Quote:UMass will send a bus with players and coaches from its football program to Maryland, Thursday night to allow them to attend the funeral of senior offensive lineman Michael Boland, who died suddenly on Saturday.

The NCAA now allows athletic programs to help their athletes get to funerals.

“We’re very thankful to be able to do that for them,” said UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford, who said the school is offering access to counseling to any one affected by his loss. “Through our division of student affairs we’ve set up some opportunities and done some outreach.

“There’s a grieving process for everybody,” he continued. “We want to respect the family and make we support them in every way. We want to be certain the 120 guys on the roster, who built a relationship with him in different ways have all the abilities to manage this moving forward.”

Bamford said Boland was an example of how the athletic department wants it athletes to represent it.