America East Basketball: Media Day for UMass Lowell

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The America East Conference wrapped up their media day on Thursday with the men’s head coaches talking about their teams and the upcoming season. UMass Lowell head coach Pat Duquette had his opportunity to look ahead to the season. But before that happens, a look back at how last season ended is worth revisiting.

When March arrived and the conference tournament was put together, the River Hawks found themselves in pool play in Durham, NH. It was here where the team went on a run that placed them in the conference championship game in Hartford. Even though their performance in the title game did not go as planned, UMass Lowell gained some valuable experience that should do them a world of good when this year begins.

Duquette is happy to be back on the court with this team. He is excited to be playing non-league games and a full schedule, which for them will be 31 total games. He mentioned how nice it will be to be playing in front of fans this year, which was not the case at all last year. In the preseason poll that was released after the coaches spoke, the River Hawks were picked to finish sixth in the conference this season. This is a team that returns ten players from last year’s squad that came within a game of winning their first conference title since joining America East. Junior forward Connor Withers, who led the team in rebounds per game at 6.1, and was second in scoring at 11.4, leads the returners from last year’s team. The noticeable difference will be the departure of star guard Obadiah Noel and his 21.4 points per game. Coach Duquette said, “This will be a much different team without Noel.”

What will also be different will be the new players that have joined the program. Five transfers and one recruit have been brought in. When asked about the transfers Duquette said “it was not by design.” He went on to say “it just happened that way.” He does like the talent and experience that these players bring to the program. The good news about the transfers is four of the five played division one hoops last season. But it does beg the question, will there be enough playing time for everyone? The lone recruit is 6-7 forward Ephraim Acquah from Hagerstown, Md. Williamsport High School. He was a three-year varsity member who averaged 11.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.1 steals per game. He was an All-County First Team selection as well as team captain.

The coach is hoping that the added experience that these players bring to the program will blend in with the core group that is already in place. When the season gets underway on November 9 that question will start to be answered.