Ritchie Lawrence McKay (born April 22, 1965) is an American basketball coach who is in his second stint as the head coach of the Liberty Flames of Liberty University. McKay for the last 6 seasons had been the associate head coach to Tony Bennett for the Virginia Cavaliers at the University of Virginia. He had previously been the head coach of the University of New Mexico, Oregon State, Colorado State, Portland State, and Liberty.
American basketball coach
Ritchie McKay
McKay in 2014
Current position
Title
Head coach
Team
Liberty
Conference
ASUN
Record
199–104 (.657)
Biographical details
Born
(1965-04-22) April 22, 1965 (age57) 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
364–262 (.581)
Tournaments
1–2 (NCAA) 2–1 (NIT) 5–3 (CIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
MW tournament championship (2005)
3 ASUN tournament (2019–2021)
3 ASUN regular season (2019–2021)
ASUN East Division (2022)
Awards
Big South Coach of the Year (2016)
Jim Phelan Award (2019)
2× ASUN Coach of the Year (2020, 2021)
On April 3, 2009, McKay was hand-selected by Bennett and lured from his head coaching position at Liberty to become Associate Head Coach at Virginia.[1] On April 1, 2015, he returned as head coach of the Liberty Flames.[2] McKay holds the Liberty school record for single-season wins, with his team attaining a record of 30–4 (as of March 9, 2020) in the 2019–20 season after winning the ASUN Conference regular season and tournament championships.
Life and sports
McKay at Seattle Pacific University
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 Conference 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[3] and a bid to the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.[4] 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.[2]
En route to a school-record 28 wins, McKay's Flames defeated the storied UCLA Bruins on their home court in Los Angeles by 15 points, prompting the immediate firing of UCLA head coach Steve Alford in December 2018, before the Pac-12 Conference season even began.[5] Ironically, it was Alford who replaced McKay at New Mexico after his firing there nearly 12 years earlier. The following year, he was the 2019 recipient of the Jim Phelan Award.[6]
Personal life
McKay graduated from Westwood High School, and played college basketball at Seattle Pacific University, where he set the single-season and career record for steals, and he was third in career assists. McKay has a wife, Julie, daughter, Ellie, and sons Luke and Gabriel.[7]
Head coaching record
Statistics overview
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 First 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) (2015–2018)
2015–16
Liberty
13–19
10–8
T–5th
2016–17
Liberty
21–14
14–4
3rd
CIT Quarterfinals
2017–18
Liberty
22–15
9–9
T–5th
CIT Semifinals
Liberty (ASUN Conference) (2018–present)
2018–19
Liberty
29–7
14–2
T–1st
NCAA Division I Round of 32
2019–20
Liberty
30–4
13–3
T–1st
NCAA Canceled*
2020–21
Liberty
23–6
11–2
1st
NCAA Division I Round of 64
2021–22
Liberty
22–11
12–4
1st (East)
Liberty:
199–104 (.657)
97–42 (.698)
Total:
364–262 (.581)
National championPostseason invitational champion Conference regular season championConference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion
*The 2020 NCAA tournament was canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.
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