Thu Apr 17 00:51:40 2008

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Ford leaves UMass for Oklahoma State

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Stillwater, OK (Sports Network) - Travis Ford has been named the new men's basketball coach at Oklahoma State.

Ford made the decision to move on to Stillwater just a week after saying he would remain the head coach at Massachusetts. He arrives at Oklahoma State after three seasons as head coach at the UMass.

The University of Kentucky graduate was 62-35 in three seasons with the Minutemen. His career in Amherst began with a 13-15 record in 2005-2006. However, over the last two seasons the Minutemen went 49-20 with an Atlantic 10 regular-season co-championship (2007) and a runner-up finish in the 2008 National Invitation Tournament.

Ford has also been a head coach at Eastern Kentucky of the Ohio Valley Conference and NAIA Campbellsville University. At Eastern Kentucky, he guided the Colonels to a mark of 61-80 with an NCAA Tournament appearance in his final season of 2004-05.

At Oklahoma State, he replaces Sean Sutton, who resigned under pressure after two years on the job.

Sutton, who had three years remaining on his contract, guided the Cowboys to a record of 39-29 after taking over for his father, Eddie Sutton. Oklahoma State finished this past season with a record of 17-16, losing to Southern Illinois in the first round of the NIT.

The Cowboys made two NIT appearances in the younger Sutton's two seasons at the helm, losing to Marist in the first round of the 2007 tourney.

Ford will officially be introduced at a Thursday afternoon news conference.