2020–21 UMass Minutemen basketball team

The 2020–21 UMass Minutemen basketball team represented the University of Massachusetts Amherst during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Minutemen were led by fourth-year head coach Matt McCall and played their home games at the William D. Mullins Memorial Center in Amherst, Massachusetts as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 8–7, 6–4 in A-10 Play to finish in 5th place. They defeated Saint Joseph’s in the second round of the A-10 tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Saint Louis.

2020–21 UMass Minutemen basketball
ConferenceAtlantic 10 Conference
Record8–7 (6–4 A–10)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaMullins Center
Seasons
2020–21 Atlantic 10 men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
St. Bonaventure 11 4   .733 16 5   .762
VCU 10 4   .714 19 7   .731
Davidson 7 4   .636 13 9   .591
Saint Louis 6 4   .600 14 7   .667
UMass 6 4   .600 8 7   .533
George Mason 8 6   .571 13 9   .591
Dayton 9 7   .563 14 10   .583
Richmond 6 5   .545 14 9   .609
Duquesne 7 7   .500 9 9   .500
Rhode Island 7 10   .412 10 15   .400
George Washington 3 5   .375 5 12   .294
La Salle 6 11   .353 9 16   .360
Saint Joseph's 3 9   .250 5 15   .250
Fordham 2 11   .154 2 12   .143
2021 A10 Tournament winner

Previous season

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The Minutemen finished the 2019–20 season 14–17, 8–10 in A-10 play to finish in eighth place. Their season ended when the A-10 tournament and all other postseason tournaments were canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.[1][2]

Departures

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
John Buggs 0 G 6' 2“ 185 Freshman Homer, LA Entered transfer portal; missed final 27 games of previous season due to torn ACL.
Sy Chatman 1 F 6' 8“ 200 Sophomore Saint Paul, MN Transferred to Illinois State
C.J. Jackson 3 G/F 6'6" 185 Freshman Atlanta, GA Transferred to Florida SouthWestern State College
Keon Clergeot 4 G 6'1“ 185 Junior Winter Haven, FL Transferred to Southeastern Louisiana
Samba Diallo 5 F 6'7“ 195 Sophomore Rufisque, Senegal Transferred to Manhattan
Sean East 10 G 6'3“ 185 Freshman Louisville, KY Transferred to Bradley
Djery Baptiste 11 C 6' 10“ 245 RS Senior Gonaives, Haiti Graduated
Davonté Higginbottom 20 G 6'1“ 175 Senior Mattapan, MA Graduated
Randall West 31 F 6'4" 220 Senior Moorestown, NJ Graduated

Incoming transfers

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Mark Gasperini 10 C 6'10" 255 Graduate Student Moscow, Russia Graduate transfer from American
Noah Fernandes 11 G 5'11" 175 Sophomore Mattapoisett, MA Transferred from Wichita State. NCAA transfer rules mandate that he sit out 2020-21, but he was granted a legislative relief waiver and was therefore immediately eligible for the 2020-21 season.

2020 recruiting class

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US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Dyondre Dominguez
#4 F
Providence, RI Woodstock Academy 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Feb 29, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN: 
Ronnie DeGray III
#13 F
Parker, CO Woodstock Academy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Apr 6, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN: 
Javohn Garcia
#1 G
Pickerington, OH Brewster Academy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Oct 18, 2019 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPNN/A
Cairo McCrory
#5 G
Hartford, CT Woodstock Academy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Aug 2, 2019 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPNN/A
Ryan Marcus
#20 G
Wakefield, MA Wakefield Memorial 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) N/A 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPNN/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 12, 2020.

