Former Penn State coach Jim Ferry lands at UMBC

STATE COLLEGE — After one season as the Penn State men’s basketball team’s interim coach, Jim Ferry has the opportunity to permanently take over a program of his own.

Ferry, 53, was hired as UMBC’s next men’s basketball coach, the program announced Monday.

Ferry takes over the Retrievers after spending four seasons with the Lions. Ferry initially joined coach Patrick Chambers’ staff as an assistant in 2017, but when Chambers stepped down in October following an investigation into his conduct, Ferry stepped in as the interim coach.

In leading the Lions to an 11-14 record, including a win in the Big Ten tournament, Ferry put himself into the conversation for the permanent job, but Penn State hired Purdue assistant Micah Shrewsberry shortly after the Lions fell in the second round of the Big Ten tournament.

Ferry maintained over the course of the season that he would not politic to have his interim tag removed.

Ferry’s teams are known for an uptempo style of play, and he kept together a Lions team that could have imploded after Chambers’ departure.

Ferry has previous head coaching experience with Plymouth State, Adelphi, Long Island and Duquesne. He’s 325-279 as a head coach in his career.

UMBC, which is known for being the first No. 16 seed to win an NCAA Tournament game with its 2018 upset over No. 1-seed Virginia, hired Ferry after Ryan Odom left to take the Utah State job.

Earlier Monday, Penn State announced the hiring of assistant coach Mike Farrelly, and the program also announced Talor Battle and Nick Colella were remaining with the program as assistant to the head coach and chief of staff, respectively.

After the Lions hired Shrewsberry, seven players entered the transfer portal. Four have found new homes, one has elected to remain at Penn State and the future of the other two remains uncertain.