AMHERST, Mass. – Massachusetts coach James "Bruiser"
Flint resigned Monday, hours after meeting with school officials to
discuss his future with the team.
|  | | Bruiser Flint has been unable to duplicate the success of predecessor John Calipari. |
The team was 15-15 this season and failed to make the NCAA or
NIT postseason tournaments.
"I appreciate coach Flint's 12 years of service to the
university. He played a key role in one of the great turnarounds in
college basketball," UMass athletic director Bob Marcum said in a
news released posted on the school's Web site. "But, I believe it
is time for our program to move in a new direction,"
Marcum said the school was not going to be appointing an interim
coach, and it was too early to be talking about a possible
successor.
Flint, 35, has a career record of 86-72. He has one year
remaining on his contract. According to published reports, the
school will owe him about $150,000 for the remaining year.
"I always thought that if we didn't make the NCAA Tournament
this year, I wouldn't be the coach," Flint told the Union-News of
Springfield. "I'm not leaving bitter. I'm leaving better.
"And don't worry, I'll be fine," he added. "I'll land on my
feet somewhere."
The Minutemen overcame a 2-9 start this season to finish 15-15
overall and 11-5 in the Atlantic-10 Conference.
The team's loss to Temple in the finals of the A-10 tournament
all but assured UMass would not make the NCAA tournament. On
Sunday, UMass was left out of the 32-team NIT – the second time in
three years the Minutemen did not reach postseason play.
Alumni and fans had been openly critical of Flint, pointing to
the team's lackluster record and sagging attendance. The men's
basketball team is considered the highest-profile sport on campus.
Nick Joos, a UMass athletic department spokesman, confirmed
Flint met with Marcum, Chancellor David Scott and Vice Chancellor
Marcellette Williams earlier Monday.
Marcum said he made a recommendation not to retain Flint when he
met with Scott and Williams.
Flint had believed the meeting would
be about his dismissal, and said the meeting ended with his being
told he would be called later about his future with the team.
Flint, an assistant under John Calipari for seven seasons at
UMass, became coach on June 8, 1996, days after Calipari's
departure for the NBA's New Jersey Nets. It was Flint's first head
coaching job.
Calipari left UMass shortly after star player Marcus Camby
admitted he had accepted improper gifts from an agent. The NCAA
later penalized the team by vacating its 1996 Final Four
appearance.
The team made the NCAA tournament in Flint's first two seasons,
in 1997 and '98. But the Minutemen fell to 14-16 in 1998-99, and
17-16 last season, including a first-round NIT loss.
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AUDIO VIDEO
 Xavier coach Skip Prosser has strong opinions concerning Bruiser Flint's forced resignation.
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