Good morning!
The UMass basketball team is 11-4 and playing its best basketball in a decade. Its four losses have been by an average of five points, including a four-point loss at No. 26 Dayton on Sunday.

“I’m proud of Frank,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said of his longtime friend Frank Martin. “I think he’s done a really good job putting his stamp on those guys.”

The Minutemen are showing up on the hardwood but the fans aren’t showing up at the gate. Only 2,227 turned out for Wednesday’s win against La Salle. The average attendance through the first nine home games is 2,921, down 20 percent from last year.

“We gotta create energy and enthusiasm here,” Martin said after the Minutemen beat Duquesne on Jan. 3. “I worry about our home court. People gotta come and see how hard we play.”

When Martin was at Kansas State, the Wildcats averaged over 11,000 fans a game. In 2017, the Gamecocks drew over 15,000 for back-to-back games when he was at South Carolina.

“We gotta find new fans,” he said. “We gotta generate new fans.” 

Over 13,000 were at the UD Arena on Sunday and Martin wants 9,493 seats filled with screaming fans at the Mullins Center.

He deserves it and the players deserve it, because he’s built a solid roster. Matt Cross has a hockey player’s mentality, losing a tooth against Dayton and coming back to play. “If I’m in a dark alley with Matt Cross I know I’m coming out the other side,” said Martin. “He had a bad rap because he transferred but he’s a loyal dude. He’s mean and tougher than nails.”

“The freshmen are his guys and they came to Amherst knowing who and what Frank is all about,” said UMass booster John Kennedy.

They include Jaylen Curry, Marqui Worthy (“toughness, aggression”), Jayden Ndjigue (“tough, great cuts offensively”), and 7-foot-3 Mathok Majok. “They let you coach them,” said Martin. “Today’s age they want to be coddled, not coached.”

UMass apologists make excuses — the students are on break, lousy weather, over-the-top security — but win and they will come and it’s up to marketing to get them through the gate.

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The U.S. capped a 7-0 run through the World Juniors by beating Sweden, 6-2, in Gothenburg, Sweden, last week. “It was wild, 12,000 screaming, singing, chanting Swedes the whole game,” emailed team doctor Doug Weiss. “Even after we scored the first goal they started right back up. Awesome atmosphere. Exciting game. Unbelievable talent.”

The U.S. got two big breaks. Defending champion Canada was upset by Czechia in the quarterfinals, and Russia was persona non grata. “They’re a bunch of thugs. I can’t stand them. They deserved to be banned,” said Weiss.

Emotions were at a fever pitch the moment the puck dropped and the Swedes tried to take the talented Americans off their game. “They threw a lot of cheap shots and we didn’t retaliate. We were disciplined and stayed out of the penalty box.”

They had their fun once the outcome was settled. Amherst’s Ryan Leonard tweaked the twine for a 5-2 lead and blew kisses to the crowd, and goaltender Trey Augustine lifted his mask and waved to his detractors.

“The game got a little out of control in the last 30 seconds when two Swedish players jumped our captain Rutger McGroarty and Lane Hutson jumped in and kicked the crap out of a 6-foot-2 Swede,” said Weiss.

The donnybrook resulted in misconducts for Hutson and McGroarty and Sweden’s Noah Ostlund and Anton Johansson.

All told, the U.S. outscored its opponents 45-15 and Augustine led all goalies with a .936 save percentage. “Great leadership from the general manager, John Vanbiesbrouck, to the coaching staff to the captain,” said Weiss. “We had a lot of talent and character and did a great job representing the United States of America.”

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Sports gambling became legal in Ohio last January, and residents can bet on college games involving in-state teams. The result was unsettling. The Dayton Daily News reported that the Flyers were being trashed on social media when they didn’t win or cover the spread.

“When we have people that make it about themselves and attack kids because of their own agenda, it sickens me,” said Flyers coach Anthony Grant.

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Brady Olson played for his uncles Dana and Dale Olson at Milford High School, was rated the 20th-best player in the state by 247Sports and chose UMass over Colorado State and Georgia Tech. His first game was his best, three touchdown passes in a 45-28 loss to BC in 2021. This year he threw three passes, two incompletions and an interception, and entered the transfer portal on Dec. 4.

He landed at Central Connecticut State, TFHS coach Gary Mullins’ alma mater. The Blue Devils kick off the season on Aug. 31 at Central Michigan, and the UMass coaching staff hopes Olson will find the gridiron success that eluded him for three years in Amherst.

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Steph Solis at Axios reports that Frank Martin made $1.66 million last year, tops on the state payroll. UMass football coach Don Brown was sixth ($831K), UMass president Marty Meehan was seventh ($802K), UMass hockey coach Greg Carvel was 14th ($562K), and UMass-Lowell hockey coach Norm Bazin was 31st ($447.5K).

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SQUIBBERS: Former UMass basketball coach Matt McCall (61-82) is selling real estate in Palm Beach County. It’s a tough racket, but McCall can live off the $2.2 million he made his last three years in Amherst. … The aforementioned Rutger McGroarty scored a goal in each game when Michigan was at UMass in October. … News item: Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard will be out 6-8 weeks with a fractured jaw. Welcome to the NHL, Mr. Bedard. … Boomer Esiason on Nick Saban’s retirement: “I don’t blame him. You get a player, you develop him for two years and all of a sudden he’s off in the transfer portal. Who the hell wants to deal with that crap?” … At the World Juniors, UMass goalie Michael Hrabal’s name was pronounced Hrabal as in rabble, like rabble rouser. ... Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel on Bill Belichick’s departure from the Patriots: “To me, I’m just going to be honest. Father Time’s a d***.”… Molly McGrath, ESPN’s sideline reporter for the Michigan-Washington game, is a former BC cheerleader. … Deerfield grad Stone Anderson was a freshman placekicker for Michigan this season. … I learned a new idiom when TSN’s Mike Johnson called Finnish defenseman Jesse Pulkinnen “a bit of an unmade bed.” … RIP Kelley, you’ve probably chaired a meeting, argued with Clancy and asked for Mickey Mantle’s autograph.

Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in  the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@icloud.com