University of Massachusetts Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford announced a one-year extension to the current contract of men’s basketball head coach Matt McCall. The updated contract is now extended through March 28, 2023.
“After just one year at UMass, it is apparent that Matt very quickly changed the trajectory of our basketball program for the better,” said Bamford. “I am pleased to return Matt to five years on his contract and reconfirm our commitment to him and the process needed to rebuild our nationally recognized basketball program.”
“I am deeply appreciative and humbled by the support from Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford and Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy,” said McCall. “Their belief in our process from the start has been instrumental in how we are building this program and culture. Our players have been tremendous in their efforts and how they have bought into what we are doing which gives me great excitement about the future of UMass basketball.”
In his first year at UMass, one marked by the typical transition associated with a coaching change, McCall led the Minutemen to a 13-20 overall record that showed signs of great promise for the future.
McCall’s squad had early signature wins over Georgia and Providence while defeating Dayton twice in conference play. The back-to-back wins over the Flyers marked the first time in series history UMass earned two victories over Dayton in the same season and the first set of consecutive wins for the Minutemen since the 2006-07 and 2007-08 meetings.
Even in several of the losses, the Minutemen showed a vast improvement and competitive fight. Nine of the losses on the year were by six-or-fewer points against teams such as BYU, South Carolina (coming off a Final Four appearance), nationally ranked Rhode Island and VCU.
Overall, the Minutemen faced seven programs which reached either the NCAA Tournament (5) or the National Invitation Tournament (2).
Individually, McCall and his staff focused on the development of players within their system and style of play. Perhaps no example was greater than that of sophomore guard Luwane Pipkins who earned all-region honors, All-Atlantic 10 honors, and was named the league’s Most Improved Player. Several of his notable performances included a new single-game record for points, a single-season record for made three-pointers, and a single-season scoring average over 20 points to join the likes of Julius Erving and Marcus Camby.
Entering the 2017-18 campaign, the Minutemen will return several key figures while also adding the services of four players who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. Additionally the program currently has three incoming freshmen signed to National Letters of Intent.
