AMHERST — UMass football coach Walt Bell announced four more additions to his staff Thursday, bringing the total to nine assistants and a strength coach to join him in Amherst.
Cedric Douglas will be the Minutemen’s defensive line coach after two years as a graduate assistant at Arkansas State. Micah James will assist Jim Jackson as the co-offensive line coach. James spent the previous four years as a graduate assistant with stops at Arkansas State, Maryland and UCF.
Tom Restivo, who was with South Florida last season, joins the staff as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He replaces David Duggan, who left to become the defensive coordinator at Arkansas State. Duggan was hired in December as linebackers coach but was never formally introduced.
Bell also announced Matt Shadeed will be UMass’ new strength coach. Shadeed spent the previous two seasons with Baylor’s women’s basketball program following three years working with the football team at Arkansas State.
UMass has one more opening it can fill if Bell so desires.
DIALLO UPDATE — Matt McCall said he is unsure when freshman Samba Diallo will return to the lineup for UMass. The forward felt some discomfort behind his knee during Tuesday’s practice and then missed Wednesday’s loss at La Salle. McCall said he doesn’t expect it to be a long-term issue, but said he would discuss the injury with the training staff to assess Diallo’s availability for Saturday’s game at Saint Joseph’s.
PRESEASON FAVORITES — UMass men’s lacrosse and softball were both picked to win their respective conference in the preseason coaches’ polls.
The Minutemen were the unanimous choice to repeat as Colonial Athletic Association champions this year after claiming all five first-place votes from opposing coaches. Senior Isaac Paparo was named the CAA’s Preseason Player of the Year, one of four UMass players on the preseason all-conference team. Also named to the list were sophomore attack Chris Connolly, senior goalie Sean Sconone and junior midfielder Jeff Trainor.
The Minutewomen received nine of the 10 first-place votes from Atlantic 10 coaches to repeat as regular-season champions. George Washington received the other vote, but finished fifth in the ranking behind Dayton, Fordham and Saint Louis. UMass opens the season Feb. 15-17 with a six-game slate at the Diamond 9 Citrus Blossom in Orlando, Florida.