UMass Basketball: State of the program after end of 2019-20 season

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 26: Tre Mitchell #33 of the Massachusetts Minutemen dribbles around Greg Calixte #33 of the George Mason Patriots during a college basketball game against the George Mason Patriots at the Eagle Bank Arena on January 26, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 12: Head coach Matt McCall of UMass (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

Mailbag Questions

Tristan Freeman (@hoopsnut351): Does McCall need at least an NIT bid to keep his job next year?

Assuming everyone is healthy, yes. It’s tough to make an excuse for not doing so if you have Tre Mitchell and even a decent amount of surrounding talent, and UMass should have more than that. Even if it’s underclassmen-based, a core that includes him, TJ Weeks, Sean East, and Javohn Garcia (if he’s as good as some people are saying), among others, should be good enough to grab at least an NIT bid and be in the mix for a double-bye next March. Don’t know if they’ll reach it, but that roster has an NCAA Tournament-level ceiling.

Sam From St. Joe’s (@Sam42Robinson): Which UMass player do you think will be most improved by the end of next season?

Dibaji Walker. I don’t think he’ll suddenly be average 14, 5, and 3, but I do think he will be a lot more consistent than he was this season after a late start. HIs field-goal percentages aren’t reflective of how good of a shooter he is. He ended up at 25.9% from deep and 38.9% overall, but I think we’ll see those numbers move closer to 35% and 42/43%, respectively.

Marc (@Zig2k): If they get NLI’s from all the recruits they are pursuing, who is transferring/being pushed out to accommodate the incoming freshmen?

I don’t want to speculate too much in case certain players or family members end up reading this, but my inclination is that it would most likely be two of Clergeot, Buggs, Jackson, K. Mitchell, East. If it were three I’d be surprised but not shocked – all depends on who we land. The way things stand right now, there just aren’t enough minutes to go around at the 1 & 2 spots for everybody – between those five, Javohn Garcia, Cairo McCrory, Carl Pierre, and whoever else we might land – to play a meaningful role. People have mentioned the possibility of Carl transferring, but I just have a hard time seeing that (expanded on in main article).

Next. Simulated 2020 NCAA Tournament results. dark

Bennett Karroll (@TheBennettK): Will you ever have an episode of the podcast that actually makes the air?

Yes. The 2019-2020 preview pod in October. Big shoutout to Bennett and CurryHicksSage for their work on the UMass Basketball Podcast.

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