Alex Piechocki commits to UMass

Alex Piechocki, a 6-5 248 pound DT commits to UMass. I've blogged about Piechocki before.

This article from yesterday's Daily News features Piechocki's verbal to UMass.

Recruiting 2016/2017-- Alex Piechocki and Domenico Cipriani

Mike Traini has a post in his "Fight Massachusetts" site about two defensive recruits for the Minutemen.

Scout.com image

Domenico Cipriani , is a 6-3 290 pound DL who was red-shirted in 2016.

This article from June of 2016 features Cipriani.

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NCSA image

Alex Piechocki is a 6-6 260 pound DE from Attica, NY.

Piechocki's 247Sports page.

Hudl.com has video.

NCSA Recruiting page has some stats.

This article from 2015 features Piechocki.

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UMass Football News--July 15th, 2017

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UMass currently has 14 defensive lineman on the roster:

Ali Ali-Musa  #90 DL 6-2 274 SR 12-11 GP-GS 16 UT 21 AT 37 TT 4.5 TFL 1 PD 2 FF
Domenico Cipriani #63 DL 6-3 290 RSFR Redshirted in 2016
Basit Dennis #69 DL 6-1 268 RSJR 3-0 GP_GS 1 TT
Da'Sean Downey #4 DL 6-4 225 SR 10-6 GP-GS 25 UT 23 At 44 UT 8.5 TFL 4 FF 6 SACKS
Leon Flanagan, #54 DL 6-1 212 SO 2-0 GP-GS
DaVone Hall, #75 DL 6-3 315 RSJR JUCO transfer
D'Shan Harley #88 DL 6-5 215 RSSO 7-1 GP-GS 3 UT 3 AT 6 TT
Sha-Ki Holines #95 DL 6-3 257 RSSR 12-9 GP-GS 18 UT 26 AT 44 TT 7.0 TFL 1 FF
Roderick Jones, #11 DL 6-2 260 RSSR 10-1 GP-GS 13 TT 1 TFL
Mario Patton #96 DL 6-0 297 RSSO 12-0 GP-GS 5 UT 7 AT 12 TT 1.0 TFL 1 PD
Alex Piechocki #91 DL 6-6 260 FR in for Spring semister
Joe Previte #61 DL 6-2 269 RSJR 8-4 GP-GS 4 UT 18 AT 22 TT 4.5 TFL 1 FR
Sharif Saleem #93 DL 6-5 251 RSFR Redshirted in 2016
Charly Timite #94 DL 6-3 307 RSFR Redshirted in 2016

Although it has not been announced, most UMass fans expect the Minutemen to change to a 4-3 base defense. As football junkies know, defensive linemen are the scarcest recruits.

The college football magazines predict UMass will start Joe Previte and Ali Ali-Musa as the two DT's with Da'Sean Downey and Sha-Ki Holines as the two DE's.

Downey led the Minutemen with 6 sacks in 2016 and he could prosper in a 4-3 as there would be less unassigned offensive linemen facing the defense.

Joe Previte was having a good season before suffering a elbow injury against South Carolina.

UMass does get four new defensive linemen for 2017. Domenico Cipriani, Sharif Saleem and Charly Timite come off redshirt seasons. JUCO transfer DaVone Hall weighs 305 and could provide immediate help inside.

Charlie Timite was a 247Sports three-star recruit. Sharif Saleem was two stars. Cipriani was unrated by recruiting services.

The Minutemen brought in five defensive linemen for 2017 and Alex Piechocki and DaVone Hall were in for the Spring semester. Two-star 2017 recruits Hunter Brown, Jake Byczko and  Caeleb Washington are probably looking at a redshirt year.

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Wednesday--January 26th, 2017--Nine January Enrollees join Spring Ball

Part 1

UMass has announced the Minutemen will have nine enrollees in for Spring Semester and Spring ball.

UMass announcement here.

Matty Vautour has a post here.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a longer post on the newcomers here.

Joining UMass will be three defensive grayshirts:

Patrick Volcy 6-3 190 pound Safety from Naples FL. I've blogged about Volcy before. He was a 247Sports two-star player. He's also friends with Claudin Cherelus, who just verbaled to UMass on Tuesday.

