UMASS announces signing... a pitcher?

Coach Ford signs deal to pitch for the Red Sox. Sort of. On Monday May 9th, Coach Ford will throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park when the Sox take on the Oakland A's.

Tickets can be purchased here. It is a 7:05 start - Get there early to see him throw out the first pitch. The best seats available right now are Section G14 - Box 13.

It is amazing to watch him go out of his way to become a member of the UMASS and greater Massachusetts community. Everything he is doing now will pay dividends in terms of UMASS Hoops tickets sold this season.

If I had told you 6 months ago that the UMASS basketball coach would be bringing this high a level of excitement to the team, school, and community 6 months before Midnight Madness, would you have believed me?

More on Saihou Jassey

Lexington Herald Leader (Scroll Down):

• Rose Hill's Saihou Jassey, the 6-6 Gambian who made the Kentucky All-Stars even though he didn't play basketball this season, has a 41-inch vertical jump and an abundance of athleticism. He played at Montrose Christian near Baltimore as a junior, and is expected to sign with Travis Ford at Massachusetts.

There really hasn't been alot of news on this guy, probably because he was inelgible to play this year due to Kentucky state High School basketball rules, but I like how the Kentucky papers are reporting his comming to UMASS as "expected" (as opposed to Massachusetts papers which have been more conservative).

I also liked it better when he was 6'8".

For the record, I'll take the 6'6" if he really has a 41" vertical. I would have to jump four times...

Third (and final) recruit could be waiting in the wings...

GazetteNET has breaking news...

Saihou (pronounced Say-hoe) Jassey, a 6-foot-7 forward from Gambia, by way of Ashland, Ky., plans to sign with the Minutemen in the next few weeks. Jassey will be the third native of Africa on the UMass roster joining Stephane Lasme (Gabon) and Alassane Kouyate (Mali).

Jassey has been in the United States for the past two seasons. He played at the Montrose Christian School outside of Baltimore as a junior before moving to Kentucky last year. That state's transfer rules barred Jassey from playing during the 2004-05 season.

Largely because of his year off, Jassey has flown under the national recruiting radar somewhat, but he's gotten some attention by making the Kentucky roster in the prestigious Kentucky-Indiana All-Star game.

Here is is former coach (and a former assistant to Coach Ford):

''Saihou is a big-kept secret because he didn't play ball this year. He can play on the wing and he can also go inside,'' Hicks said. ''Kentucky is a really good basketball state and he's the best player in the state of Kentucky as a senior. He's got a 41-inch vertical jump. He has an unbelievable body. He's very muscular and strong. He can jump off two feet and touch his head on the side of the rim. I've never seen anybody do that.''

He sounds like a perfect fit for the three guard offense - Is anyone else getting excited?

If this pans out, we are done recruiting for next year - Although Vautour (on GazetteNET again) speculates that Alassane Kouyate's career maybe cut short by the knee injuries that have sidelined him the past two years. We will keep an eye on that...

UPDATE: Indiana All Stars coach Gary Forrest says:

"He's a very athletic young man," Forrest said, "and very receptive to coaching."

And Coach Ford IS OFFICIALLY done with Eastern Kentucky....

The Lexington Herald-Ledger reports that Coach Ford as agreed to pay EK $150k to end his contractual obligations. The deal includes a confidentiality clause and is not as bad as the reported $225k that EK had been claiming they were owed...

Neither here nor there.

The Republican fleshes out some details about Life

Check it out:

According to Ford, Life can catch and shoot, but is also a strong ball-handler who can create his own shot. He can play shooting guard or small forward, which are virtually interchangeable positions in Ford's three-guard offense.

"He's an underrated defender, too," Ford said. "He's long, and he's very tough."

Life, 21, joins incoming freshman Chris Lowe on the 2005-06 Minutemen. Artie Bowers and Maurice Maxwell return as perimeter players, but the additions of Lowe and Life figure to create fierce competition for playing time.

Two thoughts:

1. His ballhandling skills will come in handy as he will play the role of secondary ballhandler (or even point forward) when we push the ball.

2. I think the article oversells the competition for minutes. There will be many substitutions in this type of offense, everyone's minutes will look shorter as they are subbed in and out, but everyone will get as many or even more chances to put the peach in the basket. This is not your daddy's UMASS team.

Here is the official announcement...

JC All-American James Life Signs NLI With UMass Basketball

Some highlights:

A guard, Life is one of the most decorated junior college players in the nation as he was third in the nation in scoring at Manatee Community College in Bradenton, Fla., this past season scoring 25.4 points per game.

SNIP

He was honored as a second team National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American in 2005 in addition to being the Florida Community College Athletic Association (FCCAA) Player of the Year, NJCAA Region VIII Player of the Year, Florida State Player of the Year and Suncoast Conference Player of the Year. He was also a member of the FCCAA All-State First Team and the NJCAA All-Region VIII Team.

"We are thrilled to have James joining the UMass basketball family," said Ford. "He is a Junior College All-American, who was among to top scorers in the country. James is a deadly shooter from the perimeter that we were seeking. James lives and breathes basketball. He is a gym rat who will be a great addition to our team."

Life had a tremendous two-year career for Manatee CC setting 12 school records. He stands as the school's all-time scoring leader (1,341) as well as holding career marks in scoring average (22.5), three-point field goals (179), free throws made (286).

As a sophomore in 2004-05, he played in 30 games, scoring a school-record 762 points. That mark was also the most of any junior college player in the nation this past season. He made 91 three-point field goals, also a school-record and third-most of any player in the country. He also averaged 4.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for the Lancers. Life also shot 77.3 percent from the free-throw line (183-of-237). The 183 made free throws also set a Manatee single-season record.

