UTC's Matt McCall linked to UMass

UTC men's basketball coach Matt McCall will try to direct his players to a win today in the Southern Conference tournament after a difficult stretch ending the regular season.
UTC men's basketball coach Matt McCall will try to direct his players to a win today in the Southern Conference tournament after a difficult stretch ending the regular season.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball coach Matt McCall has been linked to an opening at the University of Massachusetts, according to a report by ESPN's Jeff Goodman.

In his report, Goodman stated that the two sides met Tuesday, and that a deal could be struck today.

The Minutemen finished 15-18 in 2016-17 and parted ways with nine-year head coach Derek Kellogg after the season. They had hired Winthrop's Pat Kelsey as a replacement last week and had a press conference scheduled, but Kelsey backed out at the last minute.

McCall has directed the Mocs to a 48-18 record in his two seasons as head coach, which includes the 2016 Southern Conference regular-season and tournament titles. That season included 29 wins, which included road victories over Georgia and Dayton as well as a win over Big Ten member Illinois.

This season started well, with a road win over Tennessee as well as wins over NCAA tournament team Jacksonville State – the Ohio Valley Conference champion – and Marshall, but the wheels fell off towards the end of the season and the team lost eight of its final 12 games to finish 19-12.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.

Upcoming Events