Alex Piechocki 6-6 260 pound DE from Attica, NY. Piechocki was not rated coming out of HS. I've blogged about Piechocki before.

DaVonn Hall 6-3 315 DL. Hall was not rated coming out of HS. I've blogged about Hall before.

We've been talking about how the defense struggled in 2016. These three additions fill needs on the DL and defensive secondary. Defensive linemen are the rarest recruits. Piechocki had Power Five DE size. Hopefully, he make some of those schools regret they didn't recruit him. Hall will have two years of eligibility and should be in the defensive line rotation. Volcy also has FBS size in a Safety. With Spring Ball and Fall practice he may not redshirt.

UMass also add three early enrollees:

Mike Ruane 6-1 220 pound LB from Rumson, NJ. I've blogged about Ruane multiple times before. Ruane is the second-highest rated UMass recruit (so far). He seems like a high-energy positive guy who could be a future captain for the Minutemen.

Jaylen Larry 6-4 290 OL from Milford Academy. I've blogged about Larry before. He was a ESPN three-star player coming out of HS with two other FBS offers. Offensive linemen do not often start as freshman, but Larry is older and he could contribute this year.

Mike Curtis a 6-3 205 QB from Trinity Valley Community College. I blogged about Curtis in December. With Ross Comis out of Spring ball and likely only limited availability for Fall Camp, Curtis could be in the mix for the #2 slot this fall.

All in all this is a nice group. All FBS-level players.

I'll look at the three preferred walk-ons in tomorrow's blog post.

Monday--April 3rd, 2017

Jeff Lajoie of the Hampshire Gazette profiles new UMass DL coach Dave Wissman.

Wissman will have more defensive line depth this year. That may have been part of the reason to switch to a four-down front.

Ali Ali-Musa 6-2 274 SR
Domenico Cipriani 6-3 290 RS FR
Basit Dennis 6-1 268 RS JR
Leon Flanagan, Jr 6-1 212 SO (listed as a LB last year. DE this year?)
DaVone Hall 6-3 315 JUCO RS JR
D'Shan Harley 6-5 215 RS SO
Sha-Ki Holines 6-3 257 RS SR
Roderick Jones 6-2 260 RS SR
Mario Patton 6-0 297 RS SO
Alex Piechocki 6-6 260 FR
Joe Previte 6-2 269 RS JR
Sharif Saleem 6-5 251 RS FR
Charlie Timite 6-3 307 RS FR

I would speculate Ali Ali-Musa, Sha-Ki Holines and Mario Patton would be three of the starting four DL. That would leave one position open. Joe Previte played well before suffering an elbow injury late in the season.

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Underdog Dynasty previews the 2017 Sun Belt conference. UMass will be an honorary member this year as we play Georgia Southern, Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina.

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Georgia Southern returns to their signature option offense this year and ran for 371 yards and five TD's in their Spring Game Saturday.

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UMass Football News--June 17th, 2019

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has some UMass news and notes including some roster deletions. Alex Piechocki (DNP in 2018), Leon Flanagan (8 GP-8 GS 17 UT 24 AT 46 TT 4.0-9 TFL), Hunter Brown (DNP in 2018) and Bakhai Goodson (DNP in 2018).

In addition OL James Reilly (DNP in 2018) is leaving the program.

Except for Flanagan, all the leaving players were reserves. UMass has four offensive linemen and four defensive linemen coming in the 2019 recruiting class. A number of those are three-star recruits and playing time was probably going to be limited for those who left. In addition, there are three more OL verbaled for the 2020 class.

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CBS Sports Fantasy Football section covers the Arizona Cardinals including Andy Isabella.

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Syracuse signs DE Leon Loweery, who had a UMass offer.

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UMass Football News--August 6th, 2018

The Minutemen ran their first scrimmage of the Fall camp yesterday. The UMass website has an image gallery from the scrimmage.

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Not a lot of football news on the intertubes this morning. Mass Live has not done a UMass story in more than a month.

Lets look at the redshirt freshmen for 2018. If I counted right, UMass will have 18 RSFR available this year.

