University of Oklahoma Athletics
Ray McCallum Hired as Mens Basketball Assistant Coach
June 22, 2004 | Men's Basketball
NORMAN, Okla. University of Oklahoma men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson rounded out his coaching staff Tuesday by announcing the hiring of former Houston and Ball State head coach Ray McCallum. McCallum fills the vacancy created when former OU assistant coach Jimmy Tubbs was named head coach at SMU on March 26.
“We were looking for a coach who possesses tremendous character and integrity, and who would represent our university and our basketball program in the right ways,” said Sampson. “We found exactly that in Ray McCallum. Ray brings a great amount of experience to the table, the last 11 years as a head coach at Houston and Ball State. He was also an assistant coach for 10 years at Wisconsin and was on staff briefly at Michigan during the Fab Five' era before going to Ball State. We are extremely fortunate to have a coach and person of his caliber on board.”
McCallum, 43, spent the last four seasons as the head coach at Houston, where he compiled a 44-73 record. In 2001-02, he led the Cougars to an 18-15 mark and a berth in the NIT, Houston's first postseason tournament appearance since the 1992-93 season. Houston finished as runner-up in Conference USA's National Division with a 9-7 record that year, and advanced to the league's tournament semifinals for the first time in school history.
Prior to his Houston stint, McCallum coached at Ball State, his alma mater, for seven seasons. During his tenure there, the Cardinals amassed a 126-76 record, which included two NCAA Tournament appearances and an NIT berth. In 1999-00, McCallum coached the Cardinals to a 22-9 record and the Mid-American Conference's Western Division championship. Ball State won the MAC Tournament that year to earn an automatic NCAA Tournament bid. When McCallum took the head coaching job in 1993, he had just one week to prepare his team for its first exhibition game. At the time, Ball State was facing three years of NCAA probation, was limited to 12 scholarship players for two seasons and only one assistant coach could recruit off campus.
“I'm excited about joining Coach Sampson and his staff here at the University of Oklahoma,” said McCallum. “I first met Coach Sampson about 20 years ago and I've followed his teams and his career since. He's one of the most respected coaches in our profession. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to be a part of his staff and the OU program, and building onto the foundation he's laid here. I'm here to do what needs to be done to help win Big 12 championships, Big 12 Tournaments and national championships. Our sights are set high.”
In 1984, McCallum began his first full-time coaching job as an assistant at Wisconsin. The Badgers had won only 63 games the previous six seasons before McCallum joined the program. He helped reverse the trend when the Badgers were selected to play in the 1989 NIT Wisconsin's first postseason tournament showing since it appeared in the 1947 NCAA Tournament.
In 1993, McCallum briefly joined the coaching staff at Michigan, before accepting the head coaching job at Ball State.
As a player at Ball State, McCallum graduated as the MAC's all-time scoring leader and became the first BSU athlete to have his jersey retired in any sport. The West Memphis, Ark., native led his team in scoring all four years. In 1979-80, he was named the MAC Freshman of the Year and earned second-team all-conference honors. He was named to the All-MAC First Team and the MAC All-Tournament Team in each of the 1980-81, 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons, and was the 1981 MAC Tournament MVP and the 1982-83 MAC Player of the Year. McCallum helped BSU to its first MAC championships in 1981 and 1982, and to the 1981 conference tourney title. He also won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as the nation's most outstanding collegiate senior 6-feet or under. Later in 1983 he was selected by the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Draft.
McCallum and his wife, Wendy, have a daughter named Brittany and a son named Ray Michael.
The OU coaching staff is now comprised of Sampson, McCallum, seven-year assistant Bennie Seltzer and Bob Hoffman, the former Texas-Pan American and Oklahoma Baptist head coach who was hired in May.
