AMHERST – International shipping just takes a little longer.
UMass freshman Tafara Gapare’s visa was approved, and the New Zealand native will join the men’s basketball program by the time the Minutemen face AIC in an exhibition Tuesday, UMass coach Frank Martin confirmed Thursday.
“The plan is for him to be on the court with us,” Martin said.
Gapare committed to UMass in August, de-committing from DePaul and reclassifying to enter the collegiate ranks. The 6-foot-10, 205-pound Wellington, New Zealand, native played a season at the South Kent School in Connecticut and is a four-star prospect.
He enrolled at UMass to start the semester but has been in New Zealand awaiting the visa process. Gapare has worked out on his own at home and just participated in the Hoopnation Classic.
Martin also said that South Carolina transfer Ta’Quan Woodley is not practicing but is still part of the team and university.
“I would hope that everyone understands the last couple of years has been hard on a lot of people, including him,” Martin said. “And he’s in a better place, but he’s still not practicing.”
SHHHH, IT’S A SECRET – The Minutemen will face someone other than themselves for the first time Sunday in a closed-door scrimmage at Holy Cross. Martin doesn’t treat these events, which have become as much a part of the college basketball calendar as preseason votes and holiday tournaments, as games. They’re more situational and will allow him to see how his new-look UMass squad fits together and reacts to situations.
“We’re still talking but we’re gonna do some breakdown stuff,” Martin said. “We’re gonna do some situation stuff, and then we’re gonna play.”
That will build into the team’s first – and only – formal exhibition Tuesday against AIC at the Mullins Center (7 p.m.).
“With this team I’ve got a lot of guys I’ve never been in that fire with. I’ve got to see how they all handle it,” Martin said. “There’s some responsibilities, I think they can manage in a practice setting. Well, I want to see what they can manage in a game. And if they don’t manage it in the exhibition game, well, then a couple days later, when it really counts, I realized I can’t put him in that spot.”
That’s a focused, more critical view than Martin has for the team as a whole. He’s mentioned how excited he is about the group every time he’s spoken about them publicly.
“This team is fun to be around. They got personality, they care. We’ve taken major strides in the trusting department to figure out that we’re all in this together,” Martin said. “We’re not there yet, but major strides.”
The returning Minutemen have embraced the new faces to try and become one team rather than disparate parts.
“It’s been fun, it’s what you want. It’s a challenging, competitive culture, and we all respect each other and we all work really, really hard every day,” UMass guard Noah Fernandes said. “When that happens, that respect and that family sort of culture builds and, I think every day we’re building blocks on top of each other.”
BUST OUT YOUR WALKMAN – UMass unveiled a “Cursive U” throwback jersey Thursday reminiscent of the threads the Minutemen wore during their heyday in the 90s. They will don the jerseys for three “Legacy Games” – Jan. 14 against Rhode Island, Feb. 4 against Davidson and March 4 against St. Bonaventure.
“If you think UMass basketball and you think the heyday, UMass being No. 1 in the country… that’s the uniform everybody refers to,” Martin said. “There’s a connection with winning in that uniform that goes hand in hand.”
Marcus Camby tweeted an image of TJ Weeks in the uniform side by side with a photo of his dad Tyrone Weeks wearing the same jersey flashing a similar hand sign.
“UMass was winning a lot when they had those uniforms. Back when they had the Cursive U, the culture behind basketball was really well-rounded people bought into the program,” Fernandes said. “For us, it’s bringing that back. We’re going to bring it back to what it was known for.”