Several recruiting sources indicate UMass has offered to Massaman Bagayoko, a 6-6 300 pound OL from Mission Hills, CA. I blogged about Bagayoko back on July 11th.
UMass went into Spring ball with only two scholarship RB's. With the UMass website still under construction I can't link to any of the bios.
Sekai Lindsey broke his ankle in the game against Toledo. When he was hurt he had totaled 34-113 1 TD. We'll have to see how much he's recovered. Lindsay didn't exactly set the world on fire during his first six games. He is, however, the Minutemen's only RB over 200 pounds (5-8 215)Marquis Young showed he could play and he dominated in UMass' win over buffalo.
I would be willing to bet at least one of the incoming FR running backs won't redshirt. Maybe both.
Paytton Pickett (5-10 183) is a two-star recruit. Pickett's senior highlights. BTW, Pickett wore #5 in high school.
Given UMass's killer schedule in 2017 (three SEC teams, BYU, BC and Louisiana Tech) 3.5 yards and cloud of rubber pellets would be a most excellent game plan for about half of the 2016 season.
My take would be since Whipple has brought in Virginia Tech transfer Andrew Ford (Hokies bio), he would be in the front position. In the past Whipple has brought in Todd Bankhead, Jeff Krohn and Blake Frohnapfel as transfers. Unless Ford is injured or out of shape (or gets in Whipple's doghouse like Richard Lucero did), I would think he'd be a sure bet to start against the Gators.
The interesting race will be to see who's #2. Ross Comis has the most experience and he looked good against Notre Dame. I was impressed with Randall West in the Spring Game. James Sosinski looked like he had a long way to go. Austin Whipple was still on the roster, but DNP in the Spring game.
Michael Traini reboots the Maroon Musket. This is good news for UMass fans as 247Sports has been more or less ignoring the Minutemen since the Bob McGovern left the Maroon Musket.
The New Haven Register looks at the AAC's hoops teams. Being in a league with Temple and UConn would be a major boost for Minutemen basketball in fan interest. There's no connection with A10 teams except for Rhode Island for most UMass fans.
Teams available could be BYU, Colorado State, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Memphis, Houston and Central Florida.
For a two team expansion, I would speculate BYU (good team, good athletic dept and a national following) and Houston (big market in state with the best economy in the USA). BYU and Houston also fit the geographical footprint of the Big 12.
If four teams, then add Central Florida (big market and a chance to gain a foothold in SEC country) and one other team of your choice.
UMass would be a good fit for the AAC if a slot opens. The AAC would work even if UConn was picked by the Big 12. The Minutemen would probably open to C-USA or the Sun Belt for a football only.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports on the Cal-Hawaii game in Australia. I don't want to think about how lineman-sized players are going to cope with the flight. Last year, Mrs Blog and I, who are not big people, found the 15 hour flight to Australia very uncomfortable. It was a little like going into a phone booth (if you can remember those) and having two more people come in and staying there for 15 hours.
Speaking of the Gators, the News-Gazette ranks Florida #16 in its Top-25 list. That's a high ranking. No other publication I've come across ranks Florida that high.
Partial quote from a May 6th article on Scout.com on Cherelus' first offer from Minnesota:
"Coach Mike Sherels is the Minnesota coach that offered me," Naples (Fla.) Golden Gate safety Claudin Cherelus said to GopherDigest. "He told me he liked my size a lot and he loved my playing style. He watched us practice yesterday and he loved the way I'm aggressive and not afraid to hit someone. He said he's a man of chances and he sees a lot of potential in me, and so he wanted to offer me a scholarship to Minnesota. He liked my leadership too on how I'm helping the younger guys when I can and always being positive and coaching people up. The offer from the Gophers is at strong safety."
Besides UMass, Cherelus has FBS offers from Minnesota and Northern Illinois.
Las Vegas Super Book releases updated College Football National Championship odds and reports of UMass' opponents, Florida at 60-1 has the highest odds of making the game. BC and UConn are 1000-1.
A UMass upset in this game would be good for both schools. It would energize the Minutemen faithful and it would probably light a fire under the Boston College athletic dept, which right now, is heading for the perpetual cellar dwelling spot in the ACC.
Partial quote from a 05/06/16 article on Schneider from Scout.com by Ryan Burns.
"I'm also a state champion heavyweight wrestler as well," Schneider said. "I believe it's made me become the mentally tough, strong athlete that I am now. I have amazing hips, footwork, explosiveness and reaction time all thanks to wresting, and I also played soccer for nine years as well. Played everything except for goalie. As far as my strengths on the offensive line, I'm a fast and explosive pulling guard and I love to get north and south up the field when I see a hole. I'm pretty good with hand redirection as well. I'm not too sure when I want to make a decision yet as I'm hoping to get some more offers. I believe South Florida will be offering soon hopefully too. Location isn't a big deal to me either."
Schneider holds 12 offers with UMass as the only Northeast school.
More from the NCAA about the sanctions. The Eagles are still running their signature triple-option and have been highly successful with it since their move to the Sun Belt. They led the nation in rushing in 2015 averaging 363.0 yards/game. In 2015 the Eagles went 9-4 and nearly beat SEC power Georgia, losing in overtime. They crushed Bowling Green in the Go-Daddy bowl 58-27.
With the verbal of Devone Hall, UMass now has 5 JUCO's in it's 2016 class. That's the way to build a winner in New England. The addition of Hall fills a need for sized on the DL.
Some of the reasons we are ranked so low in preseason previews is that we return so few of our statistical leaders from 2016. UMass needed a QB and Whipple got Andrew Ford. We needed defensive help and the Minutemen should have instant starters in Ali Ali-Musa and Tedrick Lowery.
One void still remains to be filled: tight end. UMass has an excellent recruiting class of TE's with Taylor Edwards, Cody Banks and Alvin Peah. I'd be willing to bet at least one of which will not redshirt. However, I would be a big help to have a experienced TE on the roster. Whipple's pro-set offense runs a lot better with big TE that can catch the ball.
I don't know if Scottsdale CC TE Sal Canella and UMass are still interested in each other, but a transfer TE that can play FBS ball would have an outstanding chance of being on the field against the Gators on September 3rd. Canella's most recent Hudl.com tape.
