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History of UMass Lowell basketball

Tyler O’Keefe

Connector Staff

In 1988, believe it or not, the UMass Lowell River Hawks were coached by Stan Van Gundy. It was actually the year before Van Gundy started coaching the River Hawks that was most impressive. Don Doucette was the coach of the team in the year of 1987 to 1988 when they won a Division II National Championship. Members of the 1988 squad have a great accomplishment that they can cherish for the rest of their lives. They are one of two teams from the New England area to win a Division II title. That season, they defeated Alaska Anchorage in the title game by a score of 75 to 72. This tremendous year drew looks all over the country to Doucette landing him a coaching job in Division I with University of North Carolina Asheville. A six-foot-six-inch junior center by the name of Leo Parent was the teams go to scorer. He led the team in scoring with 18.8 ppg as well as rebounding with 11.1 rpg. The best part about Parent: he was a hometown kid from Lowell.

In 2013, the River Hawks made the jump from Division II basketball to Division I. This leap treated them like it treats most teams who leap from Division II to I with a losing record. They went 10 and 18 in 2013, but had a .500 record in their conference. Teams like Cincinnati and Michigan were on their schedule, so they knew this was not Division II anymore. The team this year will get a taste of that type of competition when they go on the road for games against powerhouses Notre Dame and Connecticut. Last season was not any better for the team. The River Hawks went 12 and 17 with a 6 and 10 record inside the conference. The River Hawks fail to upset very good competition when they play them. The fans need something to excite them. This year has games that would shock the world, but will the execution take place is the real question. History says they will not, but every year is different sort of like in 2011 when the hawks went 19 and 11, but this of course was in Division II. The team’s head coach this season Pat Duquette has his players hungry. Coming off a disappointing year, it would be great to see the team have success early and often. The schedule starts off on the road in a tone setting game at Northwestern University. It will set the tone because unlike previous seasons if the River Hawks can win this upset they will gain great confidence going forward. With a win they can enjoy coming home to play a very winnable game against Sacred Heart then be undefeated heading into the Notre Dame game. Regardless their record going into that game it will not be easy, but with wins in two straight games players can have confidence and maybe just maybe get the win over Notre Dame. The school has gone from having very good success in Division II play for years to getting their feet wet for the past few seasons in Division I. We are not in 1988 anymore, but it sure would be nice to win a championship this season like the men’s basketball team did that year.                

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