Malik Hines’ scholarship didn’t stay available for long.
Sy Chatman, a 6-foot-8 big man from Minnesota announced his commitment to the UMass men’s basketball program Sunday with a video on Twitter. After thanking several family members, friends and coaches, the video showed him in a UMass T-shirt while his voice over said “I am proud to announce my commitment to the University of Massachusetts.”
Chatman, who is not related to former UMass assistant coach Shy Chatman, helped lead St. Paul’s Cretin-Durham Hall High School to a Minnesota state championship. He had a breakout senior season which helped take him from a lightly recruited junior to one of the best unsigned players in Minnesota. He chose the Minutemen over Richmond, UCF and a handful of mid-majors. He doesn’t have a profile or rating on 247 Sports.
Chatman, whose father is over 7-feet tall, may still be growing. He played for the Howard Pulley program, one of the best AAU programs in the midwest.
He’ll be one of seven new players on the 2018-19 UMass roster. He joins a freshman class that features Tre Wood, a guard from Washington D.C. and Samba Diallo, a forward from New Jersey. The Minutemen are also adding four transfers – forward Jonathan Laurent and guards Curtis Cobb, Keon Clergot and Kieran Hayward.
If nobody transfers, he’ll join a frontcourt that currently features Laurent, Diallo, Chris Baldwin, Khalea Turner-Morris and Rashaan Holloway (if he regains academic eligibility).
The Minutemen are still recruiting Oral Roberts transfer Javan White, who visited UMass last week and visited Nevada this weekend and South Carolina high school senior Robert Braswell, but they’d need someone to transfer to sign either one of them.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverageMatt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage