UMass officially hires Matt McCall to lead basketball program

The dramatic UMass head coaching search has finally come to an end, as the school announced Chattanooga's Matt McCall as the new frontman for the program.

"My family and I always said it would take something extremely special to move us away from Chattanooga and that's what we have here at UMass," McCall said in a statement. "The tradition and resources that are in place not only make this one of the best basketball jobs in the Atlantic 10 Conference, but one of the best jobs in the country. We couldn't be more excited about becoming part of the UMass family and look forward to building upon the rich tradition that has already been established here."

McCall's hire comes just a week after Winthrop's Pat Kelsey backed out of the UMass job just 30 minutes before he was to be introduced at a press conference. Kelsey decided to remain with Winthrop due to personal reasons, prompting the Minutemen to continue in their search for a new coach.

While he may not have been the program's first coach, UMass is getting a proven winner with the hire of McCall. The 35-year-old posted an impressive 48-18 record in his two seasons as Mocs head coach, leading to the team to the NCAA tournament last season.

Prior to leading Chattanooga, McCall spend time as an assistant at Florida and Florida Atlantic, serving on Billy Donovan's staff that won back-to-back national championships with the Gators in 2006 and 2007.

UMass relieved Derek Kellogg of his head coaching duties after a disappointing 15-18 season in 2016-17.