From the Third Chair...

[Rizzo]

March 16, 2013

[color="DarkRed"]11 New Mexico State[/color] (21-10) vs. [color="DarkRed"]6 Massachusetts[/color] (22-8): NCAA Tournament, First Round

Welcome back to the NCAA Tournament, Minutemen! If you wanted an exciting game, you certainly got it in this one. The New Mexico State Aggies were underdogs, but played with a ton of confidence this whole game. The Minutemen got everything they could handle and then some.

UMass led 43-32 at halftime. Now we know this team is prone to giving up double-digit leads, and the Aggies made sure to remind them. Although being out-rebounded 43-23, New Mexico State forced 23 turnovers and shot eight more free throws, most of which came in the second half. After shooting lights out, the game ended 86-86 in regulation. We are going to overtime!

In overtime, the lead was never more than two points in either team's favor. Between the big time rebounds of [color="DarkRed"]Travis Arnold[/color] or the late game playmaking of [color="DarkRed"]Robb Ezell [/color]or the big shots sunk by [color="DarkRed"]Senecca Goff[/color], the Minutemen held off the Aggies 95-93 in overtime to move on to the round of 32!

Points: Senecca Goff (20), Robb Ezell (17), Travis Arnold (15), Derek Neal (10)
Rebounds: Travis Arnold (15), Derek Neal (7), Robb Ezell (7)
Assists: Robb Ezell (8), Senecca Goff (4), Jason Prince (3)
Steals: Thomas Delk (5), Jason Prince (2)
Blocks: none

[Rizzo]

[color="Green"]2013 NCAA Tournament - Greensboro Regions[/color]

First Round Results:

1) Arizona - 77
16) Prairie View - 60

8) Purdue - 87
9) Arkansas - 79

5) North Carolina - 54
12) North Dakota State - 48

4) Seton Hall - 60
13) Northwestern State - 52

3) Oklahoma State - 69
14) North Texas - 50

6) [color="DarkRed"]Massachusetts - 95 (OT)[/color]
11) New Mexico State - 93

7) Vanderbilt - 66
10) Auburn - 54

15) Cal State Fullerton - 53
2) Kansas - 73

Second Round Games:

1) Arizona
8) Purdue

5) North Carolina
4) Seton Hall

3) Oklahoma State
6) [color="DarkRed"]Massachusetts[/color]

7) Vanderbilt
2) Kansas

Other A-10 Results:

Xavier beats Arkansas-Pine Bluff 78-74 in first round of NIT.
Temple loses to Utah State 82-73 in CIT tournament.
Dayton loses to Boston College 83-82 in OT in play-in game.
Richmond defeats DePaul 79-70, plays (1) Duke in second round.
Xavier loses to Houston 83-64 in NIT.
St. Joseph's beats Gonzaga 66-58, plays

[Rizzo]

March 18, 2013

[color="DarkRed"]6 Massachusetts[/color] (23-8) vs. [color="DarkOrange"]3 Oklahoma State[/color] (24-8): NCAA Tournament Second Round

All good things have to come to an end. In the case of the Massachusetts Minutemen, it comes a little earlier than they would have liked. Going up against a very good Oklahoma State team (ranked #13 in the nation), the Minutemen shot an abysmal 27.7% from the floor including 4-22 from three. All other stats were pretty even except the fact that the Cowboys shot almost 20% better from the floor and it lead to the 67-48 loss.

Finishing the season 23-9, winning both the Atlantic 10 regular season and conference tournament championships as well as advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament is one hell of a season for the Massachusetts Minutemen. We will be losing our two lead guards this year to graduation in [color="DarkRed"]Senecca Goff[/color] and [color="DarkRed"]Robb Ezell[/color] as well as an unsung hero off the bench in [color="DarkRed"]John Collins[/color]. Here's to hoping we can fill those voids. Look for junior center [color="DarkRed"]Travis Arnold[/color] to step up and be the go-to guy in his senior season.

Points: Senecca Goff (12), Thomas Delk (11), Travis Arnold (10)
Rebounds: Senecca Goff (6), Gregory Murphy (5), Robb Ezell (5)
Assists: Robb Ezell (5)
Steals: Thomas Delk (5)
Blocks: Thomas Delk (2)

[Rizzo]

[color="DarkSlateBlue"]2013 CIT Final Four Results[/color]

8) South Alabama - 77
2) Indiana - 54

8) Nebraska-Omaha - 80
7) Illinois State - 59

8) South Alabama - 66
8) Nebraska-Omaha - 67

[color="DarkSlateGray"]2013 NIT Final Four Results[/color]

7) UC San Diego - 72
3) Southern Illinois - 69

6) Iowa State - 79
4) Evansville - 69

7) UC San Diego - 64
6) [color="Red"]Iowa State - 85[/color]

[color="Green"]2013 NCAA Final Four Results[/color]

1) Arizona - 54
1) [color="Navy"]Duke - 58[/color]

2) [color="Green"]Michigan State - 82[/color]
4) Oklahoma - 69

1) [color="Blue"]Duke - 80[/color]
2) Michigan State - 56

Other A-10 Results:

St. Joseph's upsets LSU 58-38 in second round, but fall to Oklahoma 60-54 in the Sweet 16.

