State of the program

[mlaconte459]

It’s tiny bleachers and he was obviously having an afternoon with his daughter. There is nothing wrong with saying hi when you see him, but it wasn’t the right spot to have that conversation imo..

But what really matters is Santos is beyond fun to watch and reminds me of a taller unique with more of a jump shot.. his athletiscm is extremely impressive

[vanmeter]

Look I was not there and would not bother to say anything to him if I was.

But I can guarantee you that every coach, from Calipari to Kellogg, would be receptive to anyone - whether with their son/daughter or not.

[UMassfan_19]

It seems like the wrong time and place for that conversation. From experience conversation with coaches about recruiting are rather awkward so I understand why he would want to avoid the topic. In my brief interactions with McCall he has been very nice and receptive. It's one thing to say hello offer some encouragement it's another to tell him how he should his job

[TruBluMaroon]

^

To a basketball game? Nothing wrong with that.

Swing and a miss!!! The reference was about not talking because he had his daughter with him. But, now that I’m back, Matt McCall is the face of that program and part of the large amount of money he is paid is paid to him to have a positive customer relations (probably in his job description). He has had enough experience and enough mentors that he should know by now how to turn every public interaction into a quick and positive experience for the fan. Questioning how someone would feel going to watch a high level recruit in your primary market would qualify as a “ night off”!

[JoleonLescottsHair]

Look I was not there and would not bother to say anything to him if I was.

But I can guarantee you that every coach, from Calipari to Kellogg, would be receptive to anyone - whether with their son/daughter or not.

Actually there's a bit of a theme that runs through the post-Cal era. Bruiser and Kellogg were 'great guys who connected' with the fans and community while the 3 non-Calipari tree "outsiders"- Lappas, Ford, and now McCall, it seems, were jerks and aloof. Funny how that works. If you didn't work with Cal, well, you better at least learn the secret New England handshake if you're going to be accepted around here!

^

To a basketball game? Nothing wrong with that.

Swing and a miss!!! The reference was about not talking because he had his daughter with him. But, now that I’m back, Matt McCall is the face of that program and part of the large amount of money he is paid is paid to him to have a positive customer relations (probably in his job description). He has had enough experience and enough mentors that he should know by now how to turn every public interaction into a quick and positive experience for the fan. Questioning how someone would feel going to watch a high level recruit in your primary market would qualify as a “ night off”!

I think we should FOIA his time sheets!

[Floyd]

I don't even count his first year. It was a shitshow coming in and he did well to get that group playing as tough as they did, plus Pip played out of his mind and its been tough to follow that up.

I do think taking all the transfers at once might have been a kneejerk reaction, but it was a tough situation. I think you have to give him a minimum of 2 more years before you can adequately start to judge his program and I'm sure all the criticism about everything gets to be a bit nauseating to him and the players. He's got my support for at least 2 more years

[uz2b-len]

I've met McCall a couple of times and I would say he seemed to have zero interest in interacting with me. Oh well, that's who he is. I'm much annoyed that he apparently made no effort to get Jaylen Crutcher over here than anything else. I think the history of these past two seasons would have been entirely different if Crutcher was here.

[Almontis]

^ That's too bad. I don't know how other successful college coaches interact with supporters, but it makes it harder to give a guy the benefit of the doubt when the team's losing and the coach can't be bothered to show interest in the fans.

I want McCall to succeed here, regardless. Me and Matt don't necessarily need to be BFFs

[JoleonLescottsHair]

This entire thread suggests to me that there is a growing cultural divide here- regardless of results on the court. Like McCall, I am not from New England, and when I arrived at UMass I honestly found people pretty rude and distant. That was my view. Still is to some degree. But by the time I left, I counted many solid life-long friends and my loyalties and time at UMass remain a defining feature. But to this day, I think back at those first couple of years and trying to have, say, a chat with a stranger on a bus. It was always a challenge and much more work than it should have been. I've watched McCall on videos and in press conferences. I think I understand him and I see a guy who very much wants to connect with fans and the program. If that doesn't square with your experience it could very well mean we are simply receiving and looking at this from very different social cues or expectations. That's unfortunate. Wins would obviously help. But I'm 100% convinced he is all in on UMass, and if we close ranks around him we have a chance to make this work.

Me and Matt don't necessarily need to be BFFs

Thumbs fucking up to this post!

[uz2b-len]

I agree, he seems all in for UMass. I don't really care about his social life. I mean, Kellogg was Mr. Good Guy but where did it get us?

[NilesGold]

I've met McCall a couple of times and I would say he seemed to have zero interest in interacting with me. Oh well, that's who he is. I'm much annoyed that he apparently made no effort to get Jaylen Crutcher over here than anything else. I think the history of these past two seasons would have been entirely different if Crutcher was here.

I met McCall at one of the post-game functions, he was friendly, but the interaction was brief and somewhat awkward as I really didn't know what to say to him, but I don't blame him. I hate engaging in small-talk with strangers, I suck at it, it's just not my thing, and I really couldn't care less if our HC isn't good at it either, as long as he can perform at his job. I'd be more concerned if you told me McCall was an ass-hole to his players, staff, or family. It is possible that this sort of thing affects his ability to recruit, in which case it's really important that he surrounds himself with assistants who can recruit.

[rsox1221]

Some peak over-analyzing on this one.

There are few things college coaches dislike more than armchair scouts trying to tell them that their neighbor's brother-in-law's cousin's kid is some undiscovered gem, whether you're a booster or not. Now while he was obviously scouting/recruiting if he was at the Woodstock game, he was also multitasking, and you have to be able to "read the room" as it were.

The man was with his daughter. Say hello/good to see you and move along.

Not only did this CC member try to tell McCall who to recruit once, he apparently couldn't take a hint and did it *again* on the way out, and McCall wasn't interested? Knock me over with a feather.

Relations with boosters are important for a coach at this level. I've never met McCall, but I also haven't heard anything truly negative or concerning about the way he interacts with people, especially when that is in the *proper setting.*

The Court Club members aren't thrilled with the team this year? Welcome to the party. He's going to get another season barring something catastrophic, and if there are still issues competing, things will change.

[UMass'96]

^ Absolutely nailed it

[Floyd]

Absolutely rsox, couldnt agree more. Shit, people on here cant agree on stuff and argue all the time about who's "right"

[Jackson96]

I once met the guy who played the evil John Kreese in The Karate Kid and he couldn’t have been any nicer.