NCAA Basketball rewind: Most impactful coaching hires after 2015 season

By Joey Loose | Jul 2, 2021

DENVER, CO - MARCH 17: Chris Beard, head coach of Arkansas Little Rock Trojans reacts during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Pepsi Center on March 17, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /

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NCAA Basketball Ritchie McKay Liberty Flames (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

4. Ritchie McKay (Liberty)

There were good days and bad days for the Liberty program, but by 2015 they were back in one of the bad cycles. The past season had seen them win just 8 games, struggling to a last-place finish in the Big South. This program had been in the NCAA Tournament just two years earlier and could certainly turn things around, but they needed the right head coach. The Flames turned towards a familiar name.

Ritchie McKay had been everywhere. A former assistant at Washington, he spent time as head coach at Portland State, Colorado State, Oregon State, New Mexico, and previously at Liberty, spending short stints at each school. There had been success along his journey, including two solid years leading these same Flames before taking an assistant coaching job on Tony Bennett’s Virginia staff. After those six years, he was back to Liberty.

Simply put, the Flames have become winners under McKay. Over his first three seasons, he led a turnaround for the program and made a few CIT appearances. Then, the program transitioned to the A-Sun and things have exploded. The Flames have won three regular-season and three conference tournament titles, including a 2019 upset of 5-seed Mississippi State in the NCAA Tournament. Liberty is the premiere A-Sun program because of what McKay has done.

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