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Commits
Woodstock Academy Gold prep basketball player Dyondre Dominguez has committed to play Div. I basketball at UMass, joining a host of former Centaurs. Photo by Marc Allard.
A comfortable situation. Unlike many student-athletes who are walking into the unknown when it comes to playing Div. I collegiate basketball, Dyondre Dominguez knows a lot of what he will be dealing with.
Dominguez committed recently to play for the UMass basketball program next season.
He joins former Woodstock Academy prep players Tre Mitchell, Preston Santos, T.J. Weeks and Dibaji Walker.
Also on hand will be former Woodstock Academy head coach Tony Bergeron, who is now the assistant coach at UMass, and a current teammate, Cairo McCrory who committed to the Minutemen prior to coming to Woodstock Academy this season.
“It’s going to be real comfortable on the floor because we know how each other plays. I think we will do well both on and off the court,” Dominguez said.
The 6-foot-8 wing player made his official visit to UMass recently and liked what he saw.
He came home and just before the final Gold prep regular season game made the decision that UMass was the right place for him.
And it’s the right choice, according to Woodstock Academy coach Jacque Rivera. “It’s a good fit for Dyondre,” Rivera said.
“UMass got a kid that a lot of other schools missed on. He’s had some breakout games this year. His body of work is better than a lot of other people’s, UMass saw that, got ahead on it and I think he will be another Centaur who goes to UMass and finds success.”
Dominguez hails from Providence, another good reason to choose UMass since his family is close by, and was introduced to Woodstock Academy by Bergeron.
“I’ve known Coach B since about eighth grade. We’ve kept our relationship very close for the past couple of years. He’s been great. I knew everybody up there and the campus felt like home to me,” Dominguez said.
The Minutemen are just under .500 for the season but have experienced resurgence with this year’s freshman class.
“Recruiting is a relationship-based thing and the perception is that he is going there because he’s another Woodstock kid. But UMass as a whole showed the (Dominguez) family what it had to offer as a flagship institution.
Dyondre is close to his family, wanted to be close to home, but having kids coming from the same place after their post-grad year, gives them a leg up,” Rivera said.
The style of play is also very similar.
“Plus, they have a kid named Tre Mitchell, which helps,” Rivera said with a smile. “He gives UMass something it needs. Having the dominant presence of Mitchell, Dyondre gives them someone else who can stretch the floor and they will have T.J. Weeks back. He fits and he walks into a place where he has to continue to prove himself and he will do just that. Dyondre is a kid who loves basketball. He is in love with the game; sometimes you have kids who happens to be good at it, but doesn’t really love it. Dyondre loves the game, loves training, and plays with a great deal of passion.”
Dominguez plans to major in sports management at UMass.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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