After 31 seasons as the head coach at UMass, Greg Cannella has announced his retirement. Kyle Smith, a UMass assistant, has been elevated to head coach.
Cannella led the Minutemen to 256 wins and nine NCAA tournament appearances since he took the job in 1995. UMass reached the 2006 NCAA championship game under his watch.
A 1988 graduate of UMass, Cannella prided himself on keeping up the traditions of the program.
"It's been an incredible honor to represent the University of Massachusetts, Coach Garber, his family, all of our alumni, players, coaches, families and friends of the program," Cannella said. "I took tremendous pride, as an alum, coming to work each day, sitting in Coach Garber's seat, and doing my best to carry on his legacy and the tradition of excellence he set here at the University. I consider myself very lucky to have had this opportunity to be part of the lives of so many great people, here at UMass. Those relationships are ones I will cherish always."
Like his mentor, Smith is a UMass graduate now leading the program. Smith spent the past four seasons on staff after graduating in 2014. He is just the fifth head coach in program history.
