AMHERST — Tre Mitchell entered the ring of media Monday and a few familiar faces entered the scrum.
His fellow freshman teammates inserted their water bottles as fake microphones while waiting for their chances to face the firing squad of reporters. What at first seems like a harmless juvenile prank pulled by dozens of athletes across the professional and college ranks actually symbolizes a change in the culture around the UMass basketball program.
This group of players is far looser and more free-spirited than the team last year, a sign of the massive turnover that occurred this offseason. But from that destruction came the breath of fresh air that has re-energized the veterans and coach Matt McCall alike ahead of the coming season.
“It’s been big,” junior guard Carl Pierre said. “It’s kind of setting up even later on down the line. Recruits are coming in and seeing the change and seeing the fresh energy and taking interest in it. As of right now, it’s breathing a new air into the program. We’ve been in a drought for countless years, but this is step one to turning that around.”
Part of the reason for the new energy are the seven freshmen, all of whom are naive to some extent about what lies ahead for them over the next five months. But with those growing pains comes a willingness to learn and be adaptable, focusing more on the team’s success than their own personal accomplishments. Mitchell said he doesn’t think about the hype that has surrounded him this offseason because he just wants to focus on whatever role McCall thinks is best for the 6-foot-9 center.
McCall has consistently had a smile on his face this offseason when speaking with the media and his tone has been far different than his first two years as coach. There’s more optimism in his voice when he speaks because he realizes that for the first time in his tenure in Amherst, the train is moving in the right direction toward restoring the Minutemen to their former glory.
“There’s going to be some growing pains early here, but this is about the bigger picture,” McCall said. “This is about changing our culture, this is about changing UMass culture and we felt like we have that piece of it moving in the right direction. (Daily Collegian editor Amin Touri) asked me earlier do I feel better now than I did a year ago? One hundred percent because of that.”
The Minutemen began building this chemistry in August when they had their 10 practices and subsequent trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Even short-handed on the court, the trip gave the team valuable time to bond and spend time with one another away from basketball. That was far more important, McCall said, to the preparation it gave the freshmen to UMass’ offensive and defensive concepts.
Sophomore Samba Diallo said the players have started to build the network of trust that will be necessary when things inevitably go wrong this season. Even in Saturday’s secret scrimmage against Hofstra, Diallo said he noticed the Minutemen being able to handle in-game adversity better than they did last season.
“The one difference is the connection,” Diallo said. “This team is more connected, we’re pretty much together 24/7, so that plays a big role when we play a team and things aren’t going the way we want. Being together off the floor, that’s what helps us a lot on the floor when things aren’t going our way.”
Everyone around the program expects there to be some learning curve this season for the freshmen, although it’s impossible to predict when that will happen. UMass should be favorites on paper in four of its first five games and there is time in the schedule to find a rhythm before the gauntlet begins right before Thanksgiving with games against defending national champion Virginia, Rutgers and South Carolina in a span of two weeks.
But there are still 12 days of practice and one exhibition game left before the season opener Nov. 5 against UMass-Lowell, and McCall is savoring every last one of those sessions. He said as much as he wants to complain about how inconsistent the Minutemen have been at executing, he also understands this team is young and giving a maximum effort every day.
“I leave practice every single day and sometimes you’re banging your head against the wall just about the execution piece,” McCall said. “But you’ve got to keep in mind we have seven freshmen and they’re giving us all the have, and that’s all we can ask for right now. … It’s a great group and I can honestly say I love going to practice every single day because these guys are giving us everything they have.”
Josh Walfish can be reached at jwalfish@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshWalfishDHG. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.