Ford leaving UMass for Okla. State

49ers Basketball Forum 🏀
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Travis Ford replaced Sean Sutton when the two were still playing college basketball. He’ll do it again in the coaching profession.

Ford agreed Wednesday to leave his job as Massachusetts’ coach to take over Sutton’s old position at Oklahoma State. A news conference was planned in Stillwater on Thursday to formally introduce him.

In a twist of fate, Ford has been in a position to follow Sutton once before. After growing up in Kentucky, Ford ended up leaving the state to start his college career when the coach seemed headed toward playing his son at the point guard position.

Kentucky’s coach at the time? Eddie Sutton. And his point guard? His son, Sean.

So Ford headed to Missouri for his first season, but then ended up transferring back home after Eddie Sutton ran into trouble with NCAA violations and alcoholism and was forced out at Kentucky.

Eddie Sutton ended up returning to his alma mater, Oklahoma State, and Sean transferred to join him before eventually joining his coaching staff. The two combined to take a downtrodden program to 13 NCAA tournaments in the next 16 seasons – including Final Four appearances in 1995 and 2004 – before the elder Sutton stepped aside following a drunk-driving accident in 2006.

That set the gears in motion toward Ford’s second chance at following the Suttons.

Sean Sutton, who had been promised the chance to succeed his father, took over the Cowboys’ program late in the 2005-06 and led the team to its first of three straight first-round exits in the NIT.

Upon announcing Sean Sutton’s resignation April 1, athletic director Mike Holder called him a victim of the expectations set by his father.

Now, Ford will assume those expectations. The 38-year-old coach led UMass to a 25-11 record this season and an appearance in the NIT championship game, where it lost to Ohio State. He directed the Minutemen to a 62-35 mark in three seasons, including NIT bids the past two seasons.

“I have greatly enjoyed my three years here at UMass. It was a very difficult decision to leave UMass, one which my family and I struggled with mightily,” Ford said Wednesday in a statement released by the university.

“I wish nothing but the best for the staff and players at UMass. They have been and will always be family to me. I feel the team at UMass has a great nucleus in place and I wish them the best in the future.”

Oklahoma State’s coaching search began with a high-profile bid to lure Bill Self away from Kansas after he led the Jayhawks to the national championship. Rumors of a big payday backed by billionaire booster Boone Pickens never came to fruition, and Self signed an extension to stay at Kansas instead of returning to his alma mater.

The end result was another Oklahoma State hire with a Kentucky connection.

Ford grew up in Madisonville, Ky., and played three seasons for Rick Pitino at Kentucky after transferring from Missouri. He was a key player on the Wildcats’ 1993 Final Four team that featured Jamal Mashburn.

Ford’s first head coaching job was at Campbellsville, Ky., of the NAIA, where he went 67-31 in three seasons. He then took over a losing program at Eastern Kentucky and guided the Colonels to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 26 years. He parlayed that first-round loss to Kentucky in 2005 into the Massachusetts job, and it appeared as recently as last week that he would remain with the Minutemen.

Ford turned down a job offer from Providence, and UMass athletic director John McCutcheon announced that Ford had agreed to a new contract. Six days later, Ford was preparing to move on.

McCutcheon said he never heard directly from Oklahoma State, but Ford had informed him he was contacted.

“We did have some very candid conversations with coach Ford and this situation emerged very quickly,” McCutcheon said. “It’s part of the business we’re in. That’s just something we have to deal with is professionalism. When you have an individual as talented as coach Ford was, that represents an institution like he did, you’d be naïve to think you’re not going to have these situations.”

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No way he deserved this, but good for him anyway, maybe UMass can find somebody who wants to be there.

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Darn. Not good for the conference.

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Still not sure Ok State made the right move. Ford is a good coach, and has shown that he could be good, but it seems like he skipped a step. Good for him. I hope UMass can find a good replacement and discover some more fan support to usher in the new coach.

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I hope UMass can find a good replacement and discover some more fan support to usher in the new coach.

I’m available!!! My loyalty runs only as deep as a few 100Ks… sorry NNN. :ohmy:

:lmao::lmao::lmao:

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Skipped a step? What would be in between UMass and OSU?

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[QUOTE=NovaNiner;314790]Skipped a step? What would be in between UMass and OSU?[/QUOTE]

Charlotte!!

