Ritchie McKay

Ritchie McKay

McKay in 2014
Sport(s) Basketball
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Liberty
Record 13–19 (.406)
Biographical details
Born (1965-04-22) April 22, 1965
Indianapolis, Indiana
Playing career
1983–1987 Seattle Pacific
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1988–1989 Washington (asst.)
1989–1990 Queens (asst.)
1990–1991 Seattle Pacific (asst.)
1991–1993 Bradley (asst.)
1993–1995 Washington (asst.)
1996–1998 Portland State
1998–2000 Colorado State
2000–2002 Oregon State
2002–2007 New Mexico
2007–2009 Liberty
2009–2015 Virginia (assoc. HC)
2015–present Liberty
Head coaching record
Overall 217–205 (.514)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
MWC Tournament championship (2005)
Awards
Big South Coach of the Year (2016)

Ritchie Lawrence McKay (born April 22, 1965) is an American basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Liberty University. McKay for the last 6 seasons had been the associate head coach at University of Virginia. He has previously been the head coach of the University of New Mexico, Oregon State, Colorado State, and Portland State.

Life and sports

McKay got his first head coaching job with Portland State. After a poor first year, McKay led the team to a third-place conference finish in his second season. He used that success as a springboard to his next coaching job, this time at Colorado State. He stayed two seasons there before heading to Oregon State, and then another two at Oregon State before accepting the head coaching position at New Mexico. While there, he experienced mixed success. In 2005, his team won the Mountain West Tournament and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. That successful season helped launch forward Danny Granger to an NBA career. Still, McKay couldn't turn New Mexico into a consistent program, and in February 2007, he was fired.

McKay then took a job at Liberty University, where he took the Flames to Big South semifinals in back-to-back years. His second-year, with the help of Seth Curry, McKay led the LU to a Division I school-record 23 wins[1] and a bid to the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.[2] After the season ended, Curry transferred to Duke University, and McKay's longtime friend Tony Bennett was hired as head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers. Bennett then asked McKay to join his staff as his associate head coach, and McKay accepted. On April 1, 2015, McKay was selected to return to Liberty University as head coach.[3]

Personal life

High school: Westwood High, Mesa, Ariz.
College: Seattle Pacific
Family: Wife, Julie; daughter, Ellie; sons, Gabriel and Luke

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Portland State (Big Sky Conference) (1996–1998)
1996–97 Portland State 9–17 6–10 7th
1997–98 Portland State 15–12 10–6 T–3rd
Portland State: 24–29 (.453) 16–16 (.500)
Colorado State (Western Athletic Conference) (1998–1999)
1998–99 Colorado State 19–11 7–7 T–4th (Mountain) NIT Quarterfinals
Colorado State (Mountain West Conference) (1999–2000)
1999–00 Colorado State 18–12 8–6 T–4th
Colorado State: 37–23 (.617) 15–13 (.536)
Oregon State (Pacific-10 Conference) (2000–2002)
2000–01 Oregon State 10–20 4–14 T–9th
2001–02 Oregon State 12–17 4–14 9th
Oregon State: 22–37 (.373) 8–28 (.222)
New Mexico (Mountain West Conference) (2002–2007)
2002–03 New Mexico 10–18 4–10 7th
2003–04 New Mexico 14–14 5–9 T–5th
2004–05 New Mexico 26–7 10–4 2nd NCAA 1st Round
2005–06 New Mexico 17–13 8–8 5th
2006–07 New Mexico 15–17 4–12 T–8th
New Mexico: 82–69 (.543) 31–43 (.419)
Liberty (Big South Conference) (2007–2009)
2007–08 Liberty 16–16 7–7 4th
2008–09 Liberty 23–12 12–6 3rd CIT Quarterfinals
Liberty (Big South Conference) (2015–Present)
2015–16 Liberty 13–19 10–8 T–5th
Liberty: 52–47 (.525) 29–21 (.580)
Total: 217–205 (.514)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

  1. CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
  2. Release on 4/1/15: McKay Returns to Liberty as Flames Men's Head Basketball Coach

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.