University of Massachusets Athletics
Ford Announces UMass Men's Basketball Coaching Staff
April 14, 2005 | Men's Basketball
April 14, 2005
AMHERST, Mass. - University of Massachusetts head basketball coach Travis Ford is pleased to announce his coaching staff for 2005-06. Ford has hired three members from his staff at Eastern Kentucky -- all of whom are New York natives -- in addition to bringing aboard a veteran coach with ties to Massachusetts, having served at Northeastern University in Boston for the last four years, who is also a New York native.
Tim Maloney has been named associate head coach; Steve Middleton and Adam Ginsburg have been hired as assistant coaches and James Altman has been named the director of basketball operations.
"I am very excited to bring aboard such a strong staff," said Ford, who was hired at UMass on March 25. "We have assembled a staff of outstanding recruiters, great floor coaches, excellent managers of time and individuals who value education and the well being of our players. I am looking forward to working with each of them."
TIM MALONEY
Associate Head Coach • Manhattanville `82
New York native Tim Maloney begins his first year at UMass as the associate head coach. He spent the last two seasons at Eastern Kentucky serving as the team's associate head coach in 2004-05, as the Colonels made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in more than 25 years.
Maloney was instrumental in the Colonels' resurgence in 2003-04, helping guide the team to its best finish since the 1995-96 campaign, including a fourth place finish in the Ohio Valley Conference and an appearance in the OVC tournament finals in Nashville. He was also the Colonels' recruiting coordinator and the staff as a team landed a recruiting class ranked in the top 28 in the nation.
Maloney came to EKU after spending six years at the University of Florida and one season as an assistant for the University at Buffalo. A native of Floral Park and Long Beach N.Y., Maloney has coached basketball at the collegiate and high school levels since 1984.
As Assistant to the Head Coach, Maloney served in an advisory capacity at Florida to Billy Donovan. In this role, Maloney was used in every aspect of the Gator program from basketball operations to practice, game coaching, and recruiting. During these years, the Gators made six post-season appearances, won two SEC regular season titles, and played in a national championship game.
He was also influential in bringing in some of the nation's top-ranked recruiting classes, including the 2002 class, which was rated second nationally.
Before heading to Gainesville, Maloney worked as an assistant at the University of Buffalo where he played an integral role in the team's unprecedented success in 1997. That season, the Bulls gained their first appearance in the semi-finals of the Mid-Continent Conference tournament. They also took home for the first time in school history the crown in the Big Four Championship, an annual event featuring Buffalo, Canisius, Niagara and St. Bonaventure.
Prior to joining the collegiate ranks, Maloney experienced national exposure in prep school basketball, particularly in southwest Florida. Named head coach of Mariner High School in Cape Coral in the summer of 1993, he took over a team that went 7-18 during the previous season and turned the team around to the tune of an 18-7 mark during the 1993-94 campaign, giving the school its best record ever.
In only his second season, the Tritons would post a 22-7 record and would be ranked among the top ten high school teams in Florida. In 1995-96, his third season at the helm, Maloney guided Mariner to a 33-3 record and a berth in the state finals. That season the Tritons were ranked No. 1 in the state of Florida, rose to No. 16 in the nation, and were rated third in the south by the National Prep Boys Poll.
For his efforts, Maloney was named Southwest Florida Coach of the Year and Conference Coach of the Year after each of those seasons at Mariner. In 1996, he was tabbed Gulf-coast All-Sports Coach of the Year and Boys Basketball Coach of the Year in Southwest Florida by the Sportsman's Club of Fort Myers.
However, Maloney's contributions to the program went beyond simple wins and losses. His team was nominated for sportsmanship awards and received recognition from local governments.
Maloney also has experience working with teams both domestically and internationally. He spent the summer of 1996 as an associate coach for the Long Island squad in the Empire State Games, a team that featured current NBA players Wally Szczerbiak and Speedy Claxton. The team would go on to capture Long Island's first gold medal in 18 years with current UMass Associate Athletic Director Tim Kenney serving as the head coach.
