Coach Frank Martin

[Quann]

Frank’s right though. NIL and transfer portal era of college basketball really sucks. Just an absolute garbage product. Congrats to all the people clamoring all these years for college kids to be paid and turn college basketball into a defacto paid minor league for the NBA. You’ve completely destroyed a once great product.

[Juice Stand]

Of course it sucks. I don't think anybody's debating that. My point is that he has two choices. He can either accept the challenge or walk away. Walking away from the challenge is antithetical to everything he preaches. It makes him a quitter. So for me, I'm going to find out if he's who he says he is, or if it's all talk and he's not willing to meet the challenge.

[Floyd]

It's the same for everybody dealing with roster turnovers. The only way to make it somewhat like it was before is a salary cap on players. Then it puts it somewhat back on quality of coaches & programs.

[eldonabe]

Of course it sucks. I don't think anybody's debating that. My point is that he has two choices. He can either accept the challenge or walk away. Walking away from the challenge is antithetical to everything he preaches. It makes him a quitter. So for me, I'm going to find out if he's who he says he is, or if it's all talk and he's not willing to meet the challenge.

St Johns is killing it and Pitino is still worrying about kids leaving.


These kids are treating colleges like a buffet table now. Jump in sample for a year, and move on for a new sample....

[Quann]

Of course it sucks. I don't think anybody's debating that. My point is that he has two choices. He can either accept the challenge or walk away. Walking away from the challenge is antithetical to everything he preaches. It makes him a quitter. So for me, I'm going to find out if he's who he says he is, or if it's all talk and he's not willing to meet the challenge.

I don’t think it makes him a quitter. It has to be exhausting trying to kiss almost every kids ass every offseason in order to keep them from jumping ship to enter the portal. Like Eldon said even St. John’s kids may be jumping this offseason. Be nice if Charlie baker stepped up and took some leadership and acknowledged the current state of college basketball and football can’t continue. You have to figure out another way to do things. Constant turnover for every program every season is horrible.

[umasscollective]

I wasn’t going to address this publicly or give oxygen to it, but have received messages from 20+ people so I think it’s important to address quickly. Please note I won’t address it further here, but will as needed in our meeting on Tuesday.

Our NIL program has been instrumental in attracting and retaining top talent, creating a competitive edge for the program. It’s frustrating to hear public complaints from Coach Martin about NIL and the portal, especially when our collective efforts mirror the dedication of the staff and players and directly benefits them. Without our support, the program’s current standing might be even more uncertain.

The reality is we’ve lost to several teams with significantly fewer NIL resources—or none at all. Pair that with the worst season in 30 years, and these ongoing public complaints by Coach Martin about NIL and the portal become even more frustrating. Frankly, it makes it borderline impossible to raise money and generate interest when the team struggles, and that’s exasperbated further with these kinds of comments.

Tomorrow, we will share our strategic plan, and we encourage everyone to join our member meeting on Tuesday evening. The landscape of college athletics will continue to evolve, and we will continue to adapt, as we’ve done over the past 2.5 years. While we don’t expect overt recognition, acknowledging our unwavering support would be appreciated rather than these public negative spectacles.

We won’t complain—never have. Instead, we’ll continue to be proactive and positive in our support, doing everything we can to help this program succeed.

Lots of work to do. Keep the faith. Go UMass!

[inthescoop]

I don’t think Frank has much left in the tank and he’s going to do UMass a favor - his post game speech about the Jay Wrights, Bennetts, who built core teams and knew those days were over left the game.. he’s putting himself in the same position

Let’s have some fun.. let’s say Frank does resign after this offseason or the next.. who do we want to be our next head coach?

[Floyd]

It’s frustrating to hear public complaints about NIL and the portal

The reality is we’ve lost to several teams with significantly fewer NIL resources—or none at all. Pair that with the worst season in 30 years, and these ongoing public complaints about NIL and the portal become even more frustrating. Frankly, it makes it borderline impossible to raise money and generate interest when the team struggles, and that’s exasperbated further with these kinds of comments.

Who are you referring to, fans or Frank?

[JoleonLescottsHair]

Our NIL program has been instrumental in attracting and retaining top talent, creating a competitive edge for the program….

The reality is we’ve lost to several teams with significantly fewer NIL resources—or none at all.

I’m trying to square these two statements and understand the suggested ROI.

Not sure if the cryptic reference to “public complaints” is about Frank or the fans. If the former, I imagine working at cross purposes must suck. You have my sympathy. If the latter, fans can certainly be hostile to NIL and the portal era broadly while acknowledging the passion of the Collective.

[umasscollective]

Our NIL program has been instrumental in attracting and retaining top talent, creating a competitive edge for the program….

The reality is we’ve lost to several teams with significantly fewer NIL resources—or none at all.

I’m trying to square these two statements and understand the suggested ROI.

Not sure if the cryptic reference to “public complaints” is about Frank or the fans. If the former, I imagine working at cross purposes must suck. You have my sympathy. If the latter, fans can certainly be hostile to NIL and the portal era broadly while acknowledging the passion of the Collective.

Clarified to public complaints from Coach Martin. We’ve worked super hard and those have been increasingly hard to listen too, but like I said we remain positive and it doesn’t deter our mission. We are here to help him, the players and the program in good times and in bad times.

Our members have been terrific and supportive, even in a down
year, and we’ve experienced very little churn. Contributions are definitely down though as it’s significantly harder to get people motivated in a down year.

And to be super clear we didn’t even want to bring it up or give it oxygen, but over 20 people reached out directly so I figured it was probably time to say something. We’re all frustrated, doesn’t change our support or mission one bit though. Coach and the program have our full confidence and support.

Go UMass.

