Travis Ford is UMass-bound

Off the wires from ESPN. I wish Travis Ford the best of luck and hope he doesn't have to worry about the weather up there--all that snow.

Travis Ford is the new basketball coach at Massachusetts after leading Eastern Kentucky to a 22-9 record this season and giving Kentucky a scare in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Eastern Kentucky said Friday that Ford accepted the coaching job at Massachusetts. He will replace Steve Lappas, who was fired last week after compiling a 50-65 record over four seasons.

"We are grateful to coach Ford for his leadership of our men's basketball program," said Eastern Kentucky president Joanne Glasser, adding her school will begin looking for a new coach.

Ford, accompanied by his wife, arrived on the Amherst campus Tuesday and spent the past several days meeting with administrators, a faculty advisory committee and basketball boosters.

A Massachusetts source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the school had reached an agreement with Ford. The school has scheduled an afternoon news conference to announce a new coach, although it has yet to publicly say who it will be.

Ford, a 35-year-old former star point guard at Kentucky, guided Eastern Kentucky to the most wins in a season in school history and its first NCAA bid in 26 years. The Colonels lost to Kentucky 72-64 in the opening round.[...]

Ford played for Rick Pitino at Kentucky and helped the Wildcats reach the Final Four in 1993. Pitino, now the coach at Louisville and a UMass alumnus, has been pushing for his hiring. He has praised Ford's recruiting ability, calling him a "great fit" at Massachusetts.

At Eastern Kentucky, Ford took over a team that had gone through seven straight losing seasons. He won seven games each of his first two seasons. Then each year, his victories increased to first 11, then 14 and this year 22.

This season's squad finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference and defeated Austin Peay in the conference tournament to get the NCAA bid.

The Kentucky native began his coaching career in 1997 at Campbellsville (Ky.), where he went 67-31 in three seasons at the NAIA school.

Ford had taken his stockbroker's exam after being released by the Golden State Warriors in 1995. Instead, Hollywood called and he got a part in a basketball movie, The 6th Man, playing a hotshot point guard.

The experience revived his interest in basketball. After spending a season observing Pitino at Kentucky, he got the job at Campbellsville.

When will the UK-UMass games be scheduled. Will Travis take over for Tubby Smith eventually?