MASSACHUSETTS ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS 290 BOYDEN GYMNASIUM || 131 COMMONWEALTH AVE. || AMHERST, MA 01003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017 – CONTACT: MOLLY O’MARA ([email protected])
MEN’S BASKETBALL Massachusetts Athletics Press Conference Transcript
Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford Thanking those who helped in the process: “For those of you who know John Calipari, he always said teams and coaches can win games but administrations win championships and I can tell you whole heartily, we’ve got one of the best administrations both at the system level and here on campus that any flagship university could ask for.”
“Our senior leadership team, when you go through a coaching search, you leave campus and it’s amazing when you realize the value in your organization when everything keeps moving forward when you’re gone. Tom McElroy and Darrice Griffin were big parts of this search, they really sold our program and told our story to the candidates.”
“Eddie Fogler, our search consultant, did a nice job organizing things. He’s got a real feel for basketball and got us in front of the people we wanted to get in front of, and was really good about keeping us on task.”
“Our men’s basketball staff has been remarkable, and the young men in our program, I am very proud of you. You’ve handled this with humility and patience, and I appreciate that.”
On the search: “Through a coaching search process, you learn a lot about the people that you want associated with your organization but you also learn a lot about yourself and how people view your program. It always galvanizes me because this is such a special place. At the end of the day we talked with a lot of special people, and the reason we are allowed to do this is because of the foundation we have built here, especially in the sport of men’s basketball. Jack Leaman really got us cranking and it’s special to have his family, Rita and Laurie, as a part of our program.”
On who they look for when searching for new coach: “We look for someone who can take us to the mountain tops, take us to the top of the A-10, take us there and keep us there. I think you can see by virtue of this John F. Kennedy Champions Center that we are making an investment in UMass basketball and this is the next step to take us to a level of success that will make all of us proud.”
“We were thorough, we wanted to make sure we had the right leader. This week we narrowed our focus on those who have been involved in programs with a lot of success, and it led us to Coach McCall.”
On McCall spending 11 years with Billy Donavan: “A program with unprecedented success. I think that speaks to a coaching style and the relationships you build. Matt was able to see that blueprint for success and use that as a head coach for two years at Chattanooga to take his own team to the NCAA Tournament.
“One thing I liked about Matt was that he had been at a flagship university. That he not only worked there, but had earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree there and recruited the best to come to the university. And that’s what we want for the Commonwealth’s Flagship.”
“Here’s what you can’t see on his resume. I talked to a lot of coaches, administrators and players who know him and I learned that he’s selfless. It’s not about him. It’s about the young men in our program. All the people who add value to the program. He’s got great energy, he’s positive, relentless, passionate, authentic and process driven. He’s extremely aspirational in his own life and with this program. This was very important to us. He’s a relationship builder, he cares about people, whether it’s a walk-on or a scholarship player, or support staff member and the way that he is with his family. I appreciate you all being here. The appeal is to continue to invest and buy into what we are doing. We’ve got a great leader in place of our men’s basketball program and I can promise you we are investing in this program as a university, I can promise you that Matt and the staff he builds will invest in our young people, and that the guys that are here will invest in the process to have success.”
On how the process progressed leading up to today: “The days blend together. It was earlier this week, Monday or Tuesday, we got together. Very early on we talked for a couple hours and he had a way of explaining to us what it meant to be a championship program and what that was like for him at Florida and Chattanooga and how that could translate to success here. Shortly after that initial meeting and those hours that we spent together, we took a little breather and then I asked him to come back to campus with us. That day he came back and we got him comfortable with everything here in Amherst. That was good because it gave us a chance to get to know each other even more and to connect and to talk about this opportunity. After some time, we knew he was the right guy for us.”
On how long Matt McCall was on the list of potential coaches: “Since the beginning of the process. The process the first time, we moved pretty quickly. We were thorough but we moved pretty quickly and didn’t get a chance to talk to (Matt McCall). It wasn’t that he was the second choice, because we didn’t talk to him the first time around. It was just a timing thing. We found a candidate that we liked and we wanted to go down the road with. I can tell you that I am extremely happy with where we ended up, now a week later. This is, for us, a great, great, hire. Matt brings a lot to the table and was on our radar from the very beginning. He has been involved and every place he has been, he has won. You can’t say that about every coach in this country and I think he is going to bring that winning here.”
Head Coach Matt McCall Opening Statement: “I am so appreciative, I’m humbled and extremely honored to be the basketball coach of this great University and to have the opportunity to work with and impact these young men every single day. It’s truly a blessing and an honor and I can’t be more excited about this opportunity, as we embark on this journey going forward.”
Thanking those who helped in the process: “There’s a lot of people we need to thank. Obviously, Chancellor Subbaswamy and Ryan (Bamford) and your entire staff, not only for the opportunity, we’re appreciate of that. How welcome they have made me and my family feel in such a short amount of time goes to show me just how special this place is and that everyone is working towards a common goal together.”
