UMass Lowell coach Pat Duquette excited about men’s basketball team moves

DePaul’s Caleb Murphy (23) drives to the basket against Marquette’s Ben Gold during the second half of an NCAA men’s basketball game Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, in Milwaukee. Murphy has transferred to UMass Lowell. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Like hundreds of other college coaches, Pat Duquette was wary of the NCAA transfer portal.

Team building can be a huge challenge when the roster changes year after year, as athletes increasingly transfer schools these days.

But the head coach of the UMass Lowell men’s basketball team is confident his team can handle the portal.

“It doesn’t scare me anymore. Our program has adapted well,” he said.

Duquette, who led his program to a stunning 29-1 home mark the past two winters at the Costello Athletic Center, is excited about the six new players joining the River Hawks.

Three of them are transfers.

Guards Mekhai Gray from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Caleb Murphy from DePaul and Quincy Clark from Jacksonville State will bring a wealth of talent and experience to the team.

Murphy is expected to have an immediate impact.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Atlanta native was the 72nd-ranked player in the country by ESPN coming out of high school and played two seasons at South Florida.

He was named to the AAC All-Freshman team and started 18 of his 21 games. As a sophomore, Murphy led South Florida in scoring (11.4 ppg) and assists (3.4) and was the only player to start all 31 games.

At DePaul, he missed the first 18 games of the 2022-23 season with a wrist injury. He started one of the 15 games he saw action and averaged 5.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.

Last season, he started in seven of the eight games he played in, averaging 5.6 points and shooting well from the field (.533) and the free throw line (.765).

Gray is a 6-4, 190-pound native of Montrose, N.Y. UML fans are familiar with him from his time at NJIT. In fact, he played all 40 minutes during a Jan. 11, 2024 game against the River Hawks.

At NJIT, he had 769 points, 159 assists and 340 rebounds in 105 games. Last season, he was the only player to start all 28 games and average career highs in points (10.1) and rebounds (4.6).

As a freshman, he was named to the U.S. All-Rookie team.

Clark is a 6-foot-3, 195-pound player from Westerville, Ohio, who is considered a very strong defender.

He began his career at Lipscomb, where he played in 63 in two seasons and averaged 5.7 points as a sophomore. He then transferred to Jacksonville State and had a strong season in 2023-24.

Clark played in all 32 games and led the team with 97 assists. He was second in steals with 34 and scored 7.9 points per game, third best on the team. He also averaged 2.9 rebounds per game.

It’s easy to see why Duquette is excited about the 2024-25 season. The River Hawks went 22-10 last season and reached the America East Championship Game. With an NCAA Tournament berth on the line, UML fell 66-61 to Vermont.

The 2024-25 schedule has not yet been released, but those hoping the River Hawks will play more home games at the Tsongas Center may be disappointed.

The Tsongas hold about 6,000 fans for basketball games, while Costello holds fewer than 1,000. But the River Hawks have turned Costello into a true home-field advantage, as evidenced by their 29-1 mark over the last two seasons.

Duquette is a big believer in routine. The River Hawks train at Costello, and Duquette’s players have made the gym a hostile place for visiting teams. The River Hawks played two games at the Tsongas last season and lost both (57-54 to Central Connecticut and 89-73 to New Hampshire), a fact Duquette is quick to point out.

Tickets to see the River Hawks play in Lowell won’t be easy to come by. Duquette hopes the play of Murphy, Gray and Clark will be three big reasons why.