AMHERST — After a teammate’s miss rolled off the rim during a drill, UMass sophomore Rashaan Holloway grabbed the rebound and dunked it Tuesday afternoon. The drill didn’t include defenders, but he hung on the rim, enjoyed being airborne for a moment and then sprinted up the floor.
Holloway is undeniably slimmer than he was in March and considerably slimmer than he was last October.
Holloway said he’s lost 31 pounds. UMass is listing him at 320 pounds, which only adds credence to everyone’s belief that he weighed more than the 335 he was listed at on the 2015-16 roster.
But a scale isn’t necessary here. The eye test is definitive. He runs better for longer. He jumps higher and gets off his feet quicker.
“I’ve been athletic but the added weight was slowing me down a little bit. I’m back to dunking everything,” Holloway said. “It feels good to actually ran and play the way (coach Derek Kellogg) wants me to play and be the weight he’s OK with. It was hard. I had to mature with my eating habits.”
Kellogg was pleased with the progress, but not satisfied.
“He’s good. He’s much better than he was at the beginning of the year last year. He’s a little further along than at the end of the year last year. He’s moving in the right direction,” Kellogg said. “He’s trying to stay steady. He’s keeping his weight down. He’s conscious of what he’s eating. He’s really conscious that we need him to be very very good for us to be good.”
Kellogg said Holloway has to transition from preparing his body in offseason mode to keeping it right during the season.
Junior Donte Clark said the Minutemen were excited by the prospect of Holloway taking a step forward.
“It’s going to be scary. If I throw it in there to him and he starts throwing it down, they’re going to start doubling down and he can kick it out to one of us who can knock the shot down,” Clark said.
HASAHN FRENCH VISITS — Hasahn French, the 6-foot-7 senior forward at Commonwealth Academy in Springfield, is making an official visit to UMass this week.
Rated a four-star prospect by ESPN and a three-star by 247Sports, French is considering UMass, Saint Louis, Marquette and UNLV.
START TIMES/GAME CHANGE — UMass’ home game against North Carolina A&T had been moved from Dec. 14 to Dec. 13. It will tip at 7 p.m.
The Minutemen also filled in the remaining start times for home games in the 2016-17 schedule.
The season opener against UMass-Lowell will be a 4 p.m. start on Friday, Nov. 11. The Friday, Dec. 30 Atlantic 10 opener against St. Bonaventure will also be a 4 p.m. tip.
Saturday games against Harvard (Nov. 26), UCF (Dec. 3), Kennesaw State (Dec. 17) and George Mason (Jan. 28) will all tip at 1 p.m.
The remaining week night games that didn’t have start times — Wagner (Nov. 30), Pacific (Dec. 8), Rider (Dec. 22) and Richmond (March 1) — will all be at 7 p.m.
BANNERS MOVED – The banners marking the accomplishments of the men’s and women’s basketball teams, and the ice hockey team have all been moved to the southwest wall of the Mullins Center.
The retired numbers for Julius Erving, Lou Roe, Marcus Camby and Al Skinner as well as the banner honoring John Calipari are all centered above the scoreboard.
The Atlantic 10, Hockey East and NCAA Tournament banners are spread on either side.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage