November 07, 2024
COLLEGE MEN'S BASKETBALL SPORTS

UM freshmen Costigan, Uhrin ponder transfers Woodward says Socoby not leaving

The women may not be the only University of Maine varsity basketball team in a state of flux this offseason.

UMaine head men’s basketball coach Ted Woodward confirmed Monday that forward Sean Costigan of South Portland and guard Jay Uhrin of Winterport have talked to him about the possibility of transferring to another school.

Both players recently completed their freshman seasons at UMaine. Costigan is a scholarship athlete while Uhrin was a nonscholarship walk-on player.

“Sean has expressed an interest in looking at other opportunities, and Jay has interest in looking at playing at another school,” Woodward said. “Jay’s done a great job as a walk-on for us and he’s talked to me about going somewhere he can play more.”

Woodward said there’s nothing he can specifically comment on regarding Costigan’s reasons for a possible transfer.

The 6-foot-7, 207-pound Costigan played in 21 of Maine’s 30 games and started one. The former Westbrook High School star averaged 10.2 minutes, 1.4 points and 1.2 rebounds per game.

Uhrin (6-3, 187) played in just five games, averaging 1.8 minutes and 1.8 points per game.

Despite some isolated rumors to the contrary, one player who apparently isn’t interested in going anywhere else is starting guard Mark Socoby of Houlton.

“I meet with all our guys at multiple times, pretty much on a weekly basis or more, and I haven’t gotten any indication from him that he’s going anywhere,” said Woodward. “He hasn’t said anything about not playing ball, transferring or anything.”

Attempts to reach all three players Monday by phone were unsuccessful.

The 6-5, 205-pound Socoby, a former Bangor and Houlton High star, turned in a solid sophomore season in which he led the team with 14.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

Socoby started all 30 games for the Black Bears and also averaged 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. He finished the season with a career-high 30 points in an overtime loss to Stony Brook University in the America East tournament.

“Every day there’s rumors or whatever and you can hear different things at different times of the year, but all we do is worry about things we can control with our basketball team and helping guys improve on a daily basis,” Woodward said.

The fact this is the prime time of the year in terms of recruiting only fans the rumor flames.

“Well, there are always things out there with anybody, but spring has become a huge recruiting period the last 5-10 years,” Woodward said.

Maine, which finished its fourth season under Woodward with an overall record of 7-23, graduates just one senior, starting center Brian Andre.

Three UMaine women’s players (Emily Rousseau, Sandra Vaitkute and Magdala Johnson) decided last week to leave their squad and transfer to other schools.

The UMaine women’s team also went 7-23.

aneff@bangordailynews.net

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Correction: A story in Tuesday’s paper about the University of Maine men’s basketball team made reference to the wrong high school for freshman forward Sean Costigan. He played at Cheverus High School in Portland.

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