Rick Ray

Rick Ray (born May 8, 1970)

Current position: Assistant men’s basketball coach
Current team: Colorado Buffaloes (Head coach: Tad Boyle)
Current conference: Pac-12 Conference
Teams coached: Mississippi State Bulldogs, Southeast Missouri State Redhawks
Mississippi State record: 37-60 (.381)
Southeast Missouri State record: 51-104 (.329)
Overall record: 88-164 (.349)

Career Accomplishments:

  • NCAA National Championships:  0
  • NCAA Tournament Appearances:  0
  • NIT Championships:  0
  • NIT Appearances:  0

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

2020-present Colorado (asst)
2015-2020 Southeast Missouri State
2012-2015 Mississippi State
2010-2012 Clemson (asst)
2006-2010 Purdue (asst)
2004-2006 Northern Illinois (asst)
1997-2004 Indiana State (asst)
1995-1997 Nebraska-Omaha (grad. asst)

Rick Ray Facts

  • Rick Ray
  • Born May 8, 1970
  • Hometown: Gardena, California
  • Alma Mater: Grand View College (BA, 1994) / University of Nebraska-Omaha (MA, 1997)
  • Though born in California, Ray was raised primarily in Kansas City
  • Played at Grand View College in Iowa, where he was an All-American Scholar-Athlete
  • About a year after graduating, took his first coaching job was as a graduate assistant at Nebraska-Omaha under Kevin Lehman
  • Spent seven seasons as an assistant to Royce Waltman at Indiana State, then two under Rob Judson at Northern Illinois before taking a job on Matt Painter‘s staff at Purdue in 2006
    • The Boilermakers made the NCAA Tournament in each of the four years that Ray was on the sideline, including two-straight trips to the Sweet Sixteen and a Big Ten title in 2010
  • Joined Brad Brownell‘s first staff at Clemson in 2010 and after two years was hired to be the head coach at Mississippi State
    • Went 37-60 over three seasons before getting fired in 2015
  • Hired during that ensuing off-season to be new the head coach at Southeast Missouri State of the OVC
  • In June 2020, Colorado announced that Ray would be joining Tad Boyle‘s staff as an assistant coach
  • Along with his wife, Breyana, has two sons and one daughter

Rick Ray Coaching Tree