# 2017–18 UMass Minutemen basketball team

The 2017–18 UMass Minutemen basketball team represented the University of Massachusetts Amherst during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Minutemen were led by first-year head coach Matt McCall and played their home games at the William D. Mullins Memorial Center in Amherst, Massachusetts as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 13–20, 5–13 in A-10 play to finish in 13th place. They beat La Salle in the first round of the A-10 tournament before losing in the second round to George Mason.

## Previous season

The Minutemen finished the 2016–17 season 15–18, 4–14 in A-10 play to finish in a 12th place. They defeated Saint Joseph's in the first round of the A-10 tournament before losing to St. Bonaventure.
On March 9, 2017, the school fired head coach Derek Kellogg after nine years and a 155–137 record. Shortly after Kellogg was fired, the school announced that Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey had been hired as the new head coach at UMass. However, shortly before the press conference to announce his hiring, Kelsey announced he would not accept the position. On March 31, the school announced they had hired Chattanooga head coach Matt McCall.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Donte Clark | 0 | G | 6'4" | 188 | RS Junior | Chatham, VA | Graduate transferred to Texas Southern |
| Zach Lewis | 1 | G | 6'3" | 182 | RS Junior | Windsor, CT | Graduate transferred to Iona |
| DeJon Jarreau | 3 | G | 6'5" | 180 | Freshmen | New Orleans, LA | Transferred to Howard College before transferring to Houston |
| Zach Coleman | 14 | F | 6'7" | 215 | RS Junior | Dallas, TX | Graduated transferred to LIU Brooklyn |
| Tyrn Flowers | 24 | F | 6'8" | 205 | Freshman | Waterbury, CT | Transferred to LIU Brooklyn |
| Seth Berger | 33 | F | 6'7" | 214 | RS Junior | Seattle, WA | Graduate transferred to Oregon State |
| Zach Turcotte | 34 | F | 6'7" | 215 | Senior | Boxford, MA | Graduated |
| Brison Gresham | 55 | F/C | 6'9" | 210 | Freshmen | New Orleans, LA | Transferred to Howard College before transferring to Houston |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Jaylen Brantley | 1 | G | 5'11" | 170 | Senior | Springfield, Massachusetts | Transferred from Maryland. Graduate Transfer, eligible immediately. |
| Kieran Hayward | 5 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Sophomore | Sydney, Australia | Transferred from LSU. Under NCAA transfer rules, Hayward will have to sit out in the 2017–18 season. He will have three years of eligibility left. |
| Jonathan Laurent | 4 | F | 6'6" | 216 | Sophomore | Lakeland, FL | Transferred from Rutgers. Under NCAA transfer rules, Cobb will have to sit out in the 2017–18 season. He will have two years of eligibility left. |
| Keon Clergeot | 20 | G | 6'1" | 187 | Sophomore | Winter Haven, FL | Transferred from Memphis. Under NCAA transfer rules, Clergeot will have to sit out in the 2017–18 season. He will have three years of eligibility left. |
| Curtis Cobb | 33 | G | 6'5" | 185 | Sophomore | Fall River, Massachusetts | Transferred from Fairfield. Under NCAA transfer rules, Cobb will have to sit out in the 2017–18 season. He will have two years of eligibility left. |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Khalea Turner-Morris C | Reserve, LA | New Hampton School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 245 lb (111 kg) | May 2, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN grade: 76 ||||||
| Carl Pierre SG | Boston, MA | Boston College High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | N/A | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "UMASS 2017 Player Commits". ESPN.com. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Samba Diallo SF | Sparta, NJ | Pope John XXIII Regional High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Aug 21, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Tre Wood PG | Upper Marlboro, MD | St. John's College High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Oct 6, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 23, 2017. |||||||

