UMass Basketball: Impact of Noah Fernandes’ immediate eligibility for 2020-21

UMass Basketball gets great news this offseason, with transfer Noah Fernandes eligible to play this upcoming season.

UMass Basketball’s immediate and long-term outlooks changed significantly on September 16th, on which date the team received news of Wichita State-transfer Noah Fernandes’ eligibility to compete immediately instead of needing to sit for a year.

The team was already poised to be deep on the block and wings, but the Point Guard spot could easily have given the young Minutemen trouble had the NCAA gone another way with Fernandes’ eligibility decision.

Last season it was the offensively-gifted Sean East II running Point for UMass, but after he decided to transfer (to Bradley), it was unknown what the depth chart would look like this November.

Kolton Mitchell proved himself to be a more-than-capable defender as a freshman, and he showed promising glimpses of court vision and ball-handling as well, but overall he still has significant room for growth on the offensive end.

He has the natural athleticism and the basketball IQ to potentially make a huge leap in his sophomore campaign, but it’s comforting from UMass’ perspective to not have to rely on that happening in order for the team to succeed.

Outside of Mitchell, the other candidate for heavy minutes at the 1 was Javohn Garcia, a highly-touted (and perhaps underrated on the national level) freshman, but a freshman all the same.

Even if Matt McCall and his staff are relatively confident that he’ll live up to the hype, it’s a well-established fact in the A10 that freshman Point Guards are never a sure thing. Fernandes isn’t necessarily a sure thing himself, but there is reason to believe he’ll be an extremely important piece of this UMass rotation.

On the surface, Fernandes’ freshman numbers at Wichita State look concerning, but as a rookie in a very crowded backcourt he only got to see the floor for nine minutes per contest and he also missed nine games due to injury. It’s worth mentioning as well that there were clearly some things to work out in the Wichita State locker room, as Fernandes was one of just six Shockers to transfer this offseason.

In returning to his home state of Massachusetts, Fernandes will be joining his former Woodstock Academy teammates Tre Mitchell, TJ Weeks, and Preston Santos on the roster and also his former head coach (also at Woodstock) in UMass assistant Tony Bergeron. He may not have been able to find his rhythm last year (just 10/41 shooting for the season), but his play under Bergeron was partly what led offers from programs like Saint Bonaventure, Saint Louis, and Wichita State in the first place.

Regardless of what he did in limited minutes over 21 games last season, it’s clear watching Fernandes play that he has the aggression, ball-handling ability, and shooting stroke to eventually thrive given increased responsibility. Handling primary Point Guard duties for Expressions Elite in the EYBL in 2018, he averaged 13.8 points, 6.8 assists, and 1.8 steals per game and was an All-Peach Jam honorable mention.

It is also significant that his fellow Woodstock alums just so happen to be some of the very best players on the roster. He knows how to feed Tre Mitchell in the post and to find TJ Weeks in the corners for open threes, for example — two of the things that will have to happen often in order for UMass to find success in 2020-2021.

The bottom line is that Fernandes isn’t likely to be one of UMass’ stars this season, but he’s probably the best offensive Point Guard on the team, and as part of such an inexperienced backcourt committee, it means something that he has some high level (AAC) experience (if limited) under his belt as well.

For different reasons, there’s potential for any of the three point guards mentioned (Kolton Mitchell, Garcia, Fernandes) to emerge as the primary ball-handler on the team by season’s end, but at this point in time, Fernandes is probably the safest bet of them all.