In the already crowded WR corps we have:

Zac Simon 5-10 180.

Jovohn Tucker 5-8 165

Patrick Volcy 6-2 210

Melvin Hill 6-2 195

One new TE becomes available.

Solomon Siskind 6-4 220

One RB.

Victor Santiago 5-9 165

Three offensive linemen.

Spencer Goldberg 6-2 280

Jaylen Larry 6-3 275

Brian Abosi 6-8 310

One LS

Harry Blair 6-3 205

One kicker

Evan Padilla 5-7 160

Seven defensive players become available:

One Safety

Claudin Cherrelus 6-1 210

Two CB's

Chris Hunt 6-0 185

Brian Roberts Jr 6-0 195

Four DL's

Chris DiTommaso 6-4 275

Zack Loan 5-11 240

Alex Piechocki 6-5 255

Caeleb Washington 6-1 250

Of the  offensive linemen Brian Abosi could make the two-deep. Maybe all of the defensive linemen might be in the rotation. Chris DiTommaso could start. The Safety position is pretty deep, but Claudin Cherrelus will get some reps.

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Wednesday--March 29th, 2017

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There's a new version of the 2017 Spring roster up. It has the early enrollees from January. The revised roster shows the numbers they were assigned.

Michael Curtis QB 6-2 210 # 17  (ex James Sosinski)

Jake Froehlich LB 6-1 245 #47 (ex Michael Dowe)

Spencer Goldberg OL 6-4 295 # 70 (ex Ryan Johnson)

DaVone Hall DL 6-3 315 #75 (not assigned in 2016)

Jaylen Larry OL 6-3 287 # 76 (ex Tyshon Henderson)

Alex Piechocki DL 6-6 260 # 91 (ex Chris Carter)

Mike Ruane LB 6-0 227 # 33 (ex Rodney Mills)

Patrick Volcy WR 6-3 190 # 80 (ex Jalen Williams)

David Weinstock OL 6-1 287 # 78 (ex Matt Sparks)

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Speaking of Jalen Williams, he worked out for the 49rs.

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Kyle Daluz of the UMass Daily Collegian has a post on new UMass DL coach Dave Wissman.

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Buffalo Low Down.com has a profile of Vladimir Ducasse. Vlad's been an OG most of his pro career. Up State NY.com asks if he can play right tackle.

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USF DB Hassan Childs was shot multiple times in a possible road rage incident.  The Minutemen play at USF on October 14th.

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UMass Football News--March 28th, 2018

Matty Vautour reports the young UMass defensive line is coming together this Spring.

Matty reports the starting DL looks like:

Joe Previte RSSR 6-2 265. Started all 12 games in 2017. Totaled 10 UT 15 AT 25 TT 3 TFL 1 FR

Leon Flanagan, Jr  JR 6-2 220. 9 GP 0 GS 9 UT 7 AT 16 TT 3 TFL 1 BKUP 1 INT

Jake Byczo SO 6-3 250 12 GP 0 GS 6 UT 17 AT 23 TT 2.0 TFL

Chris DiTommaso SO 6-4 275 Redshirt in 2017

For reserves:

Mario Patton RSJR 6-1 315 11 GP 0 GS 2 UT 6 AT 8 TT 2 BKUP

Also on the Spring roster are:

Zack Loane SO 5-11 240 Redshirted in 2017

Basit Dennis RSSR 6-1 270 1 GP 0 GS in 2017

Davone Hall, SR RSSR  6-3 325 DNP in 2017

Alex Piechocki SO 6-5 255 Redshirted in 2017

Caleb Washington, 6-1 250 Redshirted in 2017

Charlie Timite RSSO 6-3 275 12 GP 0 GS 5 UT 5 AT 10 TT 1 TFL.

In the 2018 recruiting class are:

Uchenna Ezewike 6-2 220

Shannon Junior 6-3 210

Arnold Mbembe 6-6 240

Timothy Moulton 6-3 240

For 2018, the Minutemen defensive line looks light by FBS standards. Leon Flanagan will probably be the rush DE. Let's hope they're all fast and highly motivated...

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Old Dominion gets their best WR back from a season-ending injury during the UMass game last year.

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