He scored a school-record and career-high 55 points against Pasco-Hernando CC on Feb. 9, as he hit 10-of-14 three-point field goals in the game which he shot 20-of-32 overall from the floor.

He sounds good for us - a deadly shooter who can split minutes with Maxwell and Bowers when we push the ball (always).

The only thing missing from this article is an assurance that the kid loves to run!

If you aren't excited yet...

Read this article.

I'll give you time.

Finished?

If you still aren't excited, call 911, because you have no pulse.

To recap: In his first 18 days since being hired at UMass, Ford bought a house, hired a staff, signed a point guard and met half of Western Massachusetts.

You know what I did in the last 18 days? Lets just say its less than that.

"I'm definitely putting down roots," he says. "UMass is a place where every day I fall in love with it more and more. It's an incredibly beautiful area, and the people are so nice. And it doesn't hurt that they love their basketball."

He is striking exactly the right tone for the starving fans of UMASS.

2 scholarships filled, 1 to go...

UMASS inks JuCo transfer with "uncanny" long range shooting ability:

On Tuesday, Life couldn't have felt happier. The 6-foot-4 guard with an uncanny long-range shooting ability, signed with the University of Massachusetts, the same school that produced the legendary "Dr. J" Julius Irving.

"I was up there last weekend and really liked it. I feel a little more confident in my decision," Life said. "I think I cut myself short by announcing I was going to Utah State. UMass needs a scorer and that's what I do. They told me I would play major minutes."

SNIP

Life, the Suncoast Conference Player of the Year, averaged 25.4 points per game and finished his career at MCC with a school record 1,341 points.

Life had verbaled to Utah State, but went back on that commitment when UMASS came calling.

Anyone else excited to see this kid stretch some zone defenses next year?

It looks like some of the pieces of an up-tempo offense are in place for next year. We have one more scholarship (by my calculations) and I am betting its either an athletic small forward or a center who can get up and down the floor.

Final Assistant Spot Filled

Adam Ginsburg is hired. As an aside, Ty Weeks was interviewed for the open coaching slot.

One thing to note - the only criticism I say of the Coach Ford's hiring was that he had no Massachusetts or NY or Northeast recruiting ties. In addition to recruiting nationally at Eastern Kentucky, his staff is laden with coaches with NY and/or New England ties. It should be fun to see who this group can sign in the next few years.

Read the article, its lengthy, but there is good information on the staff.

We Have A Point!

Mount Vernon's Chris Lowe has signed a NLI with UMASS.

"We are thrilled to welcome Chris Lowe to the UMass basketball family," said Ford. "He is coming from one of the finest programs in America. He experienced great success in high school and we are looking for him to be a player which we can build our program with. We are looking forward to making Chris into the best player, student and person he can be at UMass."

Lowe, who stands 6-0, 160 pounds, comes to UMass from Mount Vernon High School in New York where he was a two-year starter for the Knights. He led the Bob Cimmino-coached squad to the New York State Class AA Federation Championship and the Class AA New York State Public Title in 2004 with a 27-3 record. The Knights were ranked No. 7 nationally in USA Today's Super 25 Final Rankings.

In the championship game, Lowe made a name for himself with tenacious defense holding future then-Lincoln High School point guard Sebastian Telfair to a season-low 14 points in a 66-52 victory. Telfair later skipped college and went on to be the No. 13 pick by the Portland Trailblazers in 2004.

As a senior, this past season, Lowe averaged 12.9 points and 6.5 assists and 4.5 steals per game as he was named to Westchester County's Section I First Team, All-Conference and honored as a Second Team Journal News All-Star. The Knights finished 20-4 this past season falling in the Class AA Championship game. As a junior, he was named honorable mention by the Journal News.

In addition to his scholastic play, Lowe was a standout for the famed AAU New York Panthers as well as being named one of the top point guards at the Reebok ABCD Camp last summer.

Mount Vernon has produced many college and NBA stars including most recently Ben Gordon of the Chicago Bulls, who led UConn to the 2004 National Championship.

From Japan to... UMASS?

Subscription Required:

You've heard about the Japanese media. How they covers their native athletes turned American stars relentlessly, like Ichiro Suzuki? Well, add K.J. Matsui to the list.

SNIP

Matsui should become the first Japanese-born male to play Division 1 basketball in the United States. He's considering several Ivy League schools, as well as UMass, UNC-Greensboro and Davidson. So a throng of Japanese reporters lined up to ask him about it.

I was more intrigued by this before we signed two guards, now it seems to be on the unlikely side.

Run and Gun

Pretty good article about Coach Ford

Let's hope we are all in running shape!

From the Not-What-I-Want-The-Basketball-Team-To-Win (But I'll Take It) Department

UMASS Sports Radio wins AP regional Play-by-Play Award:

For the third straight year and for the fourth time in five years, UMass Sports Radio was named the best sports radio play-by-play in Massachusetts and Rhode Island by the Associated Press. This time, the AP selected the UMass basketball broadcasts as the best. The winning entry was UMass' 61-59 win over UConn. The UMass Sports Radio basketball broadcast team featured Bob Behler on play-by-play and Kevin Kennedy on color commentary. Adam Frenier was the producer and the scoreboard host and Matt Goldstein handled stats and highlights on the halftime and postgame show. They were honored at a banquet at the Newton Marriott on Saturday night.

Sorry for the Hiatus

I've been a little busy with work....

The next few posts will be catching up on some business....

From Scout.com - UMASS Prospects from the Class of 2005

Not much to this yet, just names on a page. I would imagine that some of this information is dated, as well. I will follow the recruiting as it heats up.

The part I'm not looking forward to? Going up against the #10 rated player twice a year for four years. Ahmad Nivins - verbaled to St. Joe's.

Began to emerge onto the scene in the summer of his senior year. Game is laced with potential.

Great.