The University of Massachusetts Amherst basketball team finished last season at 11-21 overall, and 4-14 in conference games, not good by anyones standards, and a small step back from where they were the season prior.

Now, heading into the 2019-2020 season, optimism is looming as a new recruiting class is on the spectrum. Head coach Matt McCall knew what he was losing in the offseason, and that bringing in a strong recruiting class would be crucial in the rebuilding process this offseason.

To the delight of UMass fans, McCall has been able to bring in the best recruiting class in the A-10, and a top 40 class when ranked nationally. Pretty strong for a team coming off of it’s first 21 non-conference loss season since 1980-81. The class of 2023 consists of a set of dynamic high school team mates in Tre Mitchell and T.J. Weeks. A pair that had lots of success during their time together at Woodstock Academy in Connecticut.

New Duo

Tre Mitchell is a 6 foot 9 center with a lot of strength, making him a problem down low in the paint. In recent years, UMass big men have lacked a lot of mobility that would enable them to stretch the floor. Tre Mitchell is a player who can break that mold. He has the ability to face up defenders on the permiter or back them down in the post, and can finish at the rim with either hand. He averaged 16.5 points and 13.5 rebounds in his final year at Woodstock.

T.J. Weeks also joins a UMass team who lost important guards like Luwane Pipkins last season, giving Weeks some shoes to fill. And, if those shoes aren’t big enough, Weeks will be following in the footsteps of his father Tyrone Weeks who played for the Minutemen from 1994-1998, and was with the team during four straight tournament appearances, finishing his career with over 1,000 points scoring. It has to be great for Weeks to be able to play for his father’s alma mater, but I’m sure he will use it as a chip on his shoulder. He’s going to have expectations to live up to, and it will be up to him to blow them out of the water.

Other offseason adds include Sean East (Combine Academy Lincolnton, N.C.) C.J. Jackson (Athens Prep Athens, Tenn) Kolton “Dooda” Mitchell (Victory Rock Prep in Bradenton, Fla.) Preston Santos (Woodstock Academy) John Buggs Jr. (Putnam Science Academy)

How did they do it? What drew all these elite prospects to Western Mass to join a struggling Minutemen basketball team?

UMass recruited seven new players to the team, and only time will tell what kind of impact the group will have. If one thing’s for sure however, they have an opportunity on their hands, one that may have lured them to Western Mass in the first place. They have the chance to reroute a program, and be a part of a cultural shift around UMass athletics in general, almost every sports team on campus is building in a positive direction, with the most notable evidence being the hockey team making it to the finals of the National Championship back in April.

With so many new faces, it could be expected that it might take some time for the team to fuse together. But, these players are all like minded, all coming here for the same reason. They’ve already shown love on twitter to one another, showing that they are ready to get to work. Head coach Matt McCall spoke to the media for the first time last week and was happy about the energy he’s been seeing at the opening workouts.

Sharpshooter Returns

After averaging 11 points last season, and finishing with the third highest three point percentage in the A-10 (38%), soon to be junior Carl Pierre will be making his return to UMass. Pierre has been the go to guy for the Minutemen, single handedly keeping them in games last season. Like when, against Providence, Pierre knocked down five of six three balls, all of which came in a fairytale like second half where UMass came back from 20 points down. After the game, Pierre chalked it up to simply “doing his job”.

Games like this are the ones that have solidified Pierre as the go to guy down the stretch. He came in having a strong jump shot, and now after some time in the program, he’s added strength and his ability to score off the dribble, a trait the team will need in the absence of Luwane Pipkins, who was their main weapon creating plays off the dribble before transferring to Providence in this offseason.

Setting Things in Motion

Without a doubt this offseason for UMass is worthy of a high grade, coming off of a bad season, to be able to bring in the talent they have has to be seen as a both a win and a challenge for McCall and his staff. The roster was pretty barren before these new recruits came aboard, so the opportunity to play right away will be on the table for most of them. We’ve seen what UMass was able to do when they played their game last season, they competed with top tier teams and proved they were worthy of that stage at times. Now, the talent is there, and every player on the roster has an opportunity in front of them. They have a chance to reroute the program, and to show UMass fans what #NewMass has to offer.