Roster

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2020–21 UMass Minutemen men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Brady Antonopoulos (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Quaboag Regional HS West Brookfield, MA
G 1 Javohn Garcia 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Brewster Academy Pickerington, OH
G/F 2 Preston Santos 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Woodstock Academy Providence, RI
G 3 Kolton Mitchell 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Victory Rock Prep Fort Myers, FL
F 4 Dyondre Dominguez 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Woodstock Academy Providence, RI
G 5 Cairo McCrory 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Woodstock Academy Hartford, CT
C 10 Mark Gasperini 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 255 lb (116 kg) GS Brimmer and May
American
Moscow, Russia
G 11 Noah Fernandes 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Woodstock Academy
Wichita State
Mattapoisett, MA
G 12 Carl Pierre 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Boston College HS Boston, MA
F 13 Ronnie DeGray III 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Woodstock Academy Parker, CO
G 20 Ryan Marcus 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Wakefield Memorial HS Wakefield, MA
G 23 T.J. Weeks 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Fr Bishop Hendricken Catholic HS
Woodstock Academy
Warwick, RI
F 24 Dibaji Walker 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Woodstock Academy
Cleveland State
Columbus, OH
C 33 Tre Mitchell 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So Woodstock Academy Pittsburgh, PA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
December 11, 2020*
1:30 pm, NESN
Northeastern W 94–79  1–0
Mullins Center 
Amherst, MA
December 13, 2020*
12:00 pm, NESN
at Northeastern L 75–78  1–1
Cabot Center 
Boston, MA
December 21, 2020*
4:00 pm, NESN
Bryant L 88–93  1–2
Mullins Center 
Amherst, MA
A-10 regular season
December 16, 2020
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at La Salle W 85–66  2–2
(1–0)
Tom Gola Arena 
Philadelphia, PA
December 30, 2020
6:00 pm, ESPN+
George Mason L 92–93 2OT 2–3
(1–1)
Mullins Center 
Amherst, MA
January 6, 2021
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at George Washington
Postponed due to the 2021 United States Capitol attack
Charles E. Smith Center 
Washington, D.C.
January 9, 2021
4:00 pm, NBCSN
La Salle W 80–78  3–3
(2–1)
Mullins Center 
Amherst, MA
January 13, 2021
1:00 pm
Rhode Island W 80–77 OT 4–3
(3–1)
Mullins Center 
Amherst, MA
January 17, 2021
2:30 pm, NBCSN
at Fordham W 65–46  5–3
(4–1)
Rose Hill Gymnasium 
Bronx, NY
January 20, 2021
Saint Louis
Postponed due to COVID-19 issues
Mullins Center 
Amherst, MA
January 24, 2021
12:00 pm, CBSSN
Davidson L 60–69  5–4
(4–2)
Mullins Center 
Amherst, MA
January 30, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at George Mason
Postponed due to COVID-19 issues
EagleBank Arena 
Fairfax, VA
February 3, 2021
6:00 pm, NESN/ESPN+
Fordham W 60–54  6–4
(5–2)
Mullins Center 
Amherst, MA
February 6, 2021
8:00 pm, ESPN2
at Rhode Island W 75–63  7–4
(6–2)
Ryan Center 
Kingston, RI
February 9, 2021
7:00 pm, ESPNU
Dayton
Postponed due to COVID-19 issues
Mullins Center 
Amherst, MA
February 12, 2021
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at VCU
Postponed due to COVID-19 issues
Siegel Center 
Richmond, VA
February 14, 2021
2:00 pm, NBCSN
St. Bonaventure
Postponed due to COVID-19 issues
Mullins Center 
Amherst, MA
February 20, 2021
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at Duquesne
Postponed due to COVID-19 issues
UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse 
Pittsburgh, PA
February 23, 2021
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at Richmond L 65–79  7–5
(6–3)
Robins Center 
Richmond, VA
March 1, 2021
6:00 pm, CBSSN
at Saint Louis L 54–78  7–6
(6–4)
Chaifetz Arena 
St. Louis, MO
A-10 tournament
March 4, 2021
1:00 pm, NBCSN
(5) vs. (13) Saint Joseph's
Second round
W 100–66  8–6
Robins Center (250)
Richmond, VA
March 5, 2021
1:00 pm, NBCSN
(5) vs. (4) Saint Louis
Quarterfinals
L 72–86  8–7
Robins Center (250)
Richmond, VA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Source[3]

References

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