1995–96 UMass Minutemen basketball team

The 1995–96 UMass Minutemen basketball team represented the University of Massachusetts Amherst during the 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Minutemen, led by eighth year head coach John Calipari, played their home games at William D. Mullins Memorial Center and were members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 35–2, 15–1 in A-10 play to finish in first place. The Minutemen won the A-10 Conference tournament by beating Temple in the finals. They were awarded a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Minutemen advanced to the Final Four, losing to eventual National Champion Kentucky.

1995–96 UMass Minutemen men's basketball
Atlantic 10 regular season champions Atlantic 10 tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four (vacated)
Conference	Atlantic 10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 1
Record	31–1 (4 wins, 1 loss vacated) (15–1 A-10)
Head coach	John Calipari (8th season)
Assistant coaches	Bruiser Flint Ed Schilling John Robic
Home arena	William D. Mullins Memorial Center
Seasons ← 1994–95 1996–97 →

1995–96 Atlantic 10 men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
No. 1 UMass †	15	–	1		.938			35	–	2		.946
Temple	12	–	4		.750			20	–	13		.606
Saint Joseph's	9	–	7		.563			19	–	13		.594
Rhode Island	8	–	8		.500			20	–	14		.588
St. Bonaventure	4	–	12		.250			10	–	18		.357
Fordham	2	–	14		.125			4	–	23		.148
West
No. 22 Virginia Tech	13	–	3		.813			23	–	6		.793
George Washington	13	–	3		.813			21	–	8		.724
Xavier	8	–	8		.500			13	–	15		.464
Dayton	6	–	10		.375			15	–	14		.517
Duquesne	3	–	13		.188			9	–	18		.333
La Salle	3	–	13		.188			6	–	24		.200
† 1996 Atlantic 10 Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

On May 8, 1997, the NCAA Executive Committee voted to negate the Minutemen's 1996 NCAA Tournament record, for Marcus Camby's acceptance of agents' improper gifts.^[1] The 35–2 record was reduced to 31–1, and the UMass slot in the Final Four is officially marked as "vacated." The Final Four trophy, banner, and 45% of tournament revenue were returned to the NCAA. Camby reimbursed the school for the $151,617 in lost revenue.