[Rizzo]

[SIZE="3"][color="RoyalBlue"]2012-2013 Season Awards[/color][/SIZE]

Norton Award: Garrick Henderson - Clemson

WS Player of the Year: Garrick Henderson - Clemson

NCAA MOP:

WS Freshman of the Year: Melvin Kouser - Butler

WS Defensive Player of the Year: Sophomore Vincent Anderer - C, Duke

WS Coach of the Year: Neil Nielsen - Arizona

1st Team All-American:

SG Garrick Henderson - Senior, Clemson
Johnny Crews - Connecticut
Luis Wallace - Purdue
James West - Vanderbilt
Shaun Long - Florida

2nd Team All-American:

Brandon Owens - UCLA
SG Shyrone Chandler - Senior, OK State
C Josh Alexander - Junior, Michigan State
George Rhodes - Maryland
Eugene Crawford - Utah

Atlantic 10 Player of the Year: Dan Scruggs - St. Joseph's

Atlantic 10 Freshman of the Year: Matt Underwood - Xavier

Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year: Kyle Bean - St. Joseph's

Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year: Jerrod Jefferson - St. Joseph's

Atlantic 10 1st Team All-Conference:

Dan Scruggs - St. Joseph's
Ronald Arceneaux, Charlotte
Charlie Harrington - Fordham
Ashley Rowles - Duquesne
Damon Barnes - George Washington

Atlantic 10 2nd Team All-Conference:

Brandon King - Rhode Island
Milton Caskill - Temple
[color="DarkRed"]Thomas Delk - Massachusetts[/color]
Del Eidson - Temple
Billy Saunders - Rhode Island

[Rizzo]

April 9, 2013

Amherst, MA - Coach Sanders called me into the office after the season. We were having our end of the year banquet today and he wanted me to be ready to go up and speak today. His big question was "will you be here next season?" I never gave much thought about it, but he handed me a list of schools that were interested in my services. They all offered me either a position as the 1st or 2nd assistant coach as well as a much better salary. Two of the teams piqued my interest...

[color="SeaGreen"]San Francisco[/color], coming off a 4-24 season, always interests me as they are the home of the great Bill Russell. They offered me the first assistant job. I gave them a look over. There team prestige is way down (13/100) as compared to UMass (68/100) and they don't have comparable facilities to the Mullins Center.

[color="DarkGreen"]South Florida[/color], also off of a tough season, wants me as their #2 assistant. They are a jump in conference to the Big East with a better team prestige than San Francisco (35/100), but not on the same level as UMass in terms of facilities or academics.

In the end, I decide I'm going to hang around Amherst for yet another season. I'm still trying to hone my craft, so why not do it here while winning at my alma mater? I got just a little better at scouting this season, so hopefully with another year under my belt, I could potentially jump ship and make a move to become a higher assistant coach.

Coach Rizzo's attributes: Offense (20), Defense (20), Recruiting (50), Scouting (44, up 1), Player Development (20).

Speaking of coaching changes, we had an opening in our first chair. Coach Sanders hired Jamaal Hordemann, a 50-year old coach with great ambition. He's an offensive mastermind and is great on the recruiting paths. It will be interesting to see what Coach Sanders will ask me to do this upcoming season. I'm really limited to recruiting and scouting, but if others can do that job better than me, why am I still here? Maybe this will be my last season here by default...

[Rizzo]

May 1, 2013

Indianapolis, IN - The NCAA has announced two teams changing conferences. East Tennessee State has joined the Southwestern Conference after leaving the Atlantic Sun Conference. Also, UC San Diego has joined the Big Sky Conference after leaving the independent ranks. It will be interesting to see how they fair in a legit conference.

[PointGuard]

Congratulations on a very successful season at UMASS. Interesting that Coach Hordemann hired a recruiter.

[Rizzo]

Congratulations on a very successful season at UMASS. Interesting that Coach Hordemann hired a recruiter.

Thanks. It as a very good season for us and hopefully with our incoming freshmen we can make something happen. When I saw the hiring, I wasn't too happy. We'll see what happens when the season begins.

[Rizzo]

[SIZE="3"][color="Silver"]2013 Top-25 Recruiting Classes[/color][/SIZE]

1. North Carolina Tar Heels
2. Arizona Wildcats
3. Syracuse Orange
4. Duke Blue Devils
5. Kentucky Wildcats
6. UCLA Bruins
7. Kansas Jayhawks
8. Florida Gators
9. Indiana Hoosiers
10. Michigan State Spartans
11. Maryland Terrapins
12. Oklahoma Sooners
13. Pittsburgh Panthers
14. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
15. LSU Tigers
16. Boston College Eagles
17. Auburn Tigers
18. Iowa Hawkeyes
19. Minnesota Gophers
20. Alabama Crimson Tide
21. Utah Utes
22. St. John's Red Storm
23. Oklahoma State Cowboys
24. Texas Longhorns
25. Purdue Boilermakers

PF Daniel Hall has decided to join Michigan State as well as SF Quentin Johnson. PG Jesse Gordon will do the same as he transfers to Louisville. Duke gets SG Othella Kelly, SF Joe Vickers and SF Jerry Harrison. Connecticut watches SF McEverett Jones, SG Wayne Taylor and PF Dan Reed enroll Storrs. PF Parker Canady and PG Brett Young have decided to become members of the Kansas Jayhawks. SF Bill McIntyre is now a Longhorn as he joins the Texas program while PF Larry Starks is transfers to Arizona.