New UMass men’s basketball coach Pat Kelsey’s contract will pay an average of $800,000 if he stays through its five-year term.
On the conference call following Derek Kellogg’s firing on March 10, UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford said he expected to pay a candidate between $800,000 and $900,000 on average over five years. He said to offset Kellogg’s $1.16 million buyout the contract would be worth more on the back end.
There are retention bonuses after the second, third and fourth years of the contract.
Kelsey made $220,000 per year at Winthrop.
The actual contract is still being reviewed by lawyers and is not yet public.
STAFF FILLING — According to the Rock Hill Herald, Brian Kloman, an assistant coach on Kelsey’s Wintrop staff, will be joining him in Amherst. It’s uncertain how much of his staff will come to Amherst and how much will stay behind. Mark Prosser, the son of the late Wake Forest and Xavier coach Skip Prosser, was Kelsey’s top assistant and is considered a favorite to become Winthrop’s next head coach.
Bamford said earlier that Kellogg’s assistant coaches would likely be given an opportunity to interview.
WARM SENDOFF — Winthrop athletic director Ken Halpin praised his former coach on the way out the door.
“Winthrop University is so fortunate to have had Pat Kelsey as our head men’s basketball coach for the past five years,” he said. “In his time here he has done everything right and done nothing but improve every aspect of this program. The impact he has made on the Winthrop and Rock Hill communities has been tremendous. We truly wish him the best and have no doubts that he will bring success and a winning tradition to UMass.”
KELSEY VS. UMASS — In three seasons as a player at Xavier, Kelsey played in two games against the Minutemen. During the 1995-96 season, he had no points and a foul in three minutes. In 1997-98, he had two points and one rebound in one minute of action.
UMass won each game, both in Cincinnati.
On Twitter, Kelsey (@patkelsey), whose profile has been updated with logos for his new job, is looking for a little redemption against the Minuteman backcourt of Edgar Padilla and Carmelo Travieso:
“I couldn’t guard Travieso and Padilla on perimeter in 1996. I want a 1 on 1 rematch 21 yrs later. #RefuseToLose”
A-10 TURNOVER — UMass will be one of at least three Atlantic 10 schools with a new coach for the 2017-18 season. Duquesne is expected to hire King Rice, to replace fired coach Jim Ferry.
VCU may have set records in the time it took to hire a replacement from outside the program. Less than 24 hours after Will Wade left for LSU, the Rams had secured Rice coach Mike Rhoades, a former Shaka Smart assistant at VCU, to take over the program.
Dayton coach Archie Miller and Rhode Island coach Danny Hurley could be candidates elsewhere.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage