6) UMass Lowell
2019-2020 Record: 13-19 (7-9 AEast)
Key Returning Players
The River Hawks continue to look for their first winning season since joining division 1 college basketball back in 2013. Fortunately, they bring back a good amount of talent including second-leading scorer Obadiah Noel. Noel a very highly productive 2020 campaign giving the team 18.2 points a contest and pulled down 5.2 boards. Not to mention shooting over 40% from deep. Connor Withers will be entering his sophomore year after putting up 9.2 points and nearly six boards. Look for Withers to be one of the most improved players throughout all of the American East. Ron Mitchell will be back as well, a guard who gave the team 8.5 points and does a little bit of everything on the court for the River Hawks.
Key Losses
The biggest key departure will easily be Christian Lutete, the teams leading scorer from a year ago. Lutete was the team’s primary offensive option and the go-to down the stretch of most games. Lutete was also a very above average rebounder for a guard, pulling down 7.0 a contest. Josh Gantz is also seeing his eligibility expire, another starter who made his money on the defensive end but was very hot and cold on the offensive side.
Key Newcomers
The River Hawks are bringing in a hometown kid in Max Brooks, a two-star recruit out of St. Charles High School. Brooks is a 6’7 forward who can shoot the three and has a knack for finding rebounds. Gregory Hammond will be eligible next year after sitting out 2019-2020. Former Rhode Island guard who appeared in 4 games for the Spiders and was a 3-star recruit out high school. He should see some time off the bench in 2021. Darion Jordan-Thomas and Charlie Russell Jr will be transferring in as well but will most likely have to sit out a year.
Bottom Line
With a lot of returning pieces from a year ago, the River Hawks should be able to have the most success in their division 1 program history. Head coach Pat Duquette will be counting on Obadiah Noel to contribute the majority of the production on both ends of the court. And with a group of returning role players surrounding him, Umass Lowell could be a dark horse team in the conference.