I think he meant maybe maintaning the winning, or making the NCAA tournament…

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Travi$ Fraud pulls
the rug out on UMass.
Ford accepts head coaching job at Oklahoma State
less than a week after he agrees to stay in Amherst.
Ford quotes, 4/10/2008:
“This is the right place for me.”
“I’m 100% committed to this.”
“I want to be able to coach those guys.”
“I didn’t want to lead my players in the wrong direction. . . I wanted to be able to,
when I talked to them, give them the final: this is what I’m doing, this is it.”

UMass forced to begin search for new head coach for 3rd time in 7 years.

This is from the UMass board. We are very unhappy about the 180 this guy pulled.

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Take a deep breath, 13. You’re still in good shape.

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So who does UMass go after?

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Lutz to UMass?

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[QUOTE=NovaNiner;314790]Skipped a step? What would be in between UMass and OSU?[/QUOTE]

He never landed a recruit anywhere near the level it is going to take to compete in the Big 12. His two best players at UMass were Lasme (on the roster when he took over) and Forbes (a transfer). Chris Lowe is a good player and one of Ford’s first recruits, but he wasn’t highly touted out of HS. Yes, recruiting is easier in the Big 12 than it is in the A10, but you still have to prove you can win some recruiting battles.

And he couldn’t take his team this year to the NCAA tournament, that team easily had NCAA talent, but they didn’t get it done.

He didn’t deserve an interview with OSU, let alone to get the job.

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[QUOTE=CMack124;314901]He never landed a recruit anywhere near the level it is going to take to compete in the Big 12. His two best players at UMass were Lasme (on the roster when he took over) and Forbes (a transfer). Chris Lowe is a good player and one of Ford’s first recruits, but he wasn’t highly touted out of HS. Yes, recruiting is easier in the Big 12 than it is in the A10, but you still have to prove you can win some recruiting battles.

And he couldn’t take his team this year to the NCAA tournament, that team easily had NCAA talent, but they didn’t get it done.

He didn’t deserve an interview with OSU, let alone to get the job.[/QUOTE]

Travis Ford did a very good job while at UMass. We didn’t make the NCAA’s this year, but that’s really up to the NCAA (a.k.a BCS) selection committee. UMass and Dayton had much better RPI’s than Oregon, Villanova or Kentucky. I like how selection commitee always seems to have a non-BCS Commitee Chairmen to prop up the facade that this thing is legit. It’s certainly more fair than the football charade, but quite slanted nonetheless. Anyway, the word around campus it that UTEP head Coach Tony Barbee is a target as well as Memphis assistant Derek Kellogg. Both these guys are UMass alums and played for Calipari. Also UConn assistant Tom Moore is rumored to be on the short list. He is supposed to be an excelled recruiter for Calhoun and he’s a native of Worcester, Mass. His family ties to the state, it is hoped, make him less likely to bolt. Then again UConn is only 75 minutes southwest of UMass and the prospect of taking the reigns when Calhoun steps down may be a big reason for Moore to stay where he is.

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Travis Ford did a very good job while at UMass. We didn't make the NCAA's this year, but that's really up to the NCAA (a.k.a BCS) selection committee. UMass and Dayton had much better RPI's than Oregon, Villanova or Kentucky. I like how selection commitee always seems to have a non-BCS Commitee Chairmen to prop up the facade that this thing is legit.
I too strongly question the legitimacy of the NCAA tournament anymore. The way they match-up some teams, the way some conf. can get in 8 teams yet only play <10 OOC games, the way some teams can have an RPI of twenty-freaking-one and not get in. I especially despise their tendancy to blatantly set up games so that there is some kind of back story to the game instead of just seeding and placing the teams the way they are supposed to be. It's really sad to see happen. Corruption sucks.
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[QUOTE=UMass13;314942]Travis Ford did a very good job while at UMass. We didn’t make the NCAA’s this year, but that’s really up to the NCAA (a.k.a BCS) selection committee. UMass and Dayton had much better RPI’s than Oregon, Villanova or Kentucky.[/QUOTE]

He did a good job, I agree. But how often does a coach who was in the A10 for 3 years with zero NCAA appearances get the call up to a BCS team? Not any BSC team, I think LSU or Providence would have been smart to get him (I know Providence tried), but a BCS team that has realistic expectations to reach the Elite 8 every few years. I think he’s a good coach who may turn into a great coach, but I think OSU really went out on a limb with the hire, his resume doesn’t match the level of job he was able to get.

And the NCAA selection committee thing is a huge cop-out IMO. Don’t blow a double digit halftime lead in your first game of the A10 tournament and they are in the NCAA. Out of the other three you listed, only Oregon failed to win a game in their conference tournament, and they lost to a nationally ranked team.

