By Dan Duggan Collegian Staff
When Travis Ford took over as coach of the Massachusetts men’s basketball team last March, he spoke often about upholding the tradition of UMass basketball. Clearly Ford came to Amherst with some knowledge about the program’s history, but he didn’t know a lot about Jack Leaman, a man whose legend is renowned around these parts but isn’t as well-known by outsiders.
Despite his initial lack of knowledge on Leaman, it didn’t take Ford long to learn about the man who became synonymous with UMass basketball during his 40-year tenure at the school.
“I didn’t know a ton about him, but that’s probably the first thing I learned when I got here,” Ford said. “I couldn’t help but see how much people loved and adored him.”
Leaman’s legacy will be cemented at UMass when the Mullins Center court will be dedicated to the coaching legend at halftime of Saturday’s game against Dayton which tips-off at noon.
Leaman, who passed away at the age of 71 in March 2004, began his career at UMass in 1961 as an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team and then took over the head coaching job in 1966.
In 13 seasons as the head coach, Leaman compiled a 217-126 record, while coaching players such as former NBA star Julius Erving, Boston College coach Al Skinner and Louisville coach Rick Pitino. The winningest coach in school history, Leaman moved on to coach numerous other teams at the school, including the women’s basketball team and the Stockbridge School of Agriculture’s men’s basketball and golf teams.
In 1994, Leaman became the color commentator on radio broadcasts of UMass men’s basketball games and held the position until his death. Leaman was inducted to the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998 and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
While Leaman’s accomplishments on the sidelines earned him many accolades, it was his personality and character that made him such an enduring figure at UMass.
“Once I got here the first thing I realized is that it’s not about his coaching. It’s about how people loved him as a person and what he meant to people around here,” Ford said. “I think any coach would like to be remembered that way. I haven’t been many places where I’ve seen somebody loved and adored as much as Jack Leaman is here.”
Ford actually had his first exposure to Leaman while playing for Pitino at the University of Kentucky during the early 1990s.
“I learned a lot about him from Coach Pitino,” Ford said. “[Pitino] used to talk all the time about how much he learned from him and how much he shaped his career.”
“You have to have great respect for [Leaman],” Pitino said in an interview with Bob Behler for the Travis Ford radio show last month. “Not many people enjoyed playing for him [because] it was so tough. But when it was all over, you learned so many lessons of life that we all look back on it and getting through tough times and becoming a disciplined human being, we learned about the important things of life. We all came out much better people because of him.”
Saturday’s ceremony is the culmination of a process that has been in the works for some time. The dedication was announced during the Dec. 12 game between UMass and Boston University, where Leaman played from 1956-59 and was elected to the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977.
Saturday’s dedication will take place on the court during an extended halftime ceremony according to UMass associate athletic director for advancement Tim Kenney, who spearheaded the dedication process. The ceremony will feature UMass chancellor John Lombardi, athletic director John McCutcheon, Leaman’s wife Rita and Leaman’s daughter Laurie, as well as a collection of 38 former players.
A celebration of Leaman’s life and a history of his coaching days will be shown on the new video boards at the Mullins Center during the ceremony, and Erving, Skinner, Pitino and former UMass coaches John Calipari and Bruiser Flint will appear in the video.
Following the video presentation, Lombardi will officially dedicate the court, and the logo (which will be a sticker temporarily) will be unveiled.
Rita and Laurie Leaman were instrumental in the court dedicating process, and Ford feels that Saturday will be a great experience for the family.
“I know his family is going to appreciate it and it’s going to be a very special moment,” Ford said. “It was important to me once I found about [Leaman] that I wanted to get to know Rita and Laurie. I wanted them to like me a lot and respect me because trying to follow in somebody’s footsteps like that, it was very important that they were comfortable with me. I wanted to learn as much about Jack as I could through them.”
Kenney, who says that Leaman showed him the ropes at UMass when he arrived in January of 2004, knows that Leaman never wanted his name on the Mullins Center hardwood, but he feels it is a fitting way to honor the legend.
“He was never comfortable with his name on the floor, because that’s the type of guy he was,” Kenney said. “He didn’t feel he needed to be honored, but everyone around the program and in the community really feel strongly about having him honored this way.”
“It’s just very deserving and something that needed to be done,” Ford added. “I think it’s going to touch a lot of people, and I expect to have a really big crowd here for this. It’s not everyday that someone gets a court named after them – that’s not something that is easily earned.”
