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Justin Gray ('06) Named Head Coach at Coastal Carolina

PhDeac

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Figure we should go ahead and start an ongoing thread to follow his progress. Some people may not be following the coaching carousel thread either.

https://catamountsports.com/news/20...ustin-gray-as-head-mens-basketball-coach.aspx

"This search process afforded me the opportunity to speak with a number of people with recommendations for who our next men's basketball head coach should be. When people spoke about Justin Gray, they simply said 'he's going to be a great head coach one day,'" said Gary. "The universal respect for him as a leader, mentor, and a basketball mind provided me with no doubt in his ability to be successful here at Western Carolina University."

Gray comes to Cullowhee after serving the past two seasons on Pat Kelsey's staff at Winthrop University and he had initially made the move to the College of Charleston with the staff upon Kelsey's hiring in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Before his time on staff in Rock Hill, Gray served as the Director of Basketball Development within the Deacon Club at his alma mater, Wake Forest, which came on the heels of a successful 12-year professional playing career overseas.

A three-time All-ACC selection in his playing career at Wake Forest (2002-06), Gray left Winston-Salem as one of the program's most prolific 3-point shooter. He scored 1,946 career points over 120 career games for the Demon Deacons, finishing his career ranked eighth in program history in scoring while average 16.2 points per game. Gray continues to rank second on Wake's career 3-pointers made chart with 319 treys. He additionally holds three of the top six spots among the Deacons' single-season 3-pointers made list.

In his sophomore season, Gray and eventual first-round NBA draft pick Chris Paul teamed up to become one of the best backcourts in the ACC as Gray averaged 17.0 ppg on his way to All-ACC First Team honors. In 2002-03, Gray played a role in helping the Demon Deacons to an ACC Regular Season Championship with a 13-3 league mark.

His collegiate career plaudits also include being named to the ACC All-Freshman team, as well as a three-time USBWA All-District Team and two-time NABC All-District Team selection.

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Announcement press conference.

 
Current scholarship players on WCU roster:

Fr. 6-6 G Josh Massey .346 FG% 17% from 3 1.9 ppg 1.4 rpg
Fr. 6-5 G Tyler McGhie .333 FG% 31% from 3 2.1 ppg 0.4 rpg
Fr. 6-5 F Daniel Ransom .50 FG% 0% from 3 2.1 ppg 1.5 rpg
RS Fr. 6-8 F Ahmir Langlais 51% FG% 0% from 3 2.9 ppg 2.5 rpg

One recruit signed to an LOI: Darrius Washington 6-9 230 PF from L'ville, KY

That's it, ZERO RETURNING UPPERCLASSMEN, along with a handful of walk-ons. Go get 'em Justin! Any players in the transfer portal looking for PT, should get in touch with Justin.
 
Hope he does great.
Cullowhee isn’t that far away. Would love to catch a game there.
Consider me a new Catamount fan.
 
really happy for J Gray- hope he knocks out of the park although it sounds like his roster is pretty depleted right now. Wonder who will be on his staff?
 
WCU moved to D1 in 1974. In 47 D1 seasons, they have made 1 NCAA tournament, 1 CIT and 1 CBI. Over that time, no coach has been able to use the WCU job as a steppingstone. The closest is Mark Prosser getting the Winthrop job. Yikes.
 
Holy hell, he crushes this press conference. Crushes it.

Yea it was a good speech! Hope he does well. He is old school as far as education, family which is refreshing.
 
WCU moved to D1 in 1974. In 47 D1 seasons, they have made 1 NCAA tournament, 1 CIT and 1 CBI. Over that time, no coach has been able to use the WCU job as a steppingstone. The closest is Mark Prosser getting the Winthrop job. Yikes.

I actually remember their only NCAA appearance - #16 seed and came thisclose to taking out Gene Keady and that year's edition of underachieving Purdue.
 
Happy for J Gray. It’s a tough place to win but I think if anyone can win there he can do it. I live nearby and I look forward to hitting up some games next season.

Chris Paul for "Special Assistant for player development and video tape coordinator!"
 
If JGray hits the Charlotte and Piedmont Triad areas hard for players, and gets some to Cullowhee, he should do alright. The Chris Paul relationship is only going to help. Just the access to the CP3 AAU players will fill the roster.
 
Can't wait to listen to presser later. Hopefully it's on youtube or something.

J Gray was one of my favorite Deacs. Watched his "mask game" in person.
 
If JGray hits the Charlotte and Piedmont Triad areas hard for players, and gets some to Cullowhee, he should do alright. The Chris Paul relationship is only going to help. Just the access to the CP3 AAU players will fill the roster.

It's about a 2 and a half hour drive from Cullowhee to Atlanta. So Gray will need to hit Atlanta metro and South Carolina hard in addition to Charlotte and the Triad, but the opportunity is there.
 
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