Following the first 20 win season in over a decade, the UMass Minutemen extended head coach Frank Martin’s contract for two more seasons, keeping the 48-year-old in Amherst through the 2028-29 college basketball season.
Martin and his coaching staff will all receive raises, per the team’s release. Martin’s first contract was a five year deal signed in 2022 that paid him $1M per season, but he’ll earn a bump after leading the Minutemen to a 20-11 record and a fourth place finish in the Atlantic 10.
“I am unbelievably excited personally, for our staff and players that this university believes in us and asked us to be a part of the present and extend us well into the future,” Martin said in a statement. “Together with our supporters, we will continue to build this program and get it back to a championship level like it deserves and assist the university as we transition to a new conference. I have tremendous enthusiasm for this opportunity that Ryan Bamford and Javier Reyes have afforded me.”
UMass had not finished above .500 in conference play across a full season since they went 10-8, and 17-15 overall, in the 2014-15 season under coach Derek Kellogg. Led by Josh Cohen (15.9 points) and Matt Cross (15.3 points), last year’s Minutemen squad went 11-7 in league play and lost to VCU in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
Martin was the head coach at Kansas State from 2007-2012, making the NCAA Tournament in four of five seasons before taking over at South Carolina ahead of the 2012-13 season.
Martin only made the big dance once at South Carolina, but it was a run all the way to the Final Four in 2017 before the team fell by four to Gonzaga – narrowly missing a matchup against North Carolina for a national championship.
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Courtesy : https://collegesportswire.usatoday.com/2024/06/20/umass-extends-head-coach-frank-martin-through-2029-season/