In 1997, he assisted the Mexican national team in the Central American Championships. The team placed fourth, giving it a berth in the Pan-American Games. It was the best finish for Mexico in eight years.
In 1999, Maloney was a featured lecturer and coaching instructor for the Five Star Basketball Camps in Turkey. Five Star has continually sought Maloney to work as a director for other international events since.
During the summer of 2002, Maloney traveled to the Far East working for another group as a coach and lecturer to all levels of basketball from secondary schools to professional teams. The week ended with Maloney in a round-table basketball discussion with leaders of the Chinese Basketball Association in Beijing, which will host the Summer Olympic Games in 2008.
Maloney's coaching career began at Martin Luther High School in New York City, where he served from 1984-1986. He would go on to coach at Nyack College and St. Thomas Aquinas College.
A 1982 graduate of Manhattanville College, Maloney competed in basketball, baseball, soccer, and cross-country. He earned "Most Dedicated Athlete" for his labors with the cross-country program.
He also played basketball for the 1984 International Athletes in Action team that toured South America.
Maloney went on to earn his master's degree in counseling from Hunter College in 2004.
He is married to the former Joanne Nilsson of Nyack, N.Y. The couple has one son, Thomas Joseph (3).
STEVE MIDDLETON
Assistant Coach • Southern Illinois `89
Steve Middleton joins the UMass staff after three seasons as an assistant coach for Travis Ford's Eastern Kentucky Colonels. He was part of the Colonels rise to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2005 and school-record 22 wins.
Middleton, who will work with the post players at UMass as he did at EKU returned to the collegiate environment after serving as the head varsity boys' basketball coach and athletics director at St. Mary's High School in Paducah, Ky., from 1993-2002.
Middleton was responsible for resurrecting a dormant program at St. Mary's, and built it into a First Region power.
His record during that time span at St. Mary's was 126-122, however, he was 81-35 in his last four seasons at the helm of the Vikings.
He led the Vikings to four consecutive Region 1 Class "A" championships. In 1999, he directed St. Mary's to the championship of the Paducah Tilghman High School Christmas Tournament and also won the Lone Oak Christmas Tournament in both 1999 and 2000.
For his efforts, Middleton was selected the 1999 Paducah Sun Purchase Area Coach of the Year after leading St. Mary's to a 23-6 overall mark and its first Class A regional title.
Along with his coaching duties, he also served as a health and physical education teacher.
In 1992-93, he was Prevention Specialist for the Community Health Organization in Cairo, Ill.
From 1989-92, he worked on his masters degree at SIU and served as a graduate assistant with the Southern Illinois women's program.
Prior to his coaching days, Middleton was a four-year letterman at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, leading the Salukis in scoring and steals for three straight years. He was a First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference pick during both his junior and senior seasons.
Middleton ended his senior campaign averaging 25 points per game, while shooting 49.8 percent from the field. He also hauled in six rebounds and two steals per contest during his final Saluki season. His 25 points per game average ranked sixth in the nation during the 1987-88 season.
He ranks fifth in career scoring at Southern Illinois with 1,710 points and was inducted into Southern Illinois' Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996. He was also an honorable mention All-American in 1989 as a senior for the Salukis.
Middleton, 38, is a 1989 graduate of Southern Illinois-Carbondale with a bachelor's degree in history and a minor in black history. He earned his masters of science degree in education-recreation in 1992 from Southern Illinois-Carbondale.
Middleton graduated from Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he was an All-Brooklyn selection as a senior. During his senior year, Middleton led the Blue Devils to a 20-3 final mark and a District 3 championship. He posted 24 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, and three steals per game during that season.