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Darn. Not good for the conference.

anymore proof the A10 is mid major?

I’m waiting on Xavier to lose its 3rd coach in 10 years to a BCS school

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I too strongly question the legitimacy of the NCAA tournament anymore. The way they match-up some teams, the way some conf. can get in 8 teams yet only play <10 OOC games, the way some teams can have an RPI of twenty-freaking-one and not get in. I especially despise their tendancy to blatantly set up games so that there is some kind of back story to the game instead of just seeding and placing the teams the way they are supposed to be. It's really sad to see happen. Corruption sucks.

the NCAA tourny is as close to a flawless sporting event that exists.

If you produce, you get in. Typically there are only 5 teams or so out of 344 who complain they did not get a shot (of course they could of won their tourny).

Furthermore, 4 (thats right 4) number 1 seeds were in the Final 4 which means the committee nailed it.

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Matt Vautour mentions Bob McKillop, as well as the expected ones of Tony Barbee and Derek Kellogg as candidates to replace Ford…

DailyHampshireGazette.com: Coaching search begins McCutcheon: longevity not a major factor

Also, good piece from Erik Gallant’s UMass blog…

MassLive.com: Ford: ‘I want to be a Cowboy’

In particular, I like this:

"My goal is to take this Oklahoma State basketball program to a national championship and that's why I'm here and that's what I look forward to doing."

You can’t say Ford doesn’t have lofty goals. A more reasonable goal would be to win a conference tournament game, something Ford has never done anyplace other than the Ohio Valley Conference.

Finally, couldn’t resist linking this:

YouTube.com: I wanna be a cowboy

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the NCAA tourny is as close to a flawless sporting event that exists.

If you produce, you get in. Typically there are only 5 teams or so out of 344 who complain they did not get a shot (of course they could of won their tourny).

Furthermore, 4 (thats right 4) number 1 seeds were in the Final 4 which means the committee nailed it.

I agree that the NCAA tourney is still very good, but they still do unnecessary stuff that I feel is done only for making the tourney more sensational. That or they are dumb. I still can’t understand why Tennessee was put in UNC’s bracket (not that that is the most compelling evidence this year).

But as far as being perfect goes, I honestly believe the NCAA tournament at it’s core isn’t all that perfect. I love it to death, but the one and done system is kinda silly when “any team can beat any other team on any day.” Baseball does it better I think. I like the double elimination thing that goes on. And in the MLB and other pro sports they play those long series. You know the winner is without question the best team (unless it goes to game 7 and then you pretty much know the two teams are really equally matched).

Sure, if NCAA basketball did this it would take away the whole cinderella thing, but then at least the winners really are the team that should have won.

Also, just because they finally for the first time ever got the #1 seeds right doesn’t mean they didn’t mess up the rest of the field. They were bound to get all the four #1 seeds correct eventually. They also didn’t get the overall #1 seed correct, tho that’s not too too important.

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And the NCAA selection committee thing is a huge cop-out IMO. Don’t blow a double digit halftime lead in your first game of the A10 tournament and they are in the NCAA. Out of the other three you listed, only Oregon failed to win a game in their conference tournament, and they lost to a nationally ranked team.[/QUOTE]

There used to be 10 “major confrence” in the college basketball now there are 6. I am not saying we were not a bubble teams, but we had 6 straight wins before we lost to you guys. Dayton had an RPI in the 30’s and crushed Big East tourny champ Pitt. If a BCS team had there numbers they would be in. Last year Air Force had an RPI of 30 and was 22-8. Stanford was 18-12 wiht an RPI of 65. Both lost in the opening rounds of their confrence tournys. Stanford got an at large bid and Airforce did not. Oh, by the way not only did they have a better record and RPI, Air Force beat Stanford at Stanford 79-45!!! So Oregon and Stanford lost to ranked teams…so what they lost. Two years ago Missouri State was 20-8 with an RPI of 21. If any BCS team didn’t get an at large bid with those numbers they would call for an investigation. You honestly are trying to tell me this thing isn’t slanted. The BCS boys don’t mind a George Mason, Davidson, or Butler making a nice tourney run. But 6 or 7 of those teams making runs is a threat to them. The A10 and CUSA were true power confrences just a few years ago. But with all the confrence’s realigning the power has shifted. My plan to fix this is a topic for another time. I remember when you guys joined the A10, many on this board were worried about Charlotte losing it’s prominace. Confrence USA only got 1 bid this year, either way your either in the BCS club or out. Right now were on the outside looking in…