(St. Louis, MO) – Rick Ray is committed to giving back and building up his Southeast Missouri State basketball program. The former Indiana State player and Mississippi State coach is beginning his fourth season at SEMO and now has his program free of academic restrictions.
Ray was part of a panel discussion at the first Monsanto Family YMCA Coaches Luncheon (in St. Louis). He was joined by Missouri’s Cuonzo Martin, Saint Louis University’s Travis Ford, Missouri State’s Dana Ford and UMKC’s Kareem Richardson.
The coaches discussed topics like recruiting, their current rosters, mentoring young players and foundations of their programs. Ray said his team’s number one rule of telling the truth. He went on to talk about his responsibility to help each of his players in a long term kind of way.
Former Evansville great Marcus Wilson is the director of the North St. Louis YMCA and hosted the event. Ray says, if he wants his players go give back, he has to lead by example.
Building the Program
Ray isn’t just giving back, he’s building up his Redhawks program. Despite the transfer of some key players from last year’s team, Ray believes his team is more talented. After a year of academic probation, SEMO has earned its way off that post season ban.
The current roster, which includes all-OVC-freshman team member Ledarrius Brewer, has been bolstered by a long athletic recruiting class. Point guard Alex Caldwell (Columbia, SC) is a three-star recruit.
Ray says the academic problems didn’t occur because of his current players, but they worked hard to remove that stigma from team.
The Intangibles
The ‘home court advantage’ is incredibly important. Ray loves SEMO’s Show Me Center. He says it has the ‘wow factor’, but his team and fans need to combine to make it a difficult place for opponents to compete.
During the coaches luncheon Ray talked about hiring former Missouri State player and assistant coach Keith Pickens. Having coached with Cuonzo Martin and Paul Lusk at MSU, Pickens has experience recruiting the region’s best players. He was a great St. Louis area high school player, but knee problems limited his playing career.
Ray says Pickens will be a huge addition to his team.
The new-look Redhawks open the season November 6 against Travis Ford and Saint Louis U.
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