Following a week in which the UMass women’s basketball team made it to the Atlantic 10 tournament championship game and the hockey team advanced to the Hockey East semifinals, it’s sad to have to start this column with the biggest — yet not positive — news that came out of Amherst on Monday.
UMass’ star big man Tre Mitchell announced on Twitter he will enter his name in the transfer portal, and though it’s not a guarantee he leaves, the writing is on the wall and it spells bad news for UMass.
Mitchell came to Amherst as a four-star recruit and lived up to the billing, winning the A-10 Rookie of the Year last season and following it up with a sophomore season in which he averaged 18.8 points and 7.2 rebounds. It’s rare to see high-prized recruits end up at UMass, and seeing one potentially leave after a few seasons isn’t good for the program.
With it being such a weird year in college basketball — all players are granted an extra year of eligibility and players are free to transfer without having to sit out a season — losing Mitchell was always a possibility.
Now we wait and see what the fallout is if Mitchell does choose to head elsewhere. He is one of seven former Woodstock Academy players who was on the roster last year and it remains to be seen how many will stick around. I’d be shocked if Mitchell is the only player to leave the program, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if UMass is forced to yet again reshape its roster under head coach Matt McCall next season.
With so much uncertainty, and the fact the Minutemen have yet to sign any incoming freshman, it looks like next year will be yet another in a long line of down seasons where they struggle to compete against the top teams in the conference. Yuck.
By the way, this news comes the same week that Pat Kelsey (remember him?) is taking Winthrop to the NCAA Tournament following a Big South Conference title. Want more salt in the wound? Former Minutemen Dejon Jarreau and Brison Gresham helped lead Houston to an American Athletic Conference title and a No. 2 seed in the upcoming tournament. Triple yuck.
OK, enough negativity.
I wrote earlier in the year about the job Tory Verdi was doing with the women’s program and their showing at the A-10 tournament this week proved just how improved this team is. I said the goal this season should be to get past the quarterfinals in the tournament, a hurdle they were unable to overcome the past two seasons.
They did just that, beating Saint Joseph’s in the second round before upsetting No. 2 Fordham in the quarterfinals. UMass then pulled another upset against Saint Louis to make it to the A-10 championship game, ultimately falling to VCU on Sunday.
“There’s nothing to hang our heads over,” senior forward Sam Breen said after the championship game loss. “We played our hearts out.”
The tournament run put the Minutewomen in position for a potential postseason bid — the women’s NIT field was scheduled to be announced after deadline Monday night — a huge accomplishment for the program. It was another step forward for Verdi, whose eyes will be on making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998 next season.
UMass did all this with a smaller roster, as players like Breen, Destiney Philoxy, Ber’Nyah Mayo and Sydney Taylor all logged nearly 40 minutes in each tournament game. Breen, Philoxy and Taylor were all named to the All-Tournament team for their efforts, and all three are eligible to return next season.
While the women’s team stole the show last week, the UMass hockey team took care of business at home against Northeastern, cruising to a 4-1 victory behind a three-point night from Bobby Trivigno.
With UMass Lowell pulling the upset over Boston University, the Minutemen get to host at least one more game at the Mullins Center. UMass faces off with Providence in the semifinals on Wednesday, a team it clobbered 8-1 on Feb. 23. The two matchups prior were much more even, as both games ended in a shootout.
If the Minutemen look like they did against the Friars last time out and pull out a win, it sets up a potential matchup with Boston College for the Hockey East title on Saturday. That’s a matchup I’m sure Greg Carvel and UMass would salivate over, finally getting the chance to avenge the loss to the Eagles in the Hockey East semis two years ago.
While things are trending in the wrong direction for the men’s basketball team, the arrow is pointing the other way for the other two winter sports teams who reside at the Mullins Center.
Thomas Johnston is a sports reporter for the Recorder and a UMass alum. He can be reached at tjohnston@recorder.com.