RICK RAY Rick Ray is in his second season as associate head coach for the men’s basketball program. Ray came to Tigertown in 2010 after a successful four-year stint as an assistant coach at Purdue University. “Rick’s a tremendous hire for us here at Clemson,” Brownell said. “I’ve known Rick for years. He worked with my college head coach, Royce Waltman, at Indiana State several years ago. He’s an outstanding basketball coach. He’s a tremendous recruiter. He knows motion offense and man-to-man defense. We have very similar philosophies with how the game should be played. He’s well-respected in the business. “He has ties to the Midwest, which will allow us to spread our recruiting base a little bit further. He’s got experience in one of the top conferences, having coached at Purdue. He’s going to help our team win.” He certainly did that in 2010-11, as the Tigers finished the season with a 22-12 overall record, 9-7 in the ACC. Clemson advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season and was the No. 4 seed for the ACC Tournament. The Tigers won an ACC and NCAA Tournament game in the same season for the first time since 1989-90. Clemson’s guard play was a major reason for the team’s success in 2010-11, and Ray worked extensively with the Tiger backcourt. Demontez Stitt earned third-team All-ACC honors, as well as firstteam All-ACC Tournament recognition, after leading the team in scoring and assists. Andre Young led the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio as well. Ray played a key role in Clemson’s five-man signing class for 2011-12. He personally recruited both T.J. Sapp and Bernard Sullivan, Clemson’s fall signees. Sullivan was rated a four-star prospect by most national recruiting services. Ray was an assistant coach from 2006-10 under Matt Painter at Purdue, where the Boilermakers won 103 games during his four years on staff. Included in the team’s 103 wins were 15 victories over top-25 competition. During his tenure, Purdue advanced in the NCAA Tournament each season – including to the Sweet 16 each of his last two seasons. In 2009, the Boilermakers won the Big Ten Tournament and were a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. In 2010, Ray helped the Boilermakers to 29 wins, tied for the most in Purdue history for a single season. Purdue was a No. 4 seed this past March and lost in the round of 16 to eventual NCAA champion Duke. Ray was an important part of the 2006-07 Boilermaker staff that signed arguably the greatest class in school history, a group that was rated as high as No. 5 nationally by Scout.com and No. 6 by Rivals. com. Two players from the class, JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore, were drafted by the Boston Celtics in 2011. During his time at Purdue, Ray coached five firstteam All-Big Ten players, including Robbie Hummel and Moore in 2009-10. He also coached multiple Big Ten All-Defensive Team selections, led by three-time honoree and 2010 Big Ten Defensive Player-of-theYear Chris Kramer. “First and foremost, I’ve got a great deal of respect for Coach Brownell,” said Ray at the time 54
Associate Head Coach 2nd Season at Clemson
Ray’s Career Profile Born: Rick Ray on May 8, 1970 in Gardena, CA. Education: Graduated from Sumner Academy in Kansas City, KS in 1988. Earned bachelor’s degree from Grand View College in applied mathematics and secondary education in 1994. Completed a master’s degree in athletic administration from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 1997. Playing Experience: Played two years at Labette Community College in Parsons, KS before finishing his career as an honorable mention all-conference performer at Grand View College in Des Moines, IA from 1991-94. Coaching Experience: Graduate assistant at Nebraska-Omaha, 1995-97. Assistant coach at Indiana State, 1997-2004. Assistant coach at Northern Illinois, 2004-06. Assistant coach at Purdue, 2006-10. Associate head coach at Clemson, 2010-Present.
of his hire. “I’ve always been around him through different associations. He seems like a guy that’s always on the right path, in terms of trying to do things the right way. He’s a great coach and teacher. He installs discipline in a program. Coach Brownell has always won every place he’s been. That’s what I was most interested in when considering working under Coach Brownell.” Ray coached with Clemson’s director of basketball operations, Dick Bender, at Indiana State for seven seasons from 1997-2004. He helped ISU to consecutive 20-win seasons and NCAA Tournament appearances in 1999-2000 and 2000-01. In 19992000, the Sycamores compiled a 14-4 record in the Missouri Valley Conference and won the regular season title. Indiana State then won the MVC Tournament the following season. The Sycamores went on to upset No. 4 seed Oklahoma, 70-68, in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament. Ray was also part of the ISU staff that defeated perennial power Indiana in back-to-back seasons. The Sycamores defeated the Hoosiers in Bloomington by a score of 63-60 on Dec. 11, 1999, Bob Knight’s
final season at Indiana. Then, the following season, ISU won 59-58 with a buzzer-beater at home over Mike Davis’ squad. Following his time at Indiana State, he spent two seasons (2004-06) as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Northern Illinois. In 200506, the Huskies were regular season Western division champions in the Mid-American Conference with a 17-11 overall record, 12-6 in the MAC. Ray’s first coaching job was as a graduate assistant with the University of Nebraska-Omaha, a Division II program. He helped orchestrate a seven-win turnaround in his second season, 1996-97. He was a standout player for Grand View College, where he was an All-American Scholar-Athlete and honorable mention all-conference performer in 1993. Ray earned his undergraduate degree in applied mathematics and secondary education from Grand View in 1994. He earned his master’s degree in athletic administration from Nebraska-Omaha in 1997. He and his wife Breyana, have two children, Katriece (18), and Deacon, born in January.