AMHERST — It could have been the maroon suit movement.
When UMass men’s basketball coach Matt McCall was getting fitted by Dressed to the Nines, a Connecticut haberdashery, the clothier asked him what he thought of getting a full suit in UMass’ primary color. McCall didn’t think that was for him, but liked the idea of maroon pants.
It didn’t occur to him then or when he put the pants on last week that the pants were part of anything other than his outfit.
But athletic director Ryan Bamford, who puts a fair amount of emphasis on his own clothing, saw a promotional opportunity in McCall’s pants.
Bamford, who tweeted about the pants before and after the game, said on Twitter that he’d donate $1 to the Court Club, the men’s basketball program’s booster organization, for every fan who arrived in sweats, knickers, bloomers, slacks, jeans or any other leg wear similar in color to McCall’s:
“I will personally donate $1 for every fan that comes to the Mullins Center wearing maroon pants & checks in at our fan experience table to be counted. An extra $250 if attendance 5k. Anyone else want to make a pledge?”
Prominent donor John Kennedy, the namesake of the practice facility, and Five College Movers each agreed to match Bamford’s $1 per pant-wearer promise.
Five College Movers added a wrinkle pledging $500 extra if Jim Hunt, an Amherst dentist and passionate courtside amateur referee evaluator, agreed to wear maroon and white striped overalls.
That’s expected to occur as Five College Movers tweeted a photo of the dentist in candy-cane colored clothing.
As the week progressed, UMass announced $10 tickets for anyone in maroon pants and a contest for the best/most outrageous maroon pants.
“I’m not one to draw a lot of attention to myself,” McCall said. “But anytime you can get fans excited and get more people in the stands, I’m all for it.”
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage