Rick Ray (born May 8, 1970) is an American basketball coach. He was most recently the head basketball coach at

Southeast Missouri State Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

. He was previously the head coach at Mississippi State. Ray was born in

Compton, California Compton is a city in 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 city in Los Angeles County to incorporat ...

; however, his family moved to Kansas City 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 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 accredited by the Highe ...

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

actuary An actuary is a business professional who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. The name of the corresponding field is actuarial science. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require asset man ...

in Chicago, 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. 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, Northern Illinois,

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

, 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.

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