McCray officially leaves Monarchs
After several days of speculation and reports, Nikki McCray made it official Saturday, saying she is leaving Old Dominion to coach at Mississippi State.
McCray, who guided the ODU women’s basketball team to 24 victories and a breakthrough season in Conference USA this year, finished 53-40 in three seasons in Norfolk. The Monarchs got progressively better during her tenure, going 8-23 and 21-11 before this year’s 24-6 mark.
“I’m so grateful and blessed for this incredible honor and opportunity to lead @HailStateWBK,” McCray wrote on Twitter. “My family and I are excited to be a part of the Bulldog Family and we can’t wait to get started! #HailState.”
McCray, a former Olympian and WNBA star, in her third season guided the Monarchs to a second-place finish in C-USA and a 14-1 record at home. ODU was the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, but the Monarchs didn’t tip off before CUSA games were canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak.
“It’s been a dream of mine to be a head coach in the SEC, and I’m so grateful and blessed for
this incredible honor and opportunity to lead Mississippi State women’s basketball,” McCray said in a statement released by Mississippi State. “This is a national brand with incredible people, a storied tradition and an outstanding community that is second to none. I am confident that my experiences as a coach and player have prepared me for this, and I will pour everything I have into our student-athletes and program. My family and I are so happy to be a part of the Bulldog Family and we can’t wait to get started.”
Vic Schaefer recently left Mississippi State to become the coach at Texas.
Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen said in a Twitter video that the Bulldogs “hit a home run” by hiring McCray.
This season, McCray took ODU to the cusp of the program’s first NCAA tournament berth since 2008. Several pundits predicted the Monarchs already had done enough to nab an NCAA bid with an impressive regular season that included a 14-4 conference record, the program’s best CUSA finish. ODU also collected a signature home win over Rice, snapping the Owls’ 30game conference winning streak.
“I would like to compliment and thank Coach McCray for the outstanding job she and her staff did at Old Dominion,” ODU athletic director Wood Selig said in a release. “During her three years, Nikki successfully brought ODU women’s basketball back to being a conference champion contender and NCAA tournament-caliber program, which is the level our fans have been accustomed to enjoying.
“Coach McCray did everything we could possibly ask for and expect from a head coach at ODU. Her teams competed nationally, they excelled in the classroom and they made numerous and varied community outreach contributions. The young women Coach McCray brought in have been role models for many both on and off the court.”
Under Schaefer, Mississippi State went 27-6 last season and fell to South Carolina in the SEC tournament championship game. The Bulldogs return three McDonald’s AllAmericans.
McCray, a Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer who starred in college at Tennessee, grew up in the Memphis area, which is less than three hours from Mississippi State’s campus in Starkville.
Schaefer was reportedly set to earn about $2 million per year at Mississippi State. McCray, 48, signed a five-year contract at ODU worth $250,000 a year in May 2017.
“We expect our head coaching position to be extremely attractive for candidates as a result of the dedication and efforts provided by Coach McCray these last three years,” Selig said. “We will continue the upward trajectory that Coach McCray and our outstanding group of student-athletes have us on currently. I am extremely excited for and confident of our ODU women’s basketball future.”