[fenway617]

He also said that they don't have the talent to win a game like that... well coach.. that's your fault.

LOL that's some loser clown shit from Frank. I can't wait for him to be gone.

We heard his postgame interview and when he listed the reasons why they lost Saturday he went through a laundry list of reason why, including the "lack of talent" comment. On reason he didn't give, and never gives, was poor coaching or a poor game plan. Basketball is a make of miss game, you can draw up the perfect play and even the best shooters will miss 60% of open shots but it always bothers me that he doesn't take accountability for his role in the team not playing well. One of the many things that made/makes Bill Belichick such a great coach is when the team wins he heaps praise upon the players and when the team loses he put the blame on himself that he didn't coach well enough and he has to do better.

I do wonder if he is back next season. They can't fire him, it is too costley. But Martin may want out and a mutual buyout might be best for both sides and Frank can go off on do TV work and not deal with the NIL stuff that he despises.

[minutefanjsf]

He also said that they don't have the talent to win a game like that... well coach.. that's your fault.

LOL that's some loser clown shit from Frank. I can't wait for him to be gone.

We heard his postgame interview and when he listed the reasons why they lost Saturday he went through a laundry list of reason why, including the "lack of talent" comment. On reason he didn't give, and never gives, was poor coaching or a poor game plan. Basketball is a make of miss game, you can draw up the perfect play and even the best shooters will miss 60% of open shots but it always bothers me that he doesn't take accountability for his role in the team not playing well. One of the many things that made/makes Bill Belichick such a great coach is when the team wins he heaps praise upon the players and when the team loses he put the blame on himself that he didn't coach well enough and he has to do better.

I do wonder if he is back next season. They can't fire him, it is too costley. But Martin may want out and a mutual buyout might be best for both sides and Frank can go off on do TV work and not deal with the NIL stuff that he despises.

“Disappointed in everything about today,” Minutemen head coach Frank Martin said. “We’re playing a really good team that was playing for a lot, which means we need to play with all the qualities that are required to give yourself a chance when you play an upper-level team. Instead, we didn’t have that fight. Really frustrating. Disappointing and frustrating are the two best words I can use to describe that performance today. UMass deserves a lot better and obviously I did a really poor job of getting our guys to answer the bell today.” Was this part of the presser? This sounds a lot like he is taking the blame.

[Plano Minuteman]

NIL world is definitely a tough place for a coach like Martin. Even though I think he's a great teacher, his style will definitely wear on kids after a year or two. On the kids he's most successful with, he'll enable them to make the big bucks in programs that can afford it. He's like military prep school for P6 schools.

[eldonabe]

I have been giving some thought to the possible outcomes next year an beyond including with and without Frank. If Money really talks and Umass is going to be the biggest spender in MAC, I think they need a coach who is A LOT more flexible than Frank and can embrace the 1-2 years and out players. Here are the considerations / concessions that Umass fans must come to terms with (in no specific order):

- Top talent is not going to the MAC (unless they are high risk off the court)
- Every kid who develops a decent amount is gone after that season
- Even if Umass is the biggest spender in the second/third tier of D1 basketball we are a revolving door at best


I am old school, so Frank's style still makes sense to me, but in today's game Frank is a dinosaur. He needs an attitude adjustment and learn to live with this (and STFU) or he needs to retire - it is that simple. He is marketing himself (and Umass) right out of any chance at relevancy with these constant rants about NIL..... Shut the Fuck Up.


IMO - Umass needs to embrace the revolving door role here. Be at the top of the NIL Spend in this peer group of schools and be in the money hunt for every recruit who is just on the outside of that Power Conference Fence. In the not too distant old days - the Calapari's of the world recruited studs on NBA prep. Take that same approach and recruit on the premise of prepping those fence kids to get to the bigger money and exposure of the Power conferences. Make Umass the G-League of Power Schools.

What does that get Umass:
- A reputation as developers
- Conference Champ NCAA bid odds go up significantly

I think most of us here could live with that outcome. We are stuck in this position unless football somehow becomes something and no amount of Basketball Success alone is going to change that. If Umass ever elevates in conference affiliation again, we can worry about that when the time comes; in the mean time embrace what you/we are and I think this is the best outcome for now.


UMass needs a younger coach who has a ton of energy and the flexibility to roll with new players in and out - that Ain't Frank.

[Juice Stand]

I am old school, so Frank's style still makes sense to me, but in today's game Frank is a dinosaur. He needs an attitude adjustment and learn to live with this (and STFU) or he needs to retire - it is that simple. He is marketing himself (and Umass) right out of any chance at relevancy with these constant rants about NIL..... Shut the Fuck Up.

IMO - Umass needs to embrace the revolving door role here. Be at the top of the NIL Spend in this peer group of schools and be in the money hunt for every recruit who is just on the outside of that Power Conference Fence. In the not too distant old days - the Calapari's of the world recruited studs on NBA prep. Take that same approach and recruit on the premise of prepping those fence kids to get to the bigger money and exposure of the Power conferences. Make Umass the G-League of Power Schools.

1st point. Yes, shut the fuck up. The rants are tired. Roll with it or move on.

2nd point. Totally. Shoot for the stars with young players, develop them and let them move on. Try to also look for players like Ndjigue that aren't going to command a lot of money and probably won't get a lot of big time interest because they aren't highlight reel scorers, but can be a 4-year player here that impacts winning, doesn't cost a lot of money, and helps instill a program culture and continuity to new players.

I believe in Frank the coach, Frank the recruiter, and Frank the program builder. He really does need to do some serious self reflection, shut the fuck up, and get back to work. Fair or not, and I'm sure the job is much harder than it used to be, but when you're getting paid nearly $2mil, quit yer bitchin'.