Men's Basketball vs. Boston College (by Matt Riley)
Ritchie McKay is in his fifth year as the associate head coach with the Virginia men's basketball program. He joined Tony Bennett's staff in April of 2009 after two seasons as the head coach at Liberty and has 13 years of head coaching experience at the Division I level.
At Virginia, McKay assists in the implementation of the offensive and defensive strategies. He aids in the coordination of recruiting efforts and handles the majority of opponent scouting. McKay is fully committed to the whole-person development of a student-athlete beyond the court.
"Anytime you have the opportunity to invest in the lives of young people, it should be considered a great privilege and responsibility," McKay said. "I love the guys we have been able to attract and I'm excited to live life with them."
Virginia has won 45 games over the past two seasons and earned a bid in the NCAA Tournament in 2012 and NIT in 2013. Virginia's 23 wins in 2012-13 are the most in program history since the 1994-95 team earned 25 victories.
"Coach McKay is an excellent associate head coach," Bennett said. "His experience and insight from being a successful head coach for many years is invaluable. I trust his input and respect his character and knowledge of basketball, and life in general. He is an instrumental piece of our program."
McKay arrived in Charlottesville after 13 seasons as a Division I head coach. Prior to his two years at Liberty (2007-09), he spent five seasons at New Mexico, two at Oregon State, two at Colorado State and two at Portland State. During his tenure as a head coach, McKay accumulated over 200 career victories (204-186).
In 2008-09, McKay led Liberty to one of its most successful seasons in school history. The Flames went 23-12, tying the school record for wins in a Division I season and reaching the quarterfinals of the inaugural CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament. A key to the program's success was a group of freshmen that comprised McKay's first recruiting class at the school. It was the first Liberty recruiting class to be ranked in the top 50 nationally and was highlighted by Seth Curry, the nation's top freshman scorer at 20.2 points per game.
McKay has the top winning percentage (.582, 39-28) among head coaches in the history of the Liberty men's basketball program.
Prior to arriving at Liberty, McKay was the head coach at New Mexico for five seasons. His tenure in Albuquerque was highlighted by the 2004-05 season when the Lobos went 26-7 and won the Mountain West Conference championship. McKay mentored Danny Granger at New Mexico, a first-round draft choice of the Indiana Pacers and NBA All-Star.
McKay began his head coaching career in 1995 when he took over a Portland State program that had been dormant for 15 years. He led the Vikings to nine wins in 1996-97, the program's first year of competition since the early 1980s, and Portland State went on to compile a 15-12 record in 1997-98.
He followed his two years at Portland State with two seasons at Colorado State, leading the Rams to an NIT appearance, and has second best winning percentage (.617, 37-23) among the head coaches in the history of the Colorado State men's basketball program. McKay then led Oregon State for two seasons before taking over at New Mexico.
A 1987 graduate of Seattle Pacific where he played basketball, McKay began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Washington in 1988. He also served as an assistant coach at Queens College in North Carolina (1989-90), Seattle Pacific (1990-91), Bradley (1991-93) and Washington (1993-95).
McKay and his wife, Julie, have been married for 23 years and have three children - a daughter, Ellie, and two sons, Luke and Gabriel.
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