Ricky Harris is coming back to the Mullins Center.
The UMass basketball team’s third all-time leading scorer will join Matt McCall’s coaching staff as the director of player personnel/assistant to the head coach, the school announced Friday.
“When you talk about wanting to get guys who want to be here, Ricky Harris embodies that. He was one of the best guards to ever play at UMass and just announced his retirement after a phenomenal professional career,” McCall said in a release. “He was contacting me as soon as he made his decision to stop playing and wanted to come to UMass. He brings positivity, energy and a want to be here, and we couldn’t be more excited to have him. He has a passion and a love for this university, and he will be a tremendous resource for our players.”
Harris graduated from UMass in 2010 after a four-year career. The Minutemen made the NIT during his freshman and sophomore seasons. He played professionally for 11 years in Europe and South America.
“I’m very excited to be returning to my alma mater and I am thankful to Coach Matt McCall and Ryan Bamford for this tremendous opportunity,” Harris said in a release. “I had an incredible experience at UMass as a student-athlete, and I’m looking forward to being back on campus helping our players and our program succeed. We have a very talented roster this season, and I can’t wait to be back in Amherst as our team begins to build towards our goals in 2021-22.”
At UMass, Harris made 93 starts in 129 games and scored 1,960 points. He shot 35 percent from 3 and still holds the program record for 3s in a season (104 in 2007-08). The Minutemen went 73-58 during his career.
GOALIE DEPTH INCOMING – Goaltender Luke Pavicic officially became the ninth member of UMass’ hockey recruiting class, the team announced Friday. He was named the NAHL Midwest Division MVP and an All-NAHL second-team performer for the Kenai River Brown bears last season.
“He smothers a lot of pucks with his glove and is a gamer,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said in a release. “Luke really came into his own this past season.”
Pavicic allowed 2.86 goals per game and had a .919 save percentage in 36 games last year. He went 19-14-1 and is ranked 16th among North American goaltender by NHL Central Scouting for the 2021 NHL Draft.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.