Cold feet beat UMass
AMHERST — Pat Kelsey met with UMass players on Wednesday night for the first time over dinner, the new men’s basketball coach talking with his players about the future and what was to come for their program.
Yesterday arrived with no indication to the contrary.
UMass Athletic Director Ryan Bamford met Kelsey for lunch in anticipation of a 4 p.m. introductory press conference. It’s there where Bamford left Kelsey for two hours to prepare for that presser.
Somewhere in those two hours, something changed.
While fans, cheerleaders, administrators and more were filing into a decorated Champions Center, everything took a turn. At 3:25 p.m., Kelsey called Bamford to inform him he was backing out. The reasons were personal.
Inside the Champions Center, just 15 minutes before the scheduled start, a UMass spokesperson informed the assembled media that the press conference had been cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances.” Everyone was escorted out of the facility shortly after.
Kelsey had left the Minutemen at the altar.
“I was disappointed. I’m hurt by it,” Bamford said in a briefing about 90 minutes after the scheduled press conference. “At the same time, I understand that for him it was personal. The only thing I asked him was if there was anything we can do or if any part of it was about UMass. He said that it was not. Once I discovered that, I thought it was best for us to move in different directions.”
Bamford didn’t share the reasons why Kelsey made his decision, citing confidentiality reasons.
“I made sure it was nothing to do with us, and he assured me of that,” Bamford said. “He apologized profusely and said this was personal, to which I leave that to him to speak to.”
Kelsey will now go back to coach Winthrop, where he’s been for the last five seasons, according to the school.
“UMass is an amazing program with a winning tradition and a bright future that any coach would be proud to be a part of,” Kelsey said in a release. “But after further reflection, I have decided to remain at Winthrop. I realized that at this point in my career Winthrop and Rock Hill is the best place for my family and me.” According to Bamford, Kelsey will owe UMass $1 million for leaving within two years of his five-year deal, according to a buyout clause in the Memorandum of Understanding he signed Tuesday. Bamford wasn’t initially sure how or when the school would receive that money.
Bamford said he met with the team shortly after Kelsey informed him of his decision.
“I told them this was on me,” Bamford said. “As the leader of this organization, this is on me. I take this personally. Finding our next head coach is personal to me. I owe it to the people in our department, our student-athletes, to find somebody great.”
Now the search is back on for UMass’ next coach. Bamford wasn’t sure yet what the pool of candidates would look like now, or what his next steps will be.
“We’re going to go find somebody who wants to come here and return us to national prominence,” Bamford said. “There is no doubt in my mind. This is just a road bump for us, and I’m disappointed, because I thought we had somebody who was going to take us there, but I’m gonna tell you right now, the interest in this job as it has been the last two weeks is strong, and we’re going to find the next leader who’s going to take us exactly where we need to go.”