Join UMass Athletics fans on October 23 to hear from some of the biggest names to ever sport the maroon and white. Our alumni sports stars will speak about their time at UMass and how the experience prepared them for their careers and life.

During the event, attendees are invited to submit questions to be answered live via the Q&A function.

All are welcome. No cost to participate.

Who are the other panelists? Check back here and follow @UMassAthletics on social media as we reveal the remaining sport stars daily the week of October 5.

Panelists

Julius Erving ’72, ’86 H

• In two varsity college basketball seasons at UMass (1969-1971), he averaged 26.3 points and 20.2 rebounds per game, becoming one of only six players at that time to average more than 20 points and 20 rebounds in NCAA Men’s Basketball 
• Regarded by many as one of the greatest and most influential professional basketball players of all time
• Won three championships, four Most Valuable Player Awards, and three scoring titles with the ABA’s Virginia Squires and New York Nets (now the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets) and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers
• Remains the eighth highest scorer in ABA/NBA history with 30,026 points (NBA and ABA combined)
• Was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993 and was named to the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team 

Cale Makar

• Played for the UMass Minutemen from 2017-2019
• During the 2018-2019 season, Makar became the first Minuteman to win the Hobey Baker Award as the most outstanding player in college hockey
• That same season, he was named the Hockey East Player of the Year and a Hockey East First Team All-Star after leading the conference and finishing third in the NCAA (first among defensemen) in scoring with 49 points
• Led UMass to the Frozen Four and the national championship game in 2019 for the first time in school history 
• Currently plays for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL) and was selected in the first round (fourth overall) by the Avalanche in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft
• Won the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 2020, becoming the sixth Avalanche/Nordiques player to win the award

Marcus Camby ’17

• Played three seasons for the UMass Minutemen (1993-1996) and won the John R. Wooden Award and the Naismith College Player of the Year Award during the 1995-1996 season
• Led UMass to numerous No. 1 national rankings and the 1996 NCAA Final Four
• Helped the Minutemen to three Atlantic 10 regular season championships, three A-10 tournament titles and three appearances in the NCAA Tournament
• Consensus First-Team All-American and Atlantic 10 Player of the Year in 1996
• Is the highest draft pick in UMass Basketball history, chosen at No. 2 overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors
• Played 17 seasons in the NBA and was named Defensive Player of the Year during the 2006-2007 season, leading the league in blocked shots per game
• Is a four-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team, 12th on the NBA’s all-time career blocks list, and led the NBA in blocked shots in a season three times

Rachael Rollins ’94

• Former lacrosse captain who currently serves as Suffolk County District Attorney and chief law enforcement officer for Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop
• Scored 70 goals and added 19 assists during her career with the Minutewomen
• Was the first woman elected as District Attorney in Suffolk County and the first woman of color ever elected to serve in this role in Massachusetts
• Since taking office, she has implemented humane and data-supported policies
• An attorney for over 20 years, she previously worked as a field attorney with the National Labor Relations Board; as an associate at the law firm Bingham McCutchen; and as a federal prosecutor at the United States Attorney’s Office in Boston
• Was a Governor Deval Patrick appointee to the Judicial Nominating Commission, a past president of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, and served a three-year term on the Boston Bar Association Council

Kevin Connors (moderator)

• Currently works as an ESPN studio host for college football, college basketball, and Major League Baseball (MLB) 
• Is the host of Baseball Tonight, a SportsCenter anchor, and hosts a variety of programs on ESPN Radio 
• Throughout his time with ESPN, he has handled various college basketball play-by-play assignments, and previously hosted Top Rank Boxing on ESPN
  

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UMass Amherst is committed to coordinating accessible events to the best of our ability and to the extent possible. If you have any accessibility needs, please contact us directly at alumni@umass.edu.