad will have on its roster next year.  If Coach Ford is satisfied  on Bonner, Hill, Lang, Lo, & Lynch to be his bigs then thats fine.  But...  Why not bring in a legit 3-5 star Forward/Center like Joey Dorsey/Wayne Chism who can run n gun with Coach Fords style.  The problem is the recruiting is horrendous they settle for local left overs and they don't target the East coast region enough to land some hidden gems. 

Scenario:

If UMass is selected by the Committee to dance this March.  The exposure the team will get will be immense in the recruiting process.  If they can somehow sqeak by into the Sweet 16 pulling off some upsets.  I'm 99.9% sure there are talented unsigned recruits out there seeking a good program that will make the call themselves and check on any available scholarships for next year.

Right now in Massachusetts UMass has the upperhand on Boston College on being the better of the 2 basketball programs.

Well said.  The one thing that BC does have on UMass is that they are a member of the ACC and as a result, they get the all exposure that goes along with it.  I love the A10 and it has certainly been a great year for the conference, but let's face it, the A10 is not the ACC and being a member of the ACC definately gives BC an edge over UMASS when it comes to recruiting.

Conferences may play a bit of a role on a young prospects decision.  However,  how can you explain that theory in reference to Memphis being in a very weak Conference USA and still bringing in McDonalds All Americans to play vs UAB, ECU, Houston etc....

Kids these days are more concerned with immediate playing time and what their chances of getting into the league (NBA) are.  Playing in the ACC may be a perk to play in a prestigous arena like Cameroon Indoor @ Duke along with the amount of exposure you'll get on ESPN, but if your riding the pine for a couple of years to attend an ACC school, I'd send my kid to UMass to play against Xavier @ Cintas Center on ESPN.  

PS.  I'm glad Anthony Gurley transferred from the ACC to the A-10.  This kid is the truth, a member of the Boston Herald's dream team he dropped 24 @ Georgia Tech as a freshman.  He is a future A-10 Newcomer/Player of the Year.

Prestige is built.  Many prestigous programs of the past have faded away.  If you don't keep up stacking/rebuilding the next program will past right by you.  Look at the Nebraska Football team remember their glory days and now look at them.

One other thing... always remember kids these days go with whats Hot.... when your on top they all want to be a apart of it...right now UMass has the nod in Massachusetts.

Yeah I also have to agree. Sure they are forcing alot of turnovers to make up for a horrible rebound margin. But you need some post players to rebound. It helps if they are also prolific scorers as well. This would force the opponent to defend tighter allowing for more open threes. Even in the zone it is harder to defend.

But still. I have faith that Travis will stay at Umass and bring a good name back to Umass.

Ricky Harris might be the start of a form of pipeline with UMASS and the Baltimore area. With products such as Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, and Donte Green, the Baltimore area has become a hot-bed for immence athletic talent. If UMASS can keep targeting players from this region, maybe a super-prospect will choose UMASS. Also, there is a small pipeline to the Miami region too, with Max Groebe and James Life. There s an obvious pipeline with the New York City area: Gary Forbes, Donte Millegan, Chris Lowe, and some might even include Etienne Brower because he is from West Hempstead, New York. UMASS must target this market. St. John's and Seton Hall have fallen on bad times, and Rutgers has never been a basketball powerhouse. There are also 3 high schools in New Jersey that are have been in the top-10 in high school basketball standing for the last couple of years. UMASS must target these type of schools too; at least make their name known.

Coach Ford has done a great job with getting transfer students, but he needs to acquire these type of players outright, not as a secondary option. Signing Anthony Gurley helps, but now UMASS has to learn how to keep players like him from getting out of state originally.  

Coach Ford should be on the phone lines right now dialing up recruits aka John Riek.

UMass is receiving great exposure and respect coming off of that marvelous second half comeback vs Syracuse in the NIT Quarterfinals. 

The Nationally televised game vs Florida @ Madison Square Garden will be great venue to have recruits fly in. 

I'm hoping with UMass's recent success they can salvage a lackluster recruiting season. 

The Minutemen have made the best of this NIT opportunity after being snubbed by the NCAA Committee. 

With the graduation of Senior's Dante Milligan/Etienne Brower  ........ UMass is in desperate need of some front court players. 

I'm hoping John Riek decides to give UMass a look.  Agile player who can run the floor like Milligan did.