AMHERST — There was laughter and a jovial holiday mood emanating from the Mullins Center court Thursday as UMass finished practice.
It was perhaps the opposite of what could have been expected given the fact the Minutemen are mired in a six-game losing streak and the number of healthy bodies on the roster continues to shrink. UMass (5-6) will have just eight scholarship players healthy for Friday’s 7 p.m. tipoff against Maine in Amherst after T.J. Weeks was ruled out indefinitely with a stomach issue.
But the bigger news was the decision by sophomore Sy Chatman to enter the transfer portal Thursday, a surprising announcement to many. Coach Matt McCall didn’t express an opinion on if he was caught off guard by the decision, saying only that Chatman spoke with him earlier Thursday about the choice.
“This time of year, it’s kind of time that if you’re going to make a change this time of year, you do it right before Christmas because the semester is now over,” McCall said. “He came to me (Thursday) and said he talked to his family about it and he wanted to put his name in the portal. … Sy’s been through a lot in his two years here, a lot of changes and it’s challenging to be able to deal with that. You can look back at different things that’s transpired in his career here and he wants a fresh start.”
Chatman missed the first five games of the season due to personal issues, and McCall declined to specify if the sophomore’s decision to transfer was related to that absence. But the timing of Chatman’s departure leaves the Minutemen in flux with just eight practices and two games before their Atlantic 10 opener on Jan. 5. McCall said the Minutemen are trying to work on different lineups with the players they have available, including working on ways to play both centers – Djery Baptiste and Tre Mitchell – at the same time.
What will be missing is an athletic forward who was a major aid for UMass on the glass, an area where it has struggled in recent games. Mitchell said the Minutemen have suffered from a lot of ball watching lately and they need to do a better job at the fundamentals like boxing out and competing for rebounds. However, he said the onus doesn’t fall on just players like himself or forward Samba Diallo, but the group as a whole to replace the little things Chatman provided on the court.
“It’s an opportunity for everybody else to step up their level of play,” Mitchell said. “Everybody knows that we’re going to need more out of other people to step up, help rebound and help make those energy plays that Sy made.”
One player who will definitely see his role increase with the current injury situation is freshman C.J. Jackson, who has played a total of eight minutes and appeared in just three of UMass’ first 11 games. Known as a talented offensive player, Jackson’s defense is the main reason the Atlanta native as been a rarely used reserve to begin the season.
McCall said he thought Wednesday was one of Jackson’s better practices since arriving in Amherst and is hopeful that’s a sign of Jackson’s maturation as a player.
“It’s an opportunity for him,” McCall said. “I told our staff (Thursday) morning that I thought C.J. had a really good day yesterday playing. He’s got some ability offensively, but his defense and his instincts defensively yesterday – that’s really where I’ve been on him about is making physical plays and being able to get different things into the game defensively because he’s got the natural offensive ability and talent. It will give him an opportunity (Friday) and we’ll see how the game goes and that will dictate a lot of lineups.”
McCall has plenty of experience facing adversity as a head coach in his fifth full season in charge of a program. He dealt with season-ending injuries to key players in both of his season’s at Chattanooga and he also faced his fair share of adversity in his first two seasons with the Minutemen. McCall said Thursday’s mood was indicative of how UMass has handled its poor luck this season and credited his young team for its resiliency and ability to keep spirits high in tough circumstances.
Diallo missed chunks of last season with various injuries, and said he is sympathetic to his teammates who are having to sit out and watch games from the bench. However, he said he thought UMass has done a good job at not getting too down on itself and continuing to embrace the process and not think too far ahead.
“So far we’ve handled it in a better way,” Diallo said. “Injuries, they’re something that you can’t control that, these things happen. … So far, we’ve just been taking care of it and taking it day-by-day and we’re pretty good at that. Hopefully, everybody will be better and healthy and we can all play injury free.”
Josh Walfish can be reached at jwalfish@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshWalfishDHG. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.