AMHERST (JAN. 28) - Add two more names to the list of high school juniors who recruiting gurus say could eventually land on the University of Massachusetts men's basketball roster.
The Minutemen currently are said to be pursuing Tony Robertson, a 6-foot-2-inch point guard out of Barrington, R.I., a rare gem from the Ocean State. UMass also could add an all-name player to their ranks: Majestic Mapp, a 6-1 floor general from UMass hotbed of St. Raymonds in the Bronx. He has a brother, Scientific Mapp (no joke), who played for Florida A&M.
Both Robertson and Mapp will be college freshmen in the 1999-2000 season.
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ESPN ANALYST Jay Bilas thinks UMass sophomore shooting guard Monty Mack is a national rookie of the year candidate. Bilas listed Mack among candidates including Dion Glover (Georgia Tech), Michael Redd (Ohio State), Khalid El-Amin (UConn), and Larry Hughes (St. Louis). Bilas will be the analyst on UMass' game with Rhode Island Thursday at 7:30 p.m. from Providence.
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UMASS COACH Bruiser Flint not only has won eight straight games, but he looks good, too. At least that's what Wagner coach Tim Capstraw thinks.
One feature on the College Insider web site is columns written by more than 150 Division 1 coaches, including Capstraw. Instead of using his space to talk Xs and Os, the Wagner coach has tried his hand at comedy lists, in the mode of David Letterman's top 10 lists. His topics include Top 10 Things Not to Say to A Recruit on a Home Visit and Top 10 Women I'd Like to Meet Under the Mistletoe.
He also penned one called "GQ Coaches" a list of sideline bosses who he thinks possess the best wardrobes. Flint was No. 9 on the list.
"Sharp," Capstraw wrote. "He always looks great. I don't really know him, but I admire him from afar."
Hofstra's Jay Wright was No. 1.
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THE MINUTEMEN are off to the team's fourth best start in a calendar year ever at 8-0.
The Final Four-bound 1995-96 Minutemen won their first 16 games after the ball dropped in Times Square before losing to George Washington on Feb. 24.
The previous year, the 1994-95 Minutemen went 12-0 after Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve before falling to - you guessed it - George Washington.
The only other team to string together a double-digit post-auld lang syne winning streak was the 1933-34 squad, whose season didn't start until Jan. 11. That team completed the entire season 12-0. George Washington was not on the schedule.