Jump to content

Ritchie McKay

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by MKP2019 (talk | contribs) at 13:38, 18 May 2020 (→Head coaching record). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Ritchie McKay
McKay in 2014
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamLiberty
ConferenceASUN
Record154–87 (.639)
Biographical details
Born (1965-04-22) April 22, 1965 (age 59)
Indianapolis, Indiana
Playing career
1983–1987Seattle Pacific
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1988–1989Washington (asst.)
1989–1990Queens (asst.)
1990–1991Seattle Pacific (asst.)
1991–1993Bradley (asst.)
1993–1995Washington (asst.)
1996–1998Portland State
1998–2000Colorado State
2000–2002Oregon State
2002–2007New Mexico
2007–2009Liberty
2009–2015Virginia (assoc. HC)
2015–presentLiberty
Head coaching record
Overall319–245 (.566)
Tournaments1–2 (NCAA)
2–1 (NIT)
5–3 (CIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Awards

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.

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 Atlantic Sun Conference regular season and tournament championships.

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[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 season even began.[5] Ironically, it was Alford who replaced McKay at New Mexico after his firing there nearly twelve 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 (Atlantic Sun 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 Division I Canceled*
Liberty: 154–87 (.639) 79–39 (.669)
Total: 319–245 (.566)

      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

*The 2020 NCAA tournament was canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

References

  1. ^ Virginia assistant Ritchie McKay sees step down as a step up, accessed March 12, 2019
  2. ^ a b Release on 4/1/15: McKay Returns to Liberty as Flames Men's Head Basketball Coach
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
  5. ^ Steve Alford’s UCLA run ends with Liberty rock bottom, accessed March 12, 2019
  6. ^ Ackerman, Jon (5 April 2019). "Liberty University's Ritchie McKay given Jim Phelan Award for top Division I head coach". Spectrum Sports. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Ritchie McKay". Liberty Flames. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ritchie_McKay&oldid=957363192"