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"Only about a month back, when UMass-Amherst senior center Lari Ketner was playing
                              against the University of Texas in Austin,
several National Basketball Asssociation
                              scouts were discussing whether the
6-foot-10-inch center would be drafted in the first
                       round or in the second.

                       Before the season began, many thought of Ketner as a
potential lottery pick. That may not appear
                       to be the case now that his shooting percentage has
dipped to 42 and he is scoring just 10.6
                       points per game, but the scouts don't believe Ketner
has fallen way, way down the list. He still
                       may be taken in the lower part of the first round.

                       Whether UMass goes to the NCAA Tournament or the
National Invitation Tournament largely
                       depends on Ketner's play in the Atlantic-10 tournament
beginning next Wednesday, according to
                       UMass radio voice Marc Vandermeer.

                       ''The scouts in Texas - and there were more than a
couple of them - say that Lari is having the
                       season he is because everybody's swarming on him on
defense,'' said Vandermeer, whose
                       play-by-play is heard on WHMP in Northampton and WXKS
(1430) in Greater Boston.

                       Vandermeer is puzzled about this year's Minutemen.
''It's hard to figure out this team. It's had a
                       close game against UConn, it beat Kansas, and it beat
Xavier; so the question is which UMass
                       team is going to show up for this tournament,''
Vandermeer said.