After the Massachusetts men’s basketball team finished its season, head coach Frank Martin and athletic director Ryan Bamford held a press conference for members of the media on Monday afternoon.
The two university employees discussed their thoughts on the program’s recent 17-16 season along with what lies ahead for the Minutemen in a college sports climate that’s rapidly changing.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure to have [Martin] leading UMass basketball and [we’re] excited for what’s to come,” Bamford said. “It takes a village. It takes administrative help, it takes university help, it takes leadership from all sorts to get our programs up and going into the place that we all want them to be.”
When asked what went wrong this season, Martin focused on the realities of coaching college sports in 2026. He discussed adjusting to building a team year-over-year with the transfer portal as opposed to developing one group of players, and how even with a host of new players, his team was just a few possessions away from finishing much higher than eighth in the Mid-American Conference.
Looking ahead to the upcoming offseason, the top three scorers for the Minutemen – Leonardo Bettiol, Marcus Banks Jr. and Daniel Hankins-Sanford – are all out of college eligibility. On average, Martin has returned four scholarship players per season over his three offseasons in Amherst.
Bamford discussed Martin’s tenure, applauding the successes of the men’s basketball program under the coach and mentioning the character and academic achievements of his players. He backed up the idea that retention is important in this day and age, and that the department is still searching for the right “mechanism” to hold onto Martin’s top players.
“We’re constantly learning what’s in front of us, what’s around us, and the change in college athletics, the change in conferences was a perfect storm for Massachusetts athletics,” Bamford said. “Nobody in the MAC is disappointed that we’re not winning championships … But that’s what we’re trying to build towards, and we’re not going to stop until we do.”
Throughout the press conference, Martin alluded to the profile of the MAC as being part of the reason why his team failed to reach preseason expectations. In the Minutemen’s first season in their new conference, both him and Bamford referred to travel, opposing teams’ player retention and even new referees as factors that impacted a smooth transition.
As for how the program will improve in the future, no concrete numbers were thrown out, but Bamford did mention analyzing expenses to see if more money can go toward men’s basketball. UMass already boasted one of the top NIL budgets in the MAC this season, but its record did not match its spending.
Outside of that claim, much was made of assimilating into the new conference, with Martin mentioning that there’s an “adjustment period with the MAC” that the program needs to work through.
In a lengthy opening statement, Martin discussed his time recruiting this past week and how he self-reflected on his role in college basketball. A good portion of the statement was dedicated to his personality, with the head coach pointing out that he now gets asked to speak to young coaches after once being vilified by the NCAA.
From there, Martin reflected on his behavior on the sidelines over his time in Amherst. He mentioned that his firing at South Carolina had affected his demeanor with the Minutemen, partially contributing to unacceptable mid-game behavior. Heading into his fifth year with UMass, he said that his 2025-26 roster has given him renewed excitement to coach college basketball.
“I contemplated quitting at the end of last year,” Martin said. “That’s how complicated last year was for me. Those guys in the locker room actually gave me life and made me enjoy coming into practice … Because of them, I’m even more excited about the growth … trying to finish the job I was asked to come do here, which is to provide this school [with] a conference championship.”
Through four years at UMass, Martin sits at 64-63 with a 31-41 record in A-10 and MAC games. Over Bamford’s eleven years as the school’s athletic director, the men’s basketball program is 154-181 and 71-119 in conference play.
Dean Wendel can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @DeanWende1.
