College basketball | Cowboys rope in Travis Ford as new coach

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma State will turn to another coach with Kentucky ties to restore postseason success to its basketball program.

Travis Ford agreed Wednesday to leave his job as Massachusetts' coach to take over Eddie Sutton's old position at Oklahoma State. A news conference was planned in Stillwater today to formally introduce him.

Ford will replace Sean Sutton, who resigned under pressure April 1 after leading the Cowboys to first-round NIT losses in his only two full seasons as head coach.

The 38-year-old Ford led UMass to a 25-11 record this season and an appearance in the NIT championship game, where it lost to Ohio State. He directed the Minutemen to a 62-35 mark in three seasons, including NIT bids the past two seasons.

But his roots run back to Kentucky.

He grew up in Madisonville, Ky., and started his college career at Missouri before transferring to Kentucky after Eddie Sutton left the school — and eventually returned to Oklahoma State, his alma mater.

Ford then got his first major head-coaching position at Eastern Kentucky and guided the losing program to its first NCAA tournament appearance in 26 years. He parlayed that first-round loss to Kentucky in 2005 into the Massachusetts job, and it appeared as recently as last week that he would remain with the Minutemen.

Ford turned down a job offer from Big East school Providence, and UMass athletic director John McCutcheon announced that Ford had agreed to a new contract. Six days later, Ford was preparing to move on.

"I have greatly enjoyed my three years here at UMass. It was a very difficult decision to leave UMass, one which my family and I struggled with mightily," Ford said Wednesday in a statement released by the university.

Oklahoma State's coaching search began with a high-profile bid to lure Bill Self away from Kansas after he led the Jayhawks to the national championship. Rumors of a big payday backed by billionaire booster T. Boone Pickens never came to fruition, and Self signed an extension to stay at Kansas instead of returning to his alma mater.

Notes

• UCLA's Kevin Love is expected to announce whether he will leave for the NBA at a campus news conference today. The freshman center led the Bruins in scoring (17.5 points) and rebounds (10.6).

• Tyreke Evans, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard and one of the country's last undecided high-profile recruits, will spend next season at Memphis. A three-time Pennsylvania state player of the year, Evans averaged 29 points as a senior and capped it off with an MVP-winning performance in the McDonald's All-American Game.

Evans could step directly into the starting spot vacated by Derrick Rose, who announced Tuesday that he is leaving for the NBA after one season with the Tigers.

• Kansas State coach Frank Martin signed a five-year contract that will keep him with the Wildcats through the 2011-12 season. Martin will get a base salary of $180,000 with a total compensation package of $760,000, which includes TV, radio and internet appearances, shoe and apparel sponsorships.