## Preseason

In a poll of the league’s head coaches and select media members at the conference's media day, the Minutemen were picked to finish in 12th place in the A-10.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 3, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Springfield College | W 82–60 | | Mullins Center Amherst, MA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm | | UMass Lowell | W 74–69 | 1–0 | Mullins Center (3,857) Amherst, MA |
| Nov 12, 2017* 2:00 pm, NESN | | at Harvard | L 67–70 $^{OT}$ | 1–1 | Lavietes Pavilion (1,636) Boston, MA |
| Nov 19, 2017* 12:00 pm | | Niagara Barclays Center Classic campus site game | W 101–76 | 2–1 | Mullins Center (2,112) Amherst, MA |
| Nov 21, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Western Carolina Barclays Center Classic campus site game | W 85–76 | 3–1 | Mullins Center (2,042) Amherst, MA |
| Nov 24, 2017* 12:00 pm, Stadium | | vs. No. 14 Minnesota Barclays Center Classic | L 51–69 | 3–2 | Steinberg Wellness Center (1,350) Brooklyn, NY |
| Nov 25, 2017* 2:30 pm, Stadium | | vs. BYU Barclays Center Classic | L 66–68 | 3–3 | Barclays Center (3,469) Brooklyn, NY |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Quinnipiac | L 66–68 | 3–4 | TD Bank Sports Center (1,422) Hamden, CT |
| Dec 2, 2017* 2:00 pm, SECN+ | | at South Carolina | L 70–76 | 3–5 | Colonial Life Arena (10,382) Columbia, SC |
| Dec 6, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Holy Cross | W 64–50 | 4–5 | Mullins Center (2,395) Amherst, MA |
| Dec 9, 2017* 3:00 pm, NESN | | Providence | W 72–63 | 5–5 | Mullins Center (4,015) Amherst, MA |
| Dec 16, 2017* 3:00 pm, NBCSN | | Georgia | W 72–62 | 6–5 | Mullins Center (4,744) Amherst, MA |
| Dec 20, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Georgia State | L 63–71 | 6–6 | Mullins Center (2,004) Amherst, MA |
| Dec 22, 2017* 4:00 pm | | Maine | W 74–63 | 7–6 | Mullins Center (1,481) Amherst, MA |
| A-10 regular season ||||||
| Dec 30, 2017 2:30 pm, NBCSN | | at St. Bonaventure | L 78–98 | 7–7 (0–1) | Reilly Center (4,945) Olean, NY |
| Jan 3, 2018 7:00 pm, NESN+ | | George Mason | L 72–80 $^{OT}$ | 7–8 (0–2) | Mullins Center (2,243) Amherst, MA |
| Jan 6, 2018 12:00 pm, NBCSN | | at Dayton | W 62–60 | 8–8 (1–2) | UD Arena (12,654) Dayton, OH |
| Jan 10, 2018 7:00 pm, NESN+ | | La Salle | W 86–76 $^{OT}$ | 9–8 (2–2) | Mullins Center (2,056) Amherst, MA |
| Jan 14, 2018 5:00 pm, NBCSN | | Saint Joseph's | W 72–69 | 10–8 (3–2) | Mullins Center (2,476) Amherst, MA |
| Jan 17, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Rhode Island | L 51–73 | 10–9 (3–3) | Ryan Center (5,583) Kingston, RI |
| Jan 20, 2018 2:00 pm, Stadium | | Saint Louis | L 47–66 | 10–10 (3–4) | Mullins Center (4,121) Amherst, MA |
| Jan 24, 2018 7:00 pm | | at La Salle | L 72–87 | 10–11 (3–5) | Tom Gola Arena (1,214) Philadelphia, PA |
| Jan 27, 2018 2:00 pm, NBCSN | | at Fordham | L 69–82 | 10–12 (3–6) | Rose Hill Gymnasium (2,234) Bronx, NY |
| Jan 30, 2018 6:30 pm, CBSSN | | No. 22 Rhode Island | L 83–85 | 10–13 (3–7) | Mullins Center (4,194) Amherst, MA |
| Feb 3, 2018 2:00 pm, NBCSB | | Dayton | W 86–82 $^{2OT}$ | 11–13 (4–7) | Mullins Center (4,245) Amherst, MA |
| Feb 10, 2018 4:00 pm | | at Saint Joseph's | L 73–85 | 11–14 (4–8) | Hagan Arena (3,751) Philadelphia, PA |
| Feb 14, 2018 7:00 pm, NESN+ | | George Washington | L 72–83 | 11–15 (4–9) | Mullins Center (2,641) Amherst, MA |
| Feb 17, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Davidson | L 78–83 | 11–16 (4–10) | John M. Belk Arena (4,202) Davidson, NC |
| Feb 21, 2018 7:00 pm, NESN+ | | VCU | L 78–82 | 11–17 (4–11) | Mullins Center (3,322) Amherst, MA |
| Feb 24, 2018 6:00 pm | | at George Mason | L 76–78 $^{OT}$ | 11–18 (4–12) | EagleBank Arena (4,228) Fairfax, VA |
| Feb 28, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Richmond | L 65–90 | 11–19 (4–13) | Robins Center (5,618) Richmond, VA |
| Mar 3, 2018 8:00 pm, NESN+ | | Duquesne | W 85–75 | 12–19 (5–13) | Mullins Center (2,953) Amherst, MA |
| A-10 tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 2018 6:00 pm, Stadium | (13) | vs. (12) La Salle First round | W 69–67 | 13–19 | Capital One Arena (5,333) Washington, D.C. |
| Mar 8, 2018 2:30 pm, NBCSN | (13) | vs. (5) George Mason Second round | L 75–80 | 13–20 | Capital One Arena (6,483) Washington, D.C. |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||