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Lowell

2K views 29 replies 19 participants last post by  CourtsideNE 
#1 ·
One thing I hope Lowell does is pick up a few transfers immediately in order to make their transition to D1 more palatable. Similar to when Stony Brook came into the AE...... I think they brought in a 1 year transfer named Leon Brisport (if I recall his name correctly) from Providence. It would be nice if they can compete as quickly as Bryant has in the NEC.
 
#7 ·
Albany, Bing & Stony Brook all did it very quickly...though Bing certainly sold their soul to the devil to get there, but the other 2 did it well and are still doing well. Florida Gulf Coast has been very good after only a few years and I'm sure there are others that didn't take too long to get going.

It's not easy, but with the right coach and the excitement that moving up creates, it can be done.

And if only takes a couple recruiting classes to be at .500, that's pretty damn good!
 
#11 ·
Bing was certainly respectable prior to the Broadus debacle. Al Walker had some pretty good teams back then.
Binghamton had by far the best start to the D-I era of the three SUNY's, and was competitive in the AE almost right away (going 10-8 in AE play in both their 2nd and 3rd seasons of D-I). Walker was a perfect fit for the job of taking a D-II program (that had never really been all that good at the D-II or even D-III level) and turning it into a respectable D-I program.

He struggled with recruiting and ultimately wasn't the right guy to get the team over the hump of simply being respectable, and it was the right time for a change when Walker was replaced by Broadus.

Good idea, bad execution. Really, really bad execution. Really, really, spectacularly bad execution.

I don't know what the coaching situation is at Lowell, but I'd certainly recommend Walker to any school that was making the transition to D-I.
 
#15 ·
Binghamton had by far the best start to the D-I era of the three SUNY's, and was competitive in the AE almost right away (going 10-8 in AE play in both their 2nd and 3rd seasons of D-I). Walker was a perfect fit for the job of taking a D-II program (that had never really been all that good at the D-II or even D-III level) and turning it into a respectable D-I program.

He struggled with recruiting and ultimately wasn't the right guy to get the team over the hump of simply being respectable, and it was the right time for a change when Walker was replaced by Broadus.

Good idea, bad execution. Really, really bad execution. Really, really, spectacularly bad execution.

I don't know what the coaching situation is at Lowell, but I'd certainly recommend Walker to any school that was making the transition to D-I.
Actually Binghamton's initial Division I recruiting class was OUTSTANDING - but it wasn't Walker, it was Randy Dunton (Walker's assistant) who was a fantastic recruiter who landed them: Nick Billings obviously (super athletic 7 footer who at one point was viewed as a legit NBA prospect), Andy Hannan was a 6'6" highly skilled wing who made a big impact as a freshman before transferring to UNLV where he played on scholarship for the rest of his career, Sebastian Hermenier (a 6'6" Brenton/Voelkel/Rowley type), JuCo transfer Anthony Green (A terrific, All-Conference point guard), JuCo Billy Williams (a 6'4" athletic man without a position and dirty work player), JuCo Brandon Carter (athletic energy wing), transfers Brett Watson (PG) and Stan Occitti (6'9" big) who won a national championship at UConn... it was a really good recruiting class for anyone, and absolutely outstanding for a team's first D1 class...

Unfortunately, Dunton left and Walker could never duplicate his recruiting.
 
#12 ·
Apart from going 0-2 and/or 0-3 against UVM every year in the AE conference for their entire existence, I hope UMass-Lowell becomes very good very quickly.
 
#13 ·
What kind of facilities do they have? I would assume that, to some extent, this will impact their ability to recruit, and therefore their ability to compete.

I am hoping they get an at large bid their first year, but then again, I have been hoping for an at large bid from the ECAC/NAC/AE for almost 30 years. As we all know, hope = disappointment deferred.
 
#19 · (Edited)
#20 ·
What is the capacity of Costello Gym? It does look pretty small...
 
#22 ·
Really?!??!? It doesn't look that big at all...I'm very surprised.

What about Tsongas? I have seen a couple of hockey games in there (several years ago) and I really like the facility.
 
#23 ·
The capacity at Tsongas varies. We just had a little over 7,000 for the Northeatstern game and 6,700 for the Merrimack game. Both were listed as sellouts. I'll bet basketball capacity would be somewhere near 8,000. Meaning unless we host Duke or Kentucky, I think we'll have plenty of room to spread out.
 
#26 ·
Looks like about five fold-out rows on the side opposite the benches, and there are a few rows on the opposite baseline, but it still doesn't look like over 1800 unless there's standing room on top.
 
#27 ·
There is no way Costello holds 2200 people. On the floor, there are five rows of foldout bleachers on one side and on one endline, with nothing on the floor behind the benches. On the second level there are about eight rows of very steep seating, which used to just be concrete, but now have plastic tops after the renovation. I'd say 1,500 tops, but probably realistically closer to 1,200. That said, I've never seen many people there for any UML game.
 
#30 ·
Like most New England D2 schools, UML has a small contingent of ardent fans that expands a bit when they play local schools or at tournament time. Reality is, though, the facility is woefully substandard for AE plus the parking is several layers below fair. Getting to Costello isn't easy either. Herenda is well connected as the rumor of OOC games suggests and he is a better than average recruiter which puts him ahead of several AE schools. Don't sell the talent level of D2 schools short as many AE schools recruit the same 1s, 2s and 3s as UML has in the past. The D2 schools may end up with under-sized kids but many of the kids can compete just fine in the AE. Might not be stars, but could certainly fill rotation slots. The most recent bottom feeders in AE would be reasonably challenged by the top level of D2. And I know most of you will howl at that, but think hard about Bing, UMBC and UNH before you answer. Add a few ready for semi-prime time Jucos and who knows.
 
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