As soon as the UMass basketball season ended, Matt McCall had his eyes on the future.
He knew the Minutemen were going to look vastly different next year but didn’t want to put a timetable on when those changes were going to take place. All he promised was a thorough evaluation of where the UMass program stood after two years of his leadership.
“We’ll take some time here and take a step back and really evaluate every aspect of our program from recruiting to strength and conditioning to individual instruction, everything,” McCall said at the time.
It’s been less than two weeks since UMass lost in overtime to George Washington in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, and the changes are already in full effect for the Minutemen. McCall fired all three of his assistants on the Monday after the defeat and a string of players announcing their intentions to transfer soon followed.
Luwane Pipkins, who had confirmed earlier this month that he planned to leave UMass, announced last week he wouldn’t go pro. On Sunday, he said he’s headed to Providence to play his final year of eligibility with the Friars.
His departure was largely assumed throughout most of the season, however, and the bigger question was about who else would enter the transfer portal.
Last Monday, it was Unique McLean who announced he would graduate in May and transfer for his final two years. The next day, Kieran Hayward became the third player to state his intentions to transfer. Curtis Cobb joined the party on Wednesday and Tre Wood followed on Friday.
In a span of five days, UMass lost nearly half of its roster, including Rashaan Holloway exhausting his eligibility after five years. The revolving door might not be done spinning yet, either, with redshirt junior Jonathan Laurent and sophomore Khalea Turner-Morris potential candidates to transfer.
What seems certain is McCall’s desire to build around a core that will heavily feature rising junior Carl Pierre and rising sophomores Sy Chatman and Samba Diallo. The Minutemen also return Djery Baptiste and Keon Clergeot in addition to Laurent and Turner-Morris.
UMass did receive a bit of good news on Sunday with Woodstock Academy guard T.J. Weeks — son of former UMass standout Tyrone Weeks — verbally pledging his commitment to the Minutemen for next season. The younger Weeks was on campus over the weekend for an official visit and joins prep teammate Preston Santos as part of the 2019 signing class.
The Minutemen might not be done at the Connecticut prep school either, as they are in hot pursuit of Tre Mitchell as well for the April signing period. There are also rumors swirling that McCall might hire Woodstock coach Tony Bergeron as one of his assistants for next season.
There are still more changes coming for the Minutemen, too. Weeks’ commitment brings the total number of incoming freshmen to four, leaving McCall two more scholarships to fill. He also has to finish hiring his staff, a process that could last until after the signing period opens on April 17.
“Who we bring into our program right now with the guys that will be coming back, this is a huge, huge summer,” McCall said after the A10 Tournament loss. “It’s a huge summer work-wise. It’s a huge summer for us to become a real team, a connected team where everybody is pulling and everybody is rooting for each other.”