What You Need to Know:
* Georgia State announced Wednesday the hiring of Ray McCallum as an associate head coach for the men's basketball team.
* McCallum, who has 19 years of head coaching experience, comes to the Panthers following eight years as the head coach at Detroit.
* McCallum will start working with Georgia State immediately as the recruiting period begins on Wednesday.
ATLANTA – Georgia State men’s basketball coach Ron Hunter formally announced Wednesday that Ray McCallum will be joining his staff as an associate head coach. McCallum, who led Detroit for the last eight years, making an NCAA tournament appearance in 2012, will join the staff immediately.
McCallum, who has 19 years of head coaching experience, rebuilt the Titans from the bottom of the Horizon League when he took over, to title contenders and a Horizon League championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2012.
During his first five years at the helm at Detroit, the Titans increased their conference win total in every season. Detroit also increased its place in the regular season standings during that stretch under McCallum.
Over his 19-year head coaching career, he has amassed 300 victories and made six postseason runs.
“I am so pleased to add an excellent coach and close friend to our staff in Ray McCallum,” Hunter said. “The amount of experience and expertise he will bring to our staff is unmatched. I can’t wait for him to get started working with our players as we look to return Georgia State to the NCAA tournament.”
“I am extremely thankful to Ron Hunter on allowing me this opportunity to join his staff,” McCallum said. “He and his staff have built a great program and I am thrilled to be a part of it. We have known each other for a long time and I look forward to helping get Georgia State back to the NCAA tournament this season.”
During McCallum’s tenure at Detroit, 16 Titans went on to play professionally. Six have suited up in the NBA Summer League since 2012, while his son and former Horizon League Player of the Year Ray McCallum has currently played three seasons in the NBA with the Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies.
When hired at Detroit, McCallum brought 11 years of head coaching experience with him to UDM, having previously served in that role at his alma mater, Ball State (1994-2000), as well as Houston (2001-04). He took four teams to postseason play during his career at those schools.
His 30-year coaching career began at Ball State in 1983-84 as a volunteer assistant coach. He served as an assistant at Wisconsin for the next nine seasons, helping a program that hadn’t been to post-season play since 1947 to NIT berths in 1989, 1991 and 1993. He had a brief stint as an assistant at Michigan, before quickly returning to Ball State to make his head coaching debut during the 1993-94 season.
The Cardinals posted a 126-76 record during McCallum’s seven-year tenure. McCallum directed Ball State to two NCAA Tournament appearances (1995, 2000) and an NIT berth (1998) and became the first coach in Ball State history to post seven consecutive winning seasons. During his head coaching career at Ball State, McCallum recruited and coached Bonzi Wells, who was the 11th pick of the 1998 NBA Draft. When he left BSU for Houston in 2000, McCallum’s .624 winning percentage was the fourth-best in Mid American Conference history.
McCallum served as head coach at Houston for four seasons. In 2002, he led the Cougars to an 18-15 mark and a berth in the NIT, Houston’s first post-season tournament appearance in nine years. Houston finished 9-7 in Conference USA’s National Division that year, and advanced to the league tournament semi-finals for the first time.
Before arriving at Detroit, he was a key assistant on the coaching staffs at Oklahoma (2004-06) and Indiana (2006-08), and was a part of four straight trips to the NCAA Tournament with those teams. Among the coach’s protégés at Indiana was a pair of 2008 Associated Press All-Americans, D.J. White and Eric Gordon, both NBA first-round draft picks.
An outstanding player in his own right, McCallum was a member of two state championship teams at Central High School in Muncie, Ind. As a senior in 1979, he was a starting guard and was named the Most Valuable Player of the state championship game after leading Central to its second straight state title.
He stayed in Muncie to play collegiately at Ball State, where he was named the MAC’s Freshman of the Year after leading the Cardinals in scoring with 16.5 points per game. As a sophomore, McCallum again led the Cardinals in scoring, this time with 18.4 points per game, and helped them finish the season with a 20-10 record and a share of the MAC championship. Ball State also earned an NCAA Tournament invitation for the first time in school history that year. The following season, McCallum led the Cardinals in scoring once again with a 17.6 average, and Ball State won its first outright MAC Championship.
As a senior, McCallum was named MAC Player of the Year and conference tournament MVP. He also earned first-team All-MAC honors for the third straight year, ending his career as the MAC’s all-time leading scorer with 2,109 points. Additionally, he won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as the nation’s best senior under six-feet tall. He became the first BSU athlete to have his jersey retired in any sport. McCallum graduated from Ball State in 1983 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Technology.
One week after graduation, the Indiana Pacers selected him in the 1983 NBA Draft. One of the final players cut in training camp, McCallum played briefly in the CBA before returning to Ball State to begin his coaching career.
Georgia State will return three starters off a squad that finished the year 16-14 next season. Practice for the upcoming season started June 6.
