Rick Ray (born May 8, 1970) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach who is an assistant coach at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

. He was formerly the head men's basketball coach at

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

and Southeast Missouri State.

Biography

Ray was born in

Compton, California Compton is a city located in the Gateway Cities region of southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county, and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth ci ...

; however, his family moved to

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City (commonly known as KCK) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As ...

when Ray was 6 years old. He is an All-American Scholar Athlete basketball player who played at

Grand View College Grand View University is a Private university, private liberal arts university in Des Moines, Iowa. Founded in 1896 and affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the university enrolls approximately 2,000 students and is acc ...

, where he majored in Applied Mathematics and Secondary Education. After graduation, Ray worked as an

actuary An actuary is a professional with advanced mathematical skills who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require investment management, asset management, ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, but soon realized that he wanted to be a basketball coach. He quit his actuary job and became a coach and teacher at a high school in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

. After years, he left to become a graduate assistant coach at Nebraska-Omaha. While at Nebraska-Omaha, he also earned a master's degree in Sports Administration. From there, Ray was an assistant coach at

Indiana State Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois, with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by ...

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

, and Clemson, before being hired by Mississippi State. Upon hiring Ray, Mississippi State Athletics Director Scott Stricklin said, “Rick fits the model of head coach we have sought to bring into our program over the last several years. He is bright, enthusiastic, disciplined and is a man of integrity. He has served with some of the top head and assistant coaches in college basketball and will bring a piece of all of them to our head coaching position.” On March 21, 2015 Ray was fired by Mississippi State. He was subsequently hired by Southeast Missouri State. After finishing the 2019–20 season with a 7–24 record, Ray was let go by Southeast Missouri State. On July 20, 2020, Ray was hired by

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

as an assistant coach. He helped lead the Buffaloes to two NCAA tournament bids in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. Ray left Colorado following the conclusion of the 2023–24 season to join the staff at Vanderbilt as an assistant coach.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Southeast Missouri State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Rick 1970 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Missouri Basketball players from Missouri Clemson Tigers men's basketball coaches Grand View Vikings men's basketball players Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball coaches Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball coaches Southeast Missouri State Redhawks men's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen