Friday, November 14 at Ohio State (7 p.m.)
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Sunday, November 16 at Rhode Island (2 p.m.)
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LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell men's basketball team will open its 2014-15 campaign with a pair of road games this week. The River Hawks will play its season opener at The Ohio State University of the Big Ten Conference on Friday, November 14 at 7 p.m. and will stay on the road to play at the University of Rhode Island of the Atlantic 10 on Sunday, November 16 beginning at 2 p.m.
 
"Everybody's excited that it's that time of year," said Head Coach Pat Duquette, who is in his second season at the helm of the program. "We have a lot of young guys and new guys, and it's been nice to see them blend together with our returning players. Plus, it's great to have the same staff back. Going through your first year with the new staff is really challenging, but I feel like we had a chance to form some good chemistry and I think we're even we're more prepared to coach these guys here in year two then we were in year one."
 
UMass Lowell is entering its second year of a four-year transition to Division I as part of the America East Conference. Duquette explained that the squad learned a lot last year and will use that to move forward in 2014-15.
 
"We learned how difficult a transition this is going to be. This is going to take time and it's a long process, but we want to continue to build our foundation by developing a strong work ethic, team culture, style of play and an identity."
 
Keys to Success
Coach Duquette commented that because a majority of the team is new, the challenges this year are much different that they were last year. In an effort to build the strong foundation that the coaching staff is looking for, the River Hawks will need to figure out exactly what the underclassmen bring to the table and find a way to blend those talents with the returning veterans.
 
"One of our goals is for some of our freshmen to mature and develop quickly because we're going to need some help from them just to have depth on our roster," explained Duquette. "Another key for us will be for our upperclassmen to provide the leadership that we need. I'm asking a lot of those guys, but they have the ability to set the tone for our program."
 
Veterans to Watch
The River Hawks' coaching staff will look to a small core of veterans to lead the squad. The team returns four starters from a season ago, when UMass Lowell finished its first Division I year at 10-18 overall, including an 8-8 mark in America East Conference action. Kerry Weldon (New York, N.Y.), a 6-5 redshirt-senior forward, and Chad Holley (New York, N.Y.), a 5-10 senior guard, return in 2014-15 for their final year of eligibility. Holley started 25 of 26 games played last season, averaging 10.3 points and 3.4 assists, while Weldon started all 28 games with 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 points.
 
Junior DJ Mlachnik (Muskego, Wis.), a 6-2 guard, and sophomore Tyler Livingston (Hudson, N.H.), a 6-5 forward, round out the returning starters. Mlachnik started all 28 games last year with 7.8 points, and Livingston started 26 games with 6.9 points.
 
In addition, Mark Cornelius (Westford, Mass.), a 6-2 guard, returns for his junior season after averaging 5.2 points and 3.3 rebounds in 28 games last year.
 
Marco Banegas-Flores (Boston, Mass.), a 6-1 guard pursuing his master's degree who came to UMass Lowell from Northeastern University, will look to share his experience to bolster the team's leadership.
 
"They're all great leaders," said Duquette. "I think these guys are all about the right things, and that's why I put them in a position to provide leadership to our team. I want them to be more vocal because they've got the right answers. I want them to really take some of these young guys under their wing and help them develop, help them get better."
 
Newcomers
In 2014-15, Coach Duquette welcomes eight newcomers. Redshirt-freshman Jahad Thomas (Williamsport, Pa.), a 6-2 guard, will be joined by seven rookies including 5-10 guard Lance Crawford (Davie, Fla.), 6-6 guard/forward Josh Gantz (Grove City, Ohio), 6-1 guard Matt Harris (Erie, Pa.), 6-6 forward/guard Jordan Rhodes (Fountain, Colo.), 6-6 guard/forward Brad Schaub (Marlette, Mich.), 6-4 guard Jordan Shea (Madison, Wis.) and 6-8 forward Dontavious Smith (Springhill, La.).
 
"We knew we needed to bring in a big class and we needed a little something at every position," commented Duquette. "We looked all over the country and I think our staff did a really good job identifying and projecting talent. Now it's just a question of learning what they can and can't do, blending them with the upperclassmen, and really finding out who is ready to play right away and who we will continue to work with to help us later down the line."
 
The Opponents
Coach Duquette feels as though the staff has put together a tough, but exciting schedule for the upcoming year.
 
"We're always going to try to play a few high profile programs because they are exciting games for the players, coaches and fans," concluded Duquette. "But, we've also got a number of local New England teams on the schedule that we feel over time are going to develop into great rivalries."