Just 24 hours ago, the Massachusetts State University men's basketball team had not brought in a single transfer to replace the players who left the program in the offseason. Now, the Minutemen have acquired two players in one day after signing forward Akil Watson from Arizona State on Wednesday.
The University of Massachusetts signed G/F Daniel Rivera, a transfer from Bryant, on Tuesday.
Watson comes to Amherst with three years of eligibility remaining and announced the transfer on his Instagram. The 6-foot-9, 205-pounder played in just 18 games as a freshman at Arizona State. He averaged 5.9 minutes, 1.7 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.1 assists for a Sun Devil team that finished ninth in the Pac-12.
A native of New Jersey, Watson played high school basketball at Roselle Catholic, where he was a first-team player in the state and won the NJSIAA Non-Public B Championship in his senior season. He was a consensus four-star recruit.
Watson and Rivera are versatile wings who can play both positions up front for the Minutemen. Rivera is small at 6-foot-6, but he ranked among the top five in the America East in both rebounds and blocks last year.
UMass has entered both ends of the spectrum with the addition of two portals. Rivera has been given a lot of playing time by a smaller school and will likely want to prove he can succeed in a more competitive conference. Watson comes from a big school and is likely looking for more playing time.
Eight Minutemen entered the portal after it opened on March 18th. Atlantic 10 first-team forwards Matt Cross (SMU) and Josh Cohen (USC) have found new homes, while key players Keion Thompson (Stephen F. Austin) and Robert Davis Jr. (Old Dominion) have also transferred. Reserve center Matoku Majoku transferred to Oral Roberts and reserve forward Tyler Mason entered the portal but has not yet joined his new team. Sawyer Mayhew (Queens University of Charlotte) and Gianni Thompson also entered the portal, but neither played for the Minutemen last season.
The University of Massachusetts has two scholarships remaining and will most likely use at least one at guard after the departures of Thompson and Davis Jr.