On what excites him about the opportunity: “If you ask me the question what excites me the most, what excites me the most about this opportunity it’s hard to pinpoint one thing. You could talk about the school’s rich tradition, you could talk about the unbelievable coaches that have come through here. You can talk about some of the great players that have played here and put on that jersey. You can talk about how it’s one of the best public institutions in the country and all that stuff I knew before I even walked on campus and that got me excited. What I didn’t know was the unbelievable facilities, infrastructure and resources that are here to continue to make this place great.”
On the standard to set and process to get there: “The standard is winning championships. We understand that, that’s the goal. The goal is to play in the NCAA Tournament, the goal is to win championships and continue to hang banners like it has been done here. Our focus will continue to be on the process and that process is getting better every single day. That process starts with these players. That process starts with us having a huge impact with them both on and off the floor.”
On style of play to expect: “Style of play is important, every coach in the country thinks they have the best style of play. Trust me, I think our style of play is the best. We want to run, we want to press, we want to get up and down, we want to space the floor, we want to run pick and rolls. But the most important thing is getting a connected unit, playing the game for each other; that will be our focus.”
On culture he will build within program: “Our culture is built on five things. Character, handling ourselves with an unbelievable amount of professionalism each and every day. Resiliency and the game of basketball, when adversity hits, you’ve got to be resilient. When that adversity hits, you’ve got to be able to persevere. Our focus will be on the team, playing the game for each other, getting joy out of seeing each other succeed and, the last thing our focus will be on, is our humility.”
“I’m excited to get to work and start to build this program as we continue to go forward.”
On when he realized this was a fit for him: “It’s been kind of a whirlwind for me and my family personally. I was actually on the road recruiting on Monday when the call came in to see if I could be in Boston by 9 a.m. on Tuesday to meet. The second that happened my wheels started turning. I knew how special of a place it was because of the tradition. I know that Coach (Derek) Kellogg and the staff did a terrific job recruiting and I started to do research on each and every one of these players to know how talented they are.”
“For me, after meeting with Ryan (Bamford) and his staff and seeing their passion for the program, I talked to the people that mean a lot to me in Billy Donovan and Jeremy Foley, especially. When I came in here on Tuesday night, I was blown away with the infrastructure, with the facilities. I knew that this is a special place. When the offer was made, I had to call Allison (McCall) first. I think she had already started packing some boxes just to get back up here in the Northeast. I was immediately excited and ready to get to work.”
On expectations to be able to build on current talent quickly: “No question about it. This is a terrific team with unbelievable talent. I think Coach (Derek) Kellogg and his staff did a great job recruiting a talented group. Getting on the floor, getting to work, trying to get to know each other. Not just through meetings in an office, but getting on the floor and working. Players getting a feel for me as a coach and us getting a feel for each other out there on some things we are going to do that will probably be a little bit different for them. I think there is no question there is an enormous amount of talent here and I am really looking forward to getting on the floor with some of these guys.”
On being perceived as the second choice and on winning over the players: “This business is all about timing and it was the right time for me to be the head coach of this university. I don’t look at it that way at all, I look at it as an opportunity and I am really, really excited for this opportunity, I can promise you that. It is all about building trust with each other. That will be built by getting on the floor and working and me investing in them. I said it earlier, we are all about high impact. High impact equals high reward. If we can focus on the process, and the process starts with us impacting each and every one of them, we can have that reward and the result will take care of itself.”
On the style of play he brings: “It is going to be exciting. I am from the background working all those years with Coach (Billy) Donovan, we want to run. I even feel like as a coach (at Chattanooga), we pressed a little more than we did at Florida. I think my first year at Chattanooga, we were the second or third most-pressing team in the country, so we want to press. We want to try to create turnovers, which can get us back out on the break. I am a huge fan of the three-point line. I think it’s the greatest equalizer in college basketball. If we can get a wide-open look, a paint touch or a dunk within the first six seconds of the shot clock, trust me, we’ll take that. Once we get into the half-court, we need to execute a pro-style offense with an enormous amount of spread pick-and-rolls, but again, evaluating each and every one of these guys and trying to take advantage of their talents and putting them in the best possible situation to be successful on the floor will be how we want to play as well.”
On how much the success and experience gained as the head coach at Chattanooga will translate at UMass: “As a coach, you’re always trying to learn, grow and get better every day. I look at this opportunity and look back at some things I would have done differently right when I got that job, that maybe impacted some things later on. Trying to look and evaluate these things, I think, is big. You always try to learn how to get better and at any point in time you think you have something figured out it’s time to move on to something else. Any time you take over a program the first thing you need to do is start investing in the players and that’s something we really tried to do when I got to Chattanooga and we didn’t have one guy leave. That’s not to say that we are not going to have a guy leave. Guys have to do what’s best for their families and for themselves and I totally get that, but we were able to keep a lot of those guys intact and they bought in really, really early. I think that is why we were able to have such success. I think that experience as a coach has made me even more prepared for this opportunity.”
- UMassAthletics.com -