The stage could not be more set for UMass’ Tre Mitchell to take over the A10 in his sophomore season.
It’s a shame that the A10 tournament was cancelled, and the season cut short, because the Minutemen were peaking at the perfect time. Especially Mitchell. Let’s take a look at his monthly splits.
November: 11.6 PPG/6.6 REB/1.3 AST
December: 17.6 PPG/5 REB/2.4 AST
January: 18.4 PPG/6.6 REB/2.1 AST
February: 20.3 PPG/8.8 REB/1.6 AST
March: 29.0 PPG/10.5 REB/3 AST
It’s clear that Mitchell became more comfortable and more dominant as the season went on. Mitchell and the Minutemen’s ceiling will only get higher next season, with more experience under their belt and a better supporting cast.
The only thing separating Mitchell from Obi Toppin and the rest of the First Team All-A10 was winning. If you put Obi Toppin and Tre Mitchell’s 2019-20 per-game statistics side by side, they’re not that different.
Obi Toppin: 20.0 PPG/7.5 REB/2.2 AST/1.0 STL/1.2 BLK
Tre Mitchell: 17.7 PPG/7.2 REB/1.9 AST/1.0 STL/1.0 BLK
Toppin was a more consistent shooter, though, shooting 63.3% to Mitchell’s 48.1%.
Here’s the thing. Toppin deserved A10 Player of the Year last year. He was the best player in the conference on a top team in the nation. No question. But Tre Mitchell was snubbed from the First Team All-A10.
At a minimum, Mitchell had a better season than Fatts Russell, Jacob Gilyard, and Kyle Lofton. The only thing they have on Mitchell is win share and team success. Mitchell had a better field goal percentage and more rebounds than all of them, and more points per game than Gilyard and Lofton. Team success was the only thing holding Mitchell back, but that’s about to change.
With a healthy TJ Weeks and John Buggs, a full season of Dibaji Walker, and the additions of Javohn Garcia and Noah Fernandes, the Minutemen have the best roster they’ve had in recent memory. Mitchell has a great supporting cast around him in order to reach his full potential next season and dominate the A10.