AMHERST — It says something about Jonathan Laurent that Matt McCall trusts him to play the traditional power forward spot.
The second-year UMass coach has made it perfectly clear how important that position is to the Minutemen, and Laurent has delivered for the most part in the first seven games. The redshirt junior transfer from Rutgers is second on the team in scoring, third in rebounding and leads UMass in 3-point shooting and free-throw shooting. He’s provided the exact combination of skills that McCall asks for from his forwards and is only improving each day at practice.
“It’s the most valuable position on the floor,” McCall said. “It’s so important for us defensively, it’s so important for us rebounding-wise and it’s so important for us offensively. And JL is getting better and he’s a huge key to this team’s success.”
Laurent’s athleticism and shooting prowess gives UMass the ability to stretch the floor on offense without sacrificing rebounding on defense. The 6-foot-6 forward doesn’t take many 3-pointers – about two per game – but he’s shooting above 41 percent when he does release from long distances. He’s also touching the ball on almost every possession in some capacity and helping keep the Minutemen in a rhythm on offense.
“I’m just trying to keep everyone in line, when things get too wild, calm everybody down,” Laurent said. “(I’m) trying to keep us in the offense, trying to get us extra possessions to get us extra shots with offensive rebounding, the little things.”
McCall first met Laurent as an assistant at Florida when he tried to recruit the Orlando, Florida, native out of high school. At that time, McCall believed Laurent possessed similar characteristics as former Gators wing Casey Prather, who ended up playing a key role on the 2013-14 Florida squad that made the Final Four. He said both were very athletic, versatile players with the major difference being Laurent is a better shooter.
But McCall said it’s Laurent’s rebounding that is his biggest asset to the Minutemen, something that was evident in UMass’ two games last week in Las Vegas. Laurent grabbed a game-high eight rebounds in the 84-62 win over Southern Illinois, three of which came on the offensive glass. He only had four against Nevada, but McCall said he was proud of Laurent’s efforts in battling with the Wolf Pack’s big men who made life difficult for UMass on the backboards.
McCall said rebounding was his biggest focal point after the losses to Harvard and Howard, and Laurent has been the leading force in that area for the Minutemen. The coach said he is hoping the forward can continue that focus Wednesday when UMass hosts Quinnipiac at the Mullins Center at 7 p.m.
“I was proud of JL this weekend, too,” McCall said. “Not because of his offense, but because he really put a focus on rebounding the ball. We need that out of him every single night. He’s so athletic that he can go up there and get them.”
Although Laurent was a steady presence on the glass in UMass’ five home games to begin the season, there was a notable difference in his aggression level in the two games out West. Like the rest of his teammates, Laurent was far more aggressive and energetic on both ends of the floor, a main reason he collected one more offensive rebound in those two games (five) than he had in UMass’ first five games combined.
He admitted some of his rebounding success came from luck and being in the right place at the right moment. However, he also said the Minutemen were more committed to doing the little things that clear space for the UMass forwards to corral rebounds and that helped him tremendously as well.
“I feel like rebounding is a little bit of luck,” Laurent said. “If you’re going to go after it, you’re not always going to get it, but sometimes the ball’s going to bounce your way and sometimes it’s not. But we’ve been focusing on boxing out more and it’s applying that and now everybody is boxing out and I have more rebounds to grab. The opportunities are presenting themselves and I’m just asserting myself and filling that role.”