He and his wife of 14 years, Regina, have two daughters, LaNesha Maria (11) and Kierra Janece (3). Middleton's wife Regina is also a former basketball player at Southern Illinois. She was inducted into the John A. Logan Community College Hall of Fame for her standout career. The couple met on Regina's official visit to SIU as Steve served as her host. She also has a master's degree and 15 years of educational experience in academic advising.
ADAM GINSBURG
Assistant Coach • Buffalo `97
After spending four years on the Northeastern staff in Boston, Adam Ginsburg joins Travis Ford at UMass for his first season with the Minutemen. Ginsburg played an integral role on the Northeastern coaching staff with his unyielding energy and overall knowledge of the game.
This past season, he was part of Northeastern's unprecedented success as the Huskies made their first-ever NIT appearance and finished with a 21-10 record, their most wins in nearly 15 years. The Huskies also won 15 conference games, the most by any team in school history since 1986-87.
During his coaching career, Ginsburg has gained valuable local and international experience through various camps. At Northeastern, he ran Coach Ron Everhart's day camps as well as organized and staffed a 28-team high school clinic/tournament that has featured some of the area's top talent. Ginsburg got his first international coaching experience last summer as he was a coach/clinician at the Basketball Camp in Beijing, China, run by Sino American International Sports, in conjunction with the Chinese Basketball Association.
Prior to his arrival at NU, Ginsburg spent two years at Towson University. While with the Tigers, Ginsburg served as an assistant coach under Mike Jaskulski and was director of the summer basketball camp program.
Ginsburg, 29, is a 1997 graduate of the University at Buffalo, where he began his involvement with college coaching as a manager with the basketball team. After graduation, Ginsburg headed to the University of Florida for graduate work. UMass Associate Head Coach Tim Maloney, and a former Buffalo assistant, helped Ginsburg land an opportunity to assist with the daily operation of the Gator basketball program. There, he worked under Florida coach Billy Donovan, who recommended Ginsburg to new NU coach Ron Everhart. Ginsburg received his master's degree in Sports Management at Florida and also was part of the Gators' Sweet 16 team in 1999.
In 1995, while attending Buffalo, Ginsburg also served as an assistant coach under Jim Kramer of the Nichols School. The summer of 1996 brought Ginsburg the opportunity to be the head coach of a Junior Maccabiah team for four years. That summer he led the team to a bronze medal.
A native of Baldwin, N.Y., Ginsburg and his wife Beth welcomed their first child Matthew on August 15, 2004.
JAMES ALTMAN
Director of Basketball Operations • Hartwick `02
James Altman is entering his first season as UMass' Director of Basketball Operations, also making the move from Eastern Kentucky. He spent last season as an assistant coach at Eastern Kentucky helping the Colonels to the 2005 NCAA Tournament after serving as a graduate assistant on head coach Travis Ford's staff in 2003-04.
Altman will be responsible for team travel in addition to coordinating the Travis Ford Basketball Camp.
As the Colonels' graduate assistant in 03-04, he was responsible for film exchange, class checks, and oversight of the managerial staff.
Altman spent a year at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Fla., as an assistant prior to latching on at Eastern.
During his tenure, the team posted a 25-6 overall record and won the Mid-Florida Conference Championship. The team ended the season ranked #19 in the NJCAA and #2 in the Florida Community College Athletic Association.
He was also responsible for monitoring the team's academic progress at Santa Fe, resulting in a 3.05 team GPA, the highest in the history of the program.
During his time at Santa Fe, Altman was involved with on-the-floor coaching, developing practice plans, and directed the team's off-season individual workout sessions and strength and conditioning programs.
Altman has also been a camp director on two occasions, heading the St. Agnes Basketball Camp in Rockville Centre, N.Y. and the Long Beach Catholic Basketball Camp in Long Beach, N.Y.
Altman was a co-captain and two-time all-conference selection at Hartwick College during his career. He ended his career as a four-year starter ranking third all-time in three-pointers and eighth in assists.
Altman earned his bachelor's degree from Hartwick in 2002.
