Matt McCall was named the 22nd head coach for University of Massachusetts men's basketball on March 29, 2017, and enters his fifth season at the helm in 2021-22.
During a COVID-19 shortened season in 2021-22 that saw 17 games postponed or cancelled, the Minutemen still managed to secure the No. 5 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship, its highest seed since 2008. With one of the youngest squads in the conference, Massachusetts finished the season 8-7 overall and 6-4 in conference, tied for the 10thfewest games played in the NCAA. UMass advanced to the A-10 Quarterfinals for the first time since 2016 after a 34-point victory in the A-10 Second Round over Saint Joseph’s, the largest margin of victory in Atlantic 10 Championship Tournament history.
McCall’s 2020-21 squad saw a three-win improvement from the prior campaign, posting a 14-17 overall record, including an 8-10 mark in league play to finish the year with their most conference wins since the 2014-15 season to earn the No. 8 seed in the A-10 Tournament, its highest seed since 2015. UMass was playing some of its best basketball of the season, with wins in four of its final six games of the regular season, until the Atlantic 10 Tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Led by freshman Tre Mitchell, who became the sixth player in team history and first since 2004 to be named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, UMass earned a first-round bye to the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time since 2016 and won 11 games at the Mullins Center. Mitchell set the UMass rookie record for field goals in a season with 206, was nine points away from breaking the program record for freshman points in a season, and was a six-time A-10 Rookie of the Week selection, the most for a Minuteman since 2004.
In his second season at UMass, McCall’s squad scored 70.7 points per game on the year to rank fifth among Atlantic 10 teams while ranking second in the league in field goal percentage from beyond the arc at 35-percent. Jonathan Laurent led the way in the A-10 with a 46.7-percent clip from deep with Carl Pierre posting the third-best percentage in the league. The Minutemen picked up a home win over rival Rhode Island behind Pierre’s 22 points and added a win over league-leader Davidson.
UMass had early signature wins over Georgia and Providence during McCall’s first year at the helm, adding a pair of wins over A-10 foe Dayton to mark the first time in series history that UMass has earned two wins over the Flyers in the same season with the first set of consecutive wins for the Minutemen in over 10 seasons. Sophom*oreLuwanePipkinswas tabbed all-region and the A-10’s Most Improved Player after averaging more than 20 points per contest to join the likes of JuliusErvingand MarcusCambyas players to average 20-plus in a single season.
Spending the previous two seasons at Chattanooga, McCall holds a head coaching record of 48-18 with marks of 25-11 in league action and 24-4 at home. Under his tutelage, JustinTuoyowas a two-time Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Pacing theMocsto a 19-12 record in 2016-17,Tuoyoled the conference in blocks while ranking sixth nationally at 2.9 per game.
In his first campaign at Chattanooga, McCall’s squad set a school record with 29 wins, captured theSoConRegular Season and Tournament Championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The 29 wins were the most in the nation by a first-year head coach in 2015-16. The total is tied for seventh-best since 1962.
The tourney crown and NCAA appearance were the first for UTC since 2009. The regular-season league title was theMocs’first since 1994. The previous wins record of 27 dated back to the 1982 season (27-4), matching the total the 1977 NCAA Division II National Champions posted (27-5).
In 2015-16, theMocsgenerated momentum with victories at Georgia, Illinois and Dayton. The win over the Flyers snapped their 26-game home winning streak. McCall earned Southern Conference Coach of the Year honors as the squad featuredAll-SoConperformers inTuoyoandTre’McLean.
McCall spent 11 seasons, over two stops, with Billy Donovan at Florida. After five seasons as a manager and graduate assistant, he was named Director of Basketball Operations (2006-08) before returning to Gainesville as assistant coach prior to the 2011-12 season.
In total, McCall was part of four SEC titles, four SEC Tournament titles, two NCAA Elite Eights, a Final Four and two NCAA titles. The 2013-14 Gators won 30-straight games, with an 18-0 SEC ledger, before a loss to eventual National ChampionUConnin the Final Four.
In four seasons with the Gators’ coaching staff, he helped land a top-five recruiting class in 2013, which included two McDonald’s All-Americans in Chris Walker and Kasey Hill. The Gators also had a top-10 group in 2014. McCall was instrumental in adding All-SEC guard Michael Frazier andDeVonWalker in the 2012 class.
Between stints in Gainesville, McCall was an assistant under Mike Jarvis at Florida Atlantic for three seasons. The Owls went just 6-26 in that first season (2008-09), accumulated 14 wins in 2009-10 and put together the school’s best Division I campaign with a 21-11 mark in 2010-11.
FAU’s2010-11 squad won the Sun Belt Regular Season title and earned just the second postseason berth in FAU history (2011 NIT). McCall’s recruiting efforts netted such notables as Greg Gantt, DennisMavinand Raymond Taylor. Gantt ranked among the league and national leaders in scoring and three-point shooting during his Owl career.
McCall and his wife, Allison (Rios), are the parents of daughters Brooklyn and Kylie. He earned his undergraduate degree in exercise and sports science from Florida in 2004 and went on to earn a master’s degree in the same concentration in May 2006, also from Florida.
2020-21 – Massachusetts, Head Coach
2019-20 – Massachusetts, Head Coach
2018-19 – Massachusetts, Head Coach
2017-18–Massachusetts, Head Coach
2016-17 – Chattanooga, Head Coach
2015-16 – Chattanooga, Head Coach (SoCon Champions, SoCon Tournament Champions, NCAA First Round)
2014-15 – Florida, Assistant Coach
2013-14 – Florida, Assistant Coach (SEC Champions, SEC Tournament Champions, NCAA Final Four)
2012-13 – Florida, Assistant Coach (SEC Champions, NCAA Elite Eight)
2011-12 – Florida, Assistant Coach (NCAA Elite Eight)
2010-11 – FAU, Assistant Coach (Sun Belt Champions, NIT First Round)
2009-10 – FAU, Assistant Coach
2008-09 – FAU, Assistant Coach
2007-08 – Florida, Director of Operations (NIT Semifinals)
2006-07 – Florida, Director of Operations (SEC Champions, SEC Tournament Champions, NCAA Champions)
2005-06 – Florida, Graduate Assistant (SEC Tournament Champions, NCAA Champions)
2004-05 – Florida, Graduate Assistant (SEC Tournament Champions, NCAA Second Round)
2003-04 – Florida, Student Manager (NCAA First Round)
2002-03 – Florida, Student Manager (NCAA Second Round)
2001-02 – Florida, Student Manager (SEC East Co-Champions, NCAA First Round)
