Lilburn Ray Harper Jr. (born October 11, 1961)[1][2] is an American college basketball coach, currently head coach for Jacksonville State University. Previously, he was head coach at Oklahoma City University, Kentucky Wesleyan College, and Western Kentucky University. At Kentucky Wesleyan Harper compiled a 242–45 win–loss record.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Jacksonville State |
| Conference | C-USA |
| Record | 146–111 (.568) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | October 11, 1961 Bremen, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1980–1982 | Texas |
| 1983–1985 | Kentucky Wesleyan |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1985–1989 | Kentucky Wesleyan (assistant)[1] |
| 1989–1996 | Kentucky Wesleyan (assoc. HC)[1] |
| 1996–2005 | Kentucky Wesleyan |
| 2005–2008 | Oklahoma City |
| 2009–2012 | Western Kentucky (assistant) |
| 2012–2016 | Western Kentucky |
| 2016–present | Jacksonville State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 482–221 (.686) (NCAA) 95–17 (.848) (NAIA) |
| Tournaments | 1–4 (NCAA Division I) 27–5* (NCAA Division II) 14–1 (NAIA) 2–1 (CBI) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2 NCAA Division II tournament (1999, 2001) 2 NAIA Men's Division I Tournament (2007, 2008) 2 Sun Belt tournament (2012, 2013) OVC tournament (2017) ASUN West Division (2022) ASUN regular season (2022) | |
| Awards | |
| 7× Division II National Coach of the Year ASUN Coach of the Year (2022) | |
He has been named the Division II National Coach of the Year seven times and won two national titles at Kentucky Wesleyan in 1999 and 2001.[3]
Harper was named interim head coach at Western Kentucky on January 6, 2012, after Ken McDonald was fired.[4] He was named permanent head coach on February 19, 2012, by then-athletic director Ross Bjork.[5] He resigned from the position on March 17, 2016, following the permanent suspension of three of his players.[6] Harper was subsequently hired at Jacksonville State on April 6, 2016,[7] where he took the 2016–17 team to the school's first NCAA appearance.
Born in Greenville, Kentucky and a native of Bremen, Kentucky, Harper played collegiately at the University of Texas[3] as a freshman and at Kentucky Wesleyan, during his sophomore-senior seasons, where he was named third team NABC All-American as a senior in 1985.
He is married to Shannon Harper,[8] a WKU alumna.
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers (Great Lakes Valley Conference) (1996–2005) | |||||||||
| 1996–97 | Kentucky Wesleyan | 21–8 | 14–6 | 5th | |||||
| 1997–98 | Kentucky Wesleyan | 30–3 | 17–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II runner-up | ||||
| 1998–99 | Kentucky Wesleyan | 35–1 | 20–1 | 1st | NCAA Division II champion | ||||
| 1999–00 | Kentucky Wesleyan | 31–3 | 18–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II runner-up | ||||
| 2000–01 | Kentucky Wesleyan | 31–3 | 17–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division II champion | ||||
| 2001–02 | Kentucky Wesleyan | 31–3 | 19–1 | 1st | NCAA Division II runner-up | ||||
| 2002–03 | Kentucky Wesleyan | 31–4* | 18–2* | 1st* | NCAA Division II runner-up* | ||||
| 2003–04 | Kentucky Wesleyan | 22–8* | 14–6* | 3rd* | NCAA Division II first round* | ||||
| 2004–05 | Kentucky Wesleyan | 15–13 | 9–11 | 6th | |||||
| Kentucky Wesleyan: | 247–46* (.843) | 146–34* (.811) | |||||||
| Oklahoma City Stars (Sooner Athletic Conference) (2005–2008) | |||||||||
| 2005–06 | Oklahoma City | 29–8 | 16–2 | 1st | NAIA Division I runner-up | ||||
| 2006–07 | Oklahoma City | 35–2 | 17–1 | 1st | NAIA Division I champions | ||||
| 2007–08 | Oklahoma City | 31–7 | 18–4 | 1st | NAIA Division I champions | ||||
| Oklahoma City NAIA: | 95–17 (.848) | 51–7 (.879) | |||||||
| Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (Sun Belt Conference) (2012–2014) | |||||||||
| 2011–12 | Western Kentucky | 11–8[9] | 6–7[9] | 3rd (East)[10] | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2012–13 | Western Kentucky | 20–16 | 10–10 | 4th (East)[11] | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2013–14 | Western Kentucky | 21–12 | 12–6 | 2nd | |||||
| Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (Conference USA) (2014–2016) | |||||||||
| 2014–15 | Western Kentucky | 20–12 | 12–6 | 4th | |||||
| 2015–16 | Western Kentucky | 18–16 | 8–10 | 8th | |||||
| Western Kentucky: | 89–64 (.582) | 48–39 (.552) | |||||||
| Jacksonville State Gamecocks (Ohio Valley Conference) (2016–2021) | |||||||||
| 2016–17 | Jacksonville State | 20–15 | 9–7 | 4th | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2017–18 | Jacksonville State | 23–13 | 11–7 | 4th | CBI semifinals | ||||
| 2018–19 | Jacksonville State | 24–9 | 15–3 | 2nd | |||||
| 2019–20 | Jacksonville State | 13–19 | 8–10 | 7th | |||||
| 2020–21 | Jacksonville State | 18–9 | 13–6 | 4th | |||||
| Jacksonville State Gamecocks (ASUN Conference) (2021–2023) | |||||||||
| 2021–22 | Jacksonville State | 21–11 | 13–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2022–23 | Jacksonville State | 13–18 | 6–12 | T–11th | |||||
| Jacksonville State Gamecocks (Conference USA) (2023–present) | |||||||||
| 2023–24 | Jacksonville State | 14–18 | 6–10 | 8th | |||||
| Jacksonville State: | 146–112 (.568) | 81–58 (.583) | |||||||
| Total: | 482–222 (.686) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
* 20 wins and 5 losses were vacated from the 2003–04 season and for the 2002–03 season; the school had to vacate the NCAA Division II runner-up and conference regular season championship.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b c "USA Basketball: Ray Harper Bio". USA Basketball. May 7, 2003. Archived from the original on December 30, 2006. Retrieved May 18, 2007.
- ^ West, Gary P. (February 20, 2013). "King of the Hill". Kentucky Monthly. Archived from the original on July 15, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
- ^ a b "Ray Harper Bio". Oklahoma City University. 2006. Archived from the original on March 25, 2007. Retrieved May 18, 2007.
- ^ Western Kentucky Hilltoppers fire Ken McDonald – ESPN
- ^ Western Kentucky Hilltoppers remove interim tag from coach Ray Harper – ESPN
- ^ "WKU's Ray Harper resigns following suspension of three players after university disciplinary hearing". March 18, 2016.
- ^ "Gamecocks Tab Ray Harper Next Men's Basketball Head Coach". jsugamecocksports.com. Jacksonville State Gamecocks. April 6, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Basketball 2011–12 Schedule – Hilltoppers Home and Away – ESPN
- ^ Sun Belt Conference Standings – College Basketball – ESPN
- ^ https://admin.xosn.com/fls/5400/2012-13%20Men's%20Basketball/Game%20Notes/2013%20WKU%20NCAA%20Tournament%20Guide.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ School plans no appeal to NCAA infractions – College Sports – ESPN