Just a few days after Tory Verdi announced his departure for the coaching job at the University of Pittsburgh, UMass announced his replacement. 

The school didn’t have to look far for Verdi’s successor – he’s been at his side for the last five years. Athletic director Ryan Bamford promoted associate head coach Mike Leflar to the head coaching position, the school announced Monday through a press release.

“I am thrilled to promote associate head coach Mike Leflar to serve as our Massachusetts women’s basketball head coach,” Bamford said in the team’s release on Monday. “Mike has been an integral part of our success since his arrival in 2018. His efforts have contributed to the winningest era in program history and we feel strongly that he is the ideal leader to both support the personal development of our student-athletes and to continue the program’s ascent competitively.” 

Leflar will be formerly introduced as the new head coach at a press conference on Wednesday at 1 p.m. 

Leflar has been involved in college basketball for the last 20 years, and has been the associate head coach at nearly all of his previous stops — Boston University, Binghamton University and Northeastern — before he took a job as an assistant coach at UMass in 2018. He was promoted to associate head coach in December 2021, a position he’s held for the last year and a half.

“I am honored and grateful to be the next head coach of the University of Massachusetts women’s basketball program,” Leflar said in the team’s press release. “This is a professional dream come true. The past five years at UMass have been extraordinary for my family and I. We had historic success on the court. More importantly, we built great relationships with our student-athletes and the surrounding community and we are excited to call UMass home for many years to come. I want our student-athletes to love their entire UMass experience and I am excited for that responsibility starting today.”

Kellogg heading to Creighton

Derek Kellogg’s UMass homecoming ended up a short one.

The Minutemen men’s basketball assistant will depart Amherst after just a year to fill a vacant assistant spot on Creighton’s staff under head coach Greg McDermott according to a tweet by Stadium’s Jeff Goodman.

Kellogg came back to UMass after playing there in the mid 1990’s and serving as the program’s head coach from 2008-17.

Creighton went 24-13 last season and reached the Elite 8.

He’ll fill the opening created after Blue Jays assistant Alan Huss became High Point’s head coach.

Kellogg also spent three years as LIU’s head coach after UMass fired him following the 2019 Atlantic 10 Tournament.

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