The Minutemen will play host to inner-state competition in the 2016-17 college basketball season when the Harvard Crimson come to town in late November. According to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, the game will be held on November 26th and will be a rematch for the two teams who played a tight game at the beginning of the 2015-16 season. The Minutemen won 69-63 at Lavietes Pavilion behind Jabarie Hinds’ 24 point performance.
UMass will host Harvard on November 26th, source told @CBSSports. Both programs bringing in elite recruiting classes.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 27, 2016
Though both teams ended up having below average seasons, things could be a lot different in the 2016-17 season.
The Minutemen have 5 recruits coming in for the Class of 2016, one of which resides in ESPN’s Top 100. DeJon Jarreau comes in as UMass’ highest ranked player. He’s a 4 star shooting guard who ranks 63rd in the nation’s incoming freshmen. In addition, the Minutemen have 1 other 4 star recruit (Chris Baldwin), and 3 more 3 star recruits (Brison Gresham, Unique McLean, and Tyrn Flowers), who will all look to make immediate impacts on the court.
Harvard has 7 commits for the Class of 2016 including 4 that reside in ESPN’s Top 100. They’ll be loaded with young talent that will help propel this Crimson team back to the top of the Ivy League next year.
This should be a battle of young guns, but all in all, it should be a great matchup and a pivotal game for these two teams before heading into conference play.
