Oklahoma State names Ford coach

Apr 17, 2008 - 12:57 AM AMHERST, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- Oklahoma State named Travis Ford as its next men's basketball coach on Wednesday.

Multiple media outlets had reported the imminent hiring of Ford, which was announced at a press conference at UMass on Wednesday night.

Oklahoma State will officially introduce Ford at a press conference Thursday.

Just last Thursday, Ford had announced that he was going to stay at Massachusetts after turning down potential job offers at Providence and Louisiana State.

"We did have some very candid conversations with Coach Ford and this situation emerged very quickly," UMass athletic director John McCutcheon said. "It's part of the business we're in. That's just something we have to deal with is professionalism. When you have an individual as talented as coach Ford was, that represents an institution like he did, you'd be nave to think you're not going to have these situations."

The 38-year-old Ford takes over for Sean Sutton, who guided the Cowboys to a 39-29 record over two seasons but failed to reach the NCAA Tournament.

Ford guided the Minutemen to a 25-11 mark this season, reaching the NIT championship game before losing to Ohio State. He went 62-35 over three seasons at Massachusetts.

Oklahoma State initially pursued Kansas coach Bill Self, who reportedly turned down a lucrative offer to return to his alma mater three days after leading the Jayhawks to the national championship on April 7.

The 39-year-old Sutton was fired on April 1 with three years remaining on a five-year contract.

Sutton had a 39-28 record in two seasons as head coach, losing in the first round of the NIT each year. OSU went 17-16 this year, struggling early, but reeling off five straight wins late in the season.

Sutton began running the program on an interim basis in 2005 after coach Eddie Sutton - his father - left the team following a drunken driving accident.