Thursday--August 13th, 2015

UMass single game tickets are on sale.

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Jesse Allen of Hustle Belt previews UMass.

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Dan Malone previews Eastern Michigan. The Eagles went 2-10 in 2014, but upset Buffalo, a team that handled the Minutemen last year. The Eagles OOC schedule is manageable  they're going to be clobbered at LSU, but Old Dominion, Wyoming and Army are ranked #108, #114 and #121 by Phil Steele.

FYI, Steele ranks Colorado as #46, Temple at #61 and FIU at #103

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Speaking of Phil Steele he rates Penn State transfer Daiquan Kelly as a "very highly touted" player and had him ranked #55 in his linebacker recruiting list. The whole MAC conference only signed three VHT players in 2014.

Philly.com has a post on Kelley's transferring to UMass.

Centre Daily.com also has a report on Kelly's leaving Penn State.

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The UMass Daily Collegian has a post on AD Ryan Bamford's announcement UMass will pay COA for scholarship athletes.

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247 Sports has a preseason "Top 247 college players". Five MAC players made the list including QB JoVan Santos-Knox and Tajae Sharpe from UMass. Full list here.

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Cleveland.com says MAC West conference running backs will likely decide the league title.

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This article by Buffalo News.com features Bulls RB Anthone Taylor, who ran all over the UMass defense last year to the tune of 237 yards.

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Victor Cruz will be the focus of an upcoming Showtime Sports documentary.

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Wednesday--August 12th, 2015

The UMass website has a video interview with new UMass AD Ryan Bamford. From a football point of view, the most important section is where Bamford says UMass will pay COA to scholarship athletes. As you remember, the MAC adopted that policy last winter. UMass football would face a tough recruiting challenge if most Group of Five conference were offering COA and the Minutemen were not. We will have enough problems playing an independent schedule.

Dan Malone has a story on the decision.

Matty Vautour also has a post on the decision.

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Dan also has a preview on Akron. Zips head coach Terry Bowden has gone the transfer route since he became head coach. The Zips went 1-11 three straight years in 2010, 11 and 12. They went 5-7 in 2013 and 2014. Akron's defensive line will feature Jamal Marcus (Ohio State transfer), Rodney Cole (Iowa State transfer), SeVon Pittman (Ohio State transfer) and first-team All-Mac NT Cody Grice.

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Kelly #2/ Ashlee Espinal image

Dan quote a Nj.com article that dismissed freshman Daiquan Kelly will join the Minutemen as a redshirt for 2015.

Matty Vautour also has a story on Kelly's dismissal and transfer. Matty says UMass has good insight into Kelley's situation as UMass linebackers coach Charles Walker coached for Penn State and Austin Whipple played for the Nittany Lions.

NJ.com article.

PennLive has a post.

I blogged about UMass recruiting Kelley back in 2013.

Kelley was rated a three-star player by 247Sports and the #9 overall rated player to come out of New Jersey in 2014.

Kelley could be an impact player for the Minutemen in the future. The UMass defense has been on the short side of recruiting numbers since we went FBS. That could be changing.

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Cleveland.com reports with Blake Frohnapfel and others, MAC East teams are strong at QB.

Cleveland.com also says MAC East teams have issues.

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A Bleacher Report writer has Tajae Sharpe as one of 15 Group-of-Five players you should know.

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The Boston College Blog "BC Interruption" previews Notre Dame and says the Irish won't have any trouble with "cupcake' UMass.

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Recruiting 2015-- Daiquan Kelley II

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I've blogged about Daiquan Kelly, a 6-3 210 pound athlete from Union City, NJ before.

This April 24th article updates his recruiting. Kelly is now ranked #14 in the New Jersey Top 50.

Partial quote from a Scout.com article on Kelly dated April 20th:

"Obviously with those comments from the coaching staff, Syracuse is recruiting Kelly as a safety. The three-star talent prefers to play defense as opposed to offense, despite his abilities as a wide receiver.

In fact, the Orange vaulted to the top of his list after a strong visit.

”It actually boosted them up on my list to number one,” Kelly said. “Just the fact that it felt great being there.”

Kelly said he has visits planned to Michigan State and UMass before making a decision. A return trip to Syracuse is also a possibility."

Besides UMass, Kelly holds offers from Michigan State, Rutgers, Syracuse, BC, Virginia, Pitt and Old Dominion.

Recruiting 2015--Irvin Charles, Sam Madden, Daiquan Kelly and Steven Gonzales

There's been a couple of articles on a quartet  of players UMass has offered for 2015. I've blogged about all four previously.

Irvin Charles, a 6-4 215 pound WR from Haddenfield, NJ.

Sam Madden, a 6-7 335 pound OL from Barnegat HS in NJ.

Steven Gonzalez, a 6-4 315 pound OL from Union City, NJ.

Daiquan Kelley, a 6-3 205 pound WR from Union City, NJ.

This article from NJ.com mentions  three of the players and updates their recruiting.

The Hudson Reporter has an article featuring Daiquan Kelly and Steven Gonzalez.

Irvin Charles gets another mention from this June 23rd article from NJ.com.

Recruiting 2015--Daiquan Kelly II

Kelly family image

This article from NJ.com says UMass is one of the three offers for Daiquan Kelly, a 6-3 205 pound athlete from Union City NJ.

I've blogged about Kelly before.

Kelly also holds offers from Rutgers and Virginia.

Recruiting 2014 and 2015--six prospects

This NJ.com article discusses the top risers in the Spring New Jersey prospect universe. Six of the players have UMass offers.

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Rivals image

I've blogged about Terrance Harris, a 6-2 245 pound DE before.

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George Pacciello image

Jason Cabinda is a 6-1 210 pound LB from Hunterdon Central.

Cabinda's Rivals page here. Had 117 yards rushing and three TD's on 17 carries in one game.

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2015 recruits

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Daiquan Kelly (6-3, 190), WR. ESPN bio here.

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Cinjun Erskine (6-2, 200), ATH. Rivals page here. ESPN page here.

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NJ.com image

Tommy Hatton (6-3, 275), OL. Rivals page here. This article features Hatton.

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247 Sports image.

Steven Gonzalez (6-4, 315), OL. Rivals page here. 247Sports page here.

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 Irvin Charles (6-4, 205), WR. Rivals page here. I've blogged about Charles before.

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