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UMass gets commitment from Rivals 150 point guard Luwane Pipkins

Derek Kellogg

AP

AP

UMass reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in 16 years this past March. The Minutemen coaching staff is riding that momentum, cashing in Bogan (Ill.) 2015 point guard Luwane Pipkins, a three-star recruit, who committed to UMass on Tuesday night.

Matt Vautour of the Daily Hampshire Gazette first reported the news, confirmed by CBT‘s Scott Phillips.

The 5-foot-10 floor general is ranked as the No. 122 overall by Rivals, and is the first commit in UMass’ Class of 2015. He held offers from Bradley, DePaul, La Salle, Northern Illinois and Valparaiso.

Pipkins is a good fit for UMass on both sides of the ball. He is a tenacious on-the-ball defender and is an improved 3-point shooter. Playing with the loaded Mac Irvin Fire on the Nike EYBL circuit, Pipkins is connecting on 38 percent of his shots from beyond the arc through three games.

He was Mac Irvin Fire’s leading scorer at 19.7 points, along with 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, during Nike EYBL Session 1 in Sacramento.

While it’s natural to compare him to Chaz Williams, given that they are both under 6-feet, Pipkins will need to become more of a distributor to fit the mold. When he arrives in Amherst in the fall of 2015 he’ll join an experienced back court headlined by Derrick Gordon, Trey Davis and Jabarie Hinds, who is eligible this upcoming season following his transfer from West Virginia.

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