Flames basketball Head Coach Ritchie McKay extends contract

He’s locked in. Flames basketball Head Coach Ritchie McKay has signed a long-term extension to remain in his position through the 2029-30 season. This extension was announced by Liberty Athletics just hours after the Flames were crowned the ASUN regular season champions after their win over the Queens Royals.

 “None of (that) would have been possible without the commitment, sacrifice and belief from our past and current players, coaches, fan base and administration who have invested mightily in supporting our pursuit,” McKay said. “We are so thankful for the past and are even more excited about the future. We look forward to Flames Nation rising with us as we head into postseason and making the move to CUSA.”

Liberty Flames basketball has, for years, been a run-of-the-mill, lower-level college program. That is until 2015, when the school hiring McKay to be its new head coach for the second time.

“I think the main reason (for my signing the extension) is it feels like the university has made a commitment to our program,” McKay said. “To resource it in a way that we can be competitive, that we can recruit the right people. Sure, there’s places that have more this or more that, but that doesn’t necessarily make you happy. We just love it here.”

Those resources and ability to recruit have certainly been on full display for this Flames’ team in recent years. In the last five seasons at Liberty, McKay has boasted an incredible 128 wins, the fourth most in the country over that time. Along with the wins must come losses, but not for this unit, as they’ve only lost 35 games in that five-year span.

The wins don’t just come in the regular season though, and this Flames team has racked up more than it’s fiar share of accolades and trophies under McKay’s leadership. Since the Flames addition in the ASUN conference, they’ve captured back-to-back-to-back championship titles, including their first conference trophy that came in just their first year in the ASUN. They then proceeded to win the school’s first ever game in the NCAA Tournament against the No. 5 Mississippi State in the Round of 64.

“When you’re passionate about this coaching thing, a lot of that is related to the people you get to do life with,” McKay said. “And I just can’t think of a better locker room that you could be a part of than the one that we have.”

Palsgrove is the asst. sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on Twitter