AMHERST — A crowd full of UMass basketball supporters poured into White Lion Brewing Company in Amherst on Friday night to watch a live episode of the “Just Being Frank” podcast, a weekly show with Minutemen men’s hoops coach Frank Martin.
This episode was special, and not only because the episode was aired in front of a live audience.
UMass legend and 19-year NBA veteran Marcus Camby was in the house, and he joined Martin and Minutemen broadcaster Jay Burnham on the show.
The event was hosted by The Massachusetts Collective – the UMass basketball programs’ donor-driven NIL collective that helps create income opportunities for the student athletes on the men’s and women’s teams.
Players from the past and present came out to see Camby and members of the collective to show their support for what’s being built to help their program succeed. Founder of The Mass Co. Patrick MacWilliams was thrilled when Camby reached out about setting up an event at White Lion in Amherst – which Camby owns.
When Camby told MacWilliams he’d be in town for Saturday’s game against West Virginia at the Hall of Fame Classic in Springfield, it made perfect sense to hold the event Friday night.
“Marcus reached out to us about doing an event because he knew he would be in town before the West Virginia game, and we said we were all in,” MacWilliams said. “Anytime he comes to town, he’s such a big presence and draws such a big crowd. He’s been so supportive of the collective from day one, so we wanted to do something here. We all want to give UMass a competitive advantage in any way we can. We want to support the programs, the teams, and the players like we never had an opportunity to before directly through NIL, and to stay ahead of the curve as much as we can.”
Camby is one of the best players in the history of UMass basketball, and his resumé speaks for itself. But it’s not often that a player comes back after having a long, successful professional journey and still puts their college first.
He truly bleeds maroon, and he isn’t going to stop supporting UMass basketball in any way he can until the program returns to the state it was in when he led them to the Final Four in 1996.
“It feels good just to contribute,” Camby said. “With the NIL stuff going on right now, when it comes to my school, which I love dearly, I’m always gonna be a big supporter. Whether that’s monetary wise, me showing up talking to the guys, me going to games, whatever I can to bring exposure back to the school and try to bring the program back to what it was when I was here. That’s what it’s all about.”
On the flip side, MacWilliams doesn’t underestimate the importance of having Camby backing up The Massachusetts Collective. When looking around the country, not many institutions have one of its most storied athletes sticking around to better help the ones currently there.
But UMass has Camby.
“It’s so unique, and we’re so blessed to have someone like Marcus who has been so connected to the program for so long,” MacWilliams said. “And then to jump right into the NIL space as well and support that, it’s huge. I think there are very few programs around the country who are so lucky to have an ambassador like him who has been committed from the day he walked on campus until now like 30 years later. To have his support for anything about UMass, especially the collective, it tells you what he’s about. He’s a UMass guy true and true.”
Even while living in Houston, Texas, Camby has made an impact 1,800 miles away. And he loves coming back to Amherst, a town he openly called his “second home” on the podcast.
He decided to open up White Lion in the center of it, strategically right across from his favorite restaurant, Antonio’s Pizza.
“I always wanted to give something back to the community that has meant so much to myself,” Camby said. “It’s important to be somewhere that’s locally situated, right across from my favorite restaurant. It’s always great to be back.”
As for this year’s team, Camby is pleased with what he’s seen so far, and mentioned on the show that he would have loved to play for Martin – who shares a similar style with Camby’s college coach John Calipari – at some point in his career.
Watching the Minutemen has been a breath of fresh air for Camby this season, and he said he thinks they’re in a good spot moving forward.
“I’m a big fan of Coach Martin,” Camby said. “I think this team has a good mix of veterans and a lot of young guys that seem to enjoy each other. When you enjoy each other, and guys share the workload on the basketball court, it makes for a better product out there. That’s what I see this year.”