AMHERST — Massachusetts men's basketball assistant coach Brett Nelson has jumped ship to North Carolina to take on a new assistant role under Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts.
North Carolina State had one of the most impressive Cinderella-like runs of this century, reaching the Final Four as the No. 11 seed, but lost 63-50 to Purdue, the nation's No. 1 powerhouse. Nelson is the second University of Massachusetts assistant coach to leave for a high-major job in the past two seasons, but he joins the coaching staff after just one season at Amherst and is looking to replicate the Wolfpack's success.
With the Minutemen, Nelson helped head coach Frank Martin's team achieve its first 20-win season since 2014 and its best finish in the Atlantic 10 since 2008 (No. 4 seed).
Martin praised the coaching staff several times throughout the season, noting the benefits of having so many former head coaches on the staff. Martin will add another player to replace Nelson, as Matt Figger will take on a role on the bench for the University of Massachusetts.
Fieger was the head coach at Austin Peay College from 2017 to 2021, and then again at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley from 2021 until he was fired at the end of last season. He compiled a 105-116 record as a college head coach.
UMass will no longer play Providence in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase this winter.
A domino effect is occurring in the world of college basketball scheduling. Creighton accepted the final invitation as the eighth and final team to compete in the Players Era NIL event in Las Vegas, eliminating the Blue Jays from the original early season tournament, Battle 4 Atlantis.
That left a spot open for Creighton, and when the Friars were invited to fill it, they accepted. It's certainly a great opportunity for Providence to strengthen its strength of schedule, as the Battle 4 Atlantis field includes the likes of Arizona, Gonzaga, and Indiana.
The Naismith Hall of Fame is currently searching for a fourth team to replace Providence in the showcase at Mohegan Sun. According to CBS Sports, the Flyers withdrew and agreed to play future games at Mohegan Sun. Those games will likely be against the University of Massachusetts or Boston College.