During his two-year stint as Liberty University Men’s Basketball Head Coach from 2007-09, Ritchie McKay’s team often packed the Vines Center (also known as “The Furnace”) with large student body crowds sparked by a particularly passionate fan base that called themselves the “LUnatics.” The raucous student support provided the Flames with a decided home-court advantage, hearkening back to their heyday in the mid-1990s.
Six years to the day after announcing he was leaving Liberty to serve as Tony Bennett’s associate head coach at the University of Virginia, McKay was reintroduced as the Flames’ head coach during an April 1 press conference in the Club Pavilion of the Williams Stadium Tower. McKay’s goal is to renew the team’s winning ways and revive that passionate team spirit in the Vines Center when Liberty returns to the hardwood this fall.
“I’ve been a fan of Liberty since I left,” said McKay, whose daughter Ellie is a rising junior at Liberty. “I believe anything can happen here. I can’t wait to coach this team.”
He said he felt like “the most blessed coach in the country” and is “excited and privileged to be a part of this family again.”
“I hope we’ll see this program reach a level that not even you thought was possible,” he told a crowd of players, staff, administration, and fans.
McKay, a native of Indianapolis and a 1987 graduate of Seattle Pacific University, became Liberty’s seventh head coach in program history in 2007. He posted a winning record, guiding the Flames to 39-28 overall and 19-13 Big South Conference marks in two seasons at the helm.
At Virginia, McKay helped Bennett’s teams go 136-64 with three NCAA tournament appearances, winning ACC regular-season titles the past two years.
“This is an exciting day for all of us,” Liberty President Jerry Falwell said at the press conference. “I told Ritchie, ‘Liberty University is a different university than when you left six years ago.’ I told him we’re in a position now to provide the resources we never could provide before, to provide facilities we never could provide before, and we’re going to continue to ratchet that up and do whatever it takes to move this program to the top level.”
Liberty Director of Athletics Jeff Barber, who traveled with Senior Associate Athletics Director Mickey Guridy to interview seven finalists for the coaching position, knew McKay was the right man for the job.
“I felt the passion in his voice,” Barber said. “I heard his love for the university, his desire to be here for a very long time. He told me that he wants this to be his last job. You look at his experience at Liberty and then being with Tony Bennett for six years, I don’t know how you can go wrong. He is a better man and a much better coach than he was six years ago.”
McKay met Liberty’s returning players twice prior to the announcement of his return and is excited about working with the team. Brad Soucie, Virginia’s director of player development, also joins the Flames’ staff after previously serving as McKay’s assistant at Portland State (1996-98), Colorado State (1998-2000), Oregon State (2001-02), New Mexico (2002-07), and Liberty.
“For me, the first and foremost thing is to build relationships with those guys,” McKay said. “It’s the mission that makes it special, that makes it unique. It’s why I wanted to come back. I don’t think there’s a finer place in the world — or university in the world — to have a chance to coach and do life and mentor or shepherd a student-athlete.”
The McKay File
- LU coaching record: 39-28 from 2007-09
- Career coaching record: 204-186 in 13 seasons as a head coach, starting at Portland State (24-29 from 1996-98), Colorado State (37-23 from 1998-00), Oregon State (22-37 from 2000-02), and New Mexico (82-69 from 2002-07)
- Beginnings: McKay began his head coaching career at Portland State in 1995, reviving a program that had been dormant for 15 years. He was named one of six finalists for the annual Clair Bee Award, given to the coach with the most influence and innovation in the game of basketball. (North Carolina’s Dean Smith and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski were two other finalists for the award.)
- UVA highlights: McKay served as Tony Bennett’s associate head coach, helping to lead the Cavaliers to a 136-64 record over the past six seasons, with three NCAA tournament appearances as well as two 30-win seasons and ACC regular-season titles the past two years.
- LU highlights: In the 2008-09 season, McKay orchestrated one of the top scoring offenses in the Big South Conference, which ranked No. 48 in the nation, by averaging 75.5 points per game. Before that season, he recruited Seth Curry, who helped Liberty’s recruiting class rank as 48th-best in the country according to Basketball Times. (Curry transferred to Duke the same year McKay went to Virginia.)
