UMass Basketball: Depth chart predictions for 2022-23 season

Mar 5, 2021; Richmond, Virginia, USA; Saint Louis Billikens guard Yuri Collins (1) dribbles the ball as Massachusetts Minutemen guard Noah Fernandes (11) defends in the second half of a quarterfinal in the Atlantic 10 conference tournament at Robins Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

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Boston College Eagles forward Gianni Thompson Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports /

Power Forward

Predicted Depth Chart

1 – Tafara Gapare

2 – Gianni Thompson

3 – Matt Cross

4A – One of the more traditional bigs

4B – Dyondre Dominguez or RJ Luis

This is perhaps the toughest spot on the team to project as far as minutes distribution. I mentioned that Matt Cross will probably get some good run at the 4, but as far as who will start/see the yeoman’s share of the time, the first player that comes to mind is Tafara Gapare. After reclassifying to 2022, the versatile 6’10” New Zealand native is technically the most highly-rated freshman in the A10 (66th on 247Sports).

Gapare isn’t a traditional big by any means; he handles and shoots the ball like a 3, but he can contribute heavily on the glass and he’ll inject life into the team with put-back and breakaway dunks. He could realistically be inserted anywhere from the 3 to the 5 in different matchups, but without any obvious candidates to start at the 4, he seems too talented to leave out of the starting lineup.

Other players that will likely see time at the 4 are the aforementioned Dyondre Dominguez, Gianni Thompson – another player who was highly-rated out of High School but didn’t get much run at his last stop, and any of the three players I’ll classify as Centers and discuss in the next slide.

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