Roster

1995–96 UMass Minutemen men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 3 Dana Dingle 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Bronx, New York F 4 Donta Bright 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 223 lb (101 kg) Sr Baltimore, Maryland G 5 Charlton Clarke 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Bronx, New York G 11 Giddiel Padilla 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 187 lb (85 kg) Sr Toa Alta, Puerto Rico G 12 Edgar Padilla 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Springfield, Massachusetts C 21 Marcus Camby 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Hartford, Connecticut G 24 Carmelo Travieso 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Boston, Massachusetts F 34 Tyrone Weeks 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Jr Philadelphia, Pennsylvania F/C 40 Ted Cottrell 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Annapolis, Maryland F 44 Rigoberto Núñez 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Lawrence, Massachusetts F 50 Inus Norville 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Fayetteville, North Carolina	Head coach John Calipari (Clarion) Assistant coach(es) Bruiser Flint (Saint Joseph's) Ed Schilling (Miami (OH)) John Robic (Denison) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
11/28/1995*	No. 5	vs. No. 1 Kentucky Great 8	W 92–82[2]	1–0	The Palace of Auburn Hills (15,454) Auburn Hills, Michigan
12/2/1995*	No. 5	vs. No. 19 Maryland Franklin National Bank Classic	W 50–47	2–0	USAir Arena (16,302) Landover, Maryland
12/03/1995*	No. 5	vs. Florida Franklin National Bank Classic	W 80–58	3–0	USAir Arena (16,358) Landover, Maryland
12/6/1995*	No. 3	No. 10 Wake Forest	W 60–46[3]	4–0	Mullins Center (9,493) Amherst, Massachusetts
12/09/1995*	No. 3	vs. Boston College Commonwealth Classic	W 65–57	5–0	FleetCenter (9,493) Boston, Massachusetts
12/12/1995*	No. 3	UNC Wilmington	W 77–51	6–0	Mullins Center (9,493) Amherst, Massachusetts
12/22/1995*	No. 2	vs. No. 21 Georgia Tech Jimmy V Classic	W 75–67	7–0	Brendan Byrne Arena (13,452) East Rutherford, New Jersey
12/28/1995*	No. 1	vs. NC State Rainbow Classic	W 78–67	8–0	Special Events Arena (8,871) Honolulu, Hawaii
12/29/1995*	No. 1	vs. USC Rainbow Classic	W 78–63	9–0	Special Events Arena (7,856) Honolulu, Hawaii
12/30/1995*	No. 1	vs. No. 13 Syracuse Rainbow Classic	W 65–47	10–0	Special Events Arena (8,530) Honolulu, Hawaii
1/04/1996*	No. 1	vs. No. 3 Memphis Atlantic-10 / Conference USA Challenge	W 64–61	11–0	Worcester Centrum (13,557) Worcester, Massachusetts
Atlantic 10 regular season
1/06/1996	No. 1	Dayton	W 78–58	12–0 (1–0)	Mullins Center (9,493) Amherst, Massachusetts
01/10/1996	No. 1	at Saint Joseph's	W 94-89 OT	13-0 (2–0)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse (3,200) Philadelphia
01/14/1996	No. 1	at St. Bonaventure	W 65–52	14–0 (3–0)	Reilly Center (6,000) Olean, New York
01/17/1996	No. 1	Rhode Island	W 77–71	15–0 (4–0)	Mullins Center (9,493) Amherst, Massachusetts
01/20/1996	No. 1	at Duquesne	W 93–89	16–0 (5–0)	A. J. Palumbo Center (6,119) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
01/23/1996*	No. 1	at Pittsburgh	W 79–71 OT	17–0	Fitzgerald Field House (6,798) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
01/27/1996	No. 1	at St. Bonaventure	W 72–47	18–0 (6–0)	Mullins Center (9,493) Amherst, Massachusetts
01/30/1996	No. 1	at Fordham	W 80–50	19–0 (7–0)	Mullins Center (9,493) Amherst, Massachusetts
02/01/1996	No. 1	at Temple	W 59–35	20–0 (8–0)	McGonigle Hall (3,900) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
02/04/1996	No. 1	at Xavier	W 78–74 OT	21–0 (9–0)	Cincinnati Gardens (10,118) Cincinnati, Ohio
02/06/1996	No. 1	at Fordham	W 73–47	22–0 (10–0)	Madison Square Garden (9,695) New York City, New York
02/11/1996	No. 1	Temple	W 84–55	23–0 (11–0)	Mullins Center (9,493) Amherst, Massachusetts
2/15/1996	No. 1	La Salle	W 70–53	24–0 (12–0)	Mullins Center (9,493) Amherst, Massachusetts
02/17/1996	No. 1	at Virginia Tech	W 74–68	25–0 (13–0)	Cassell Coliseum (10,052) Blacksburg, Virginia
02/20/1996	No. 1	at Rhode Island	W 74–69	26–0 (14–0)	Providence Civic Center (13,106) Providence, Rhode Island
02/24/1996	No. 1	George Washington	L 76–86[4]	26–1 (14–1)	Mullins Center (9,493) Amherst, Massachusetts
02/28/1996	No. 2	at Saint Joseph's	W 68–66 OT	27–1 (15–1)	Mullins Center (9,493) Amherst, Massachusetts
03/02/1996*	No. 2	at No. 21 Louisville	W 62–59	28–1	Freedom Hall (20,076) Louisville, Kentucky
Atlantic 10 tournament
03/07/1996	No. 2	vs. St. Bonaventure Quarterfinals	W 69–56	29–1	Philadelphia Civic Center (N/A) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
03/08/1996	No. 2	vs. George Washington Semifinals	W 74–65	30–1	Philadelphia Civic Center (N/A) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
03/09/1996	No. 2	vs. Temple Finals	W 75–61	31–1	Philadelphia Civic Center (8,727) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NCAA tournament
03/14/1996*	(1 E) No. 1	vs. (16 E) Central Florida East Region First round	W 92–70	32–1*	Providence Civic Center (11,931) Providence, Rhode Island
03/16/1996*	(1 E) No. 1	vs. (9 E) Stanford East Region Second Round	W 79–74[5]	33–1*	Providence Civic Center (11,931) Providence, Rhode Island
03/21/1996*	(1 E) No. 1	vs. (12 E) Arkansas East Regional semifinal	W 79–63[6]	34–1*	Georgia Dome (34,614) Atlanta, Georgia
03/23/1996*	(1 E) No. 1	vs. (2 E) No. 4 Georgetown East Regional final	W 86–62[7]	35–1*	Georgia Dome (32,328) Atlanta, Georgia
03/30/1996*	(1 E) No. 1	vs. (1 MW) No. 2 Kentucky National semifinal	L 74–81[8]	35–2*	Brendan Byrne Arena (19,229) East Rutherford, New Jersey
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Main article: 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	7	7	5	3	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	Not released
Coaches	7	7	6	3	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	2

^[9]

Awards and honors

• Marcus Camby – National Player of the Year, Consensus First-team All-American, A-10 Player of the Year
• Edgar Padilla – Honorable Mention AP All-American
• John Calipari – Naismith College Coach of the Year, NABC Coach of the Year

Team players in the 1996 NBA draft

See also: 1996 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	2	Marcus Camby	Toronto Raptors

^[10]

References

1. "Marcus Camby lookback: The NCAA rewrites UMass history, erases Final Four appearance". masslive.com. February 17, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
2. "UMass Topples No. 1-Ranked Kentucky". New York Times. November 29, 1995. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
3. "Camby Sparks UMass Victory". New York Times. December 7, 1995. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
4. "No. 1 UMass is Unbeaten No More". Deseret News. February 25, 1996. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
5. "Minutemen Are Tested For the First Time". The New York Times. March 17, 1996. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
6. "Coach insists UMass underdog". UPI Archives. March 22, 1996. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
7. "Kentucky, UMass roar into rematch Minutemen streak past Hoyas, 86–62". New York Daily News. March 24, 1996. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
8. "Kentucky Holds Off Never-Say-Die UMass". New York Times. March 31, 1996. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
9. ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1042–1043. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
10. "1996 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 24, 2021.