UMass calls on McCall
Chattanooga coach on way to Amherst
Three Thursdays ago, UMass fired its basketball coach. Last Thursday, the Minutemen thought they had a replacement before there was a bizarre turn.
Now today, on another Thursday, UMass is set to finally move on into its new era.
After a seemingly marathon three-week ordeal, the Minutemen look to have finally found their man. The school announced yesterday that Matt McCall, who just completed his second season at Chattanooga, will be its new coach.
McCall is set to be introduced in Amherst today at 5 p.m., exactly one week after a stunning series of events in which Winthrop University coach Pat Kelsey, who had been hired that Tuesday, backed out on UMass shortly before his scheduled press conference.
McCall, 35, will be the Minutemen’s 22nd head coach. He succeeds Derek Kellogg, who was fired March 9 after nine seasons.
“It is my pleasure to welcome Matt McCall and his family to the University of Massachusetts,” athletic director Ryan Bamford said in a statement. “Matt is a rising star in college basketball coaching who has been a key piece of three successful programs in his career. He has earned a reputation as a relentless worker, a great teammate and colleague and a confident leader of young men. Matt has worked with some of the most respected coaches and administrators in the country, who loudly sing his praises.
“Coach McCall’s appointment begins an exciting new chapter for our tradition-rich men’s basketball program at UMass.”
According to Bamford, McCall’s contract is for five years. It will pay an average of $750,000 per season if he stays all five years and hits retention bonuses.
“My family and I always said it would take something extremely special to move us away from Chattanooga and that’s what we have here at UMass,” McCall said in a statement. “The tradition and resources that are in place not only make this one of the best basketball jobs in the Atlantic 10 Conference, but one of the best jobs in the country. We couldn’t be more excited about becoming part of the UMass family and look forward to building upon the rich tradition that has been established here in the past.”
McCall, an Ocala, Fla., native, was a head coach for the first time at Chattanooga. He guided the Mocs to a 29-win season and NCAA tournament appearance in 2015-16, which earned him Southern Conference coach of the year honors. Chattanooga went 19-12 in ’16-17.
The new leader of the Minutemen is a branch of Billy Donovan’s coaching tree at Florida, where he spent two stops over 11 seasons. McCall was a student manager and graduate assistant before being promoted to director of player operations in 2006. He was part of the Gators’ back-toback national championships in 2005-06 and 2006’07.
After leaving Gainesville to spend three seasons as an assistant at Florida Atlantic under Cambridge native Mike Jarvis. McCall returned to Florida to be an assistant under Donovan in 2011.
Bamford wanted to find Kellogg’s replacement by the end of March and seemed to have his guy when Kelsey accepted the job. But Kelsey, shockingly, changed his mind 35 minutes before his scheduled presser to return to Winthrop University.
The UMass AD went back to the drawing board, and considered several candidates, including Celtics assistant Micah Shrewsberry, who interviewed for a second time Monday.