Justin Gray was named the 19th head men’s basketball coach at Western Carolina University on April 13, 2021. Over his first three seasons, Gray has helped raise the
Catamount men’s basketball program to new heights.
During his first season in Cullowhee, Gray introduced the Catamount Nation to the acronym, TJDK – or They Just Don’t Know – promising the fan base he would bring a program that would arrive on the scene better than expected and one that would eventually challenge for championships and postseason play.
Gray delivered on his promise in year one as his squad scored an exciting home victory in his first game, upsetting Mid-American Conference (MAC) foe Bowling Green in a thrilling overtime win in front of a raucous Ramsey Center crowd. WCU also defeated Southern Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Chattanooga in another thrilling home win, 70-59, and added a win over perennial
SoCon contender ETSU 87-84.
Gray’s first season accomplishments were capped by Nicholas Robinson, who also collected weekly plaudits from the league during the year, landing on the third-team
All-SoCon team, and Marcus Brown earning a place on the
SoCon All-Freshman team at the season’s end.
#TJDK was heightened in Gray’s second season in
Cullowhee as he guided a squad that was picked to finish in eighth place in the preseason to an 18-win season, a fourth-place finish, and the program’s fourth postseason berth all time.
WCU’s fourth-place finish was the program’s best since 2014.
Along the way, WCU snapped a 13-game losing skid to eventual regular-season and tournament champion Furman with a 79-67 victory on New Year’s Eve, scoring the first win over the Paladins since 2016. The
Catamounts also secured a regular-season sweep against ETSU for the first time since the 1984-85 campaign. Additionally, the
Catamounts took both seasonal games against Mercer for the first time since 2015-16, VMI for the first time since 2017-18, and Wofford for the second time in four years.
The 2022-23
Catamounts earned the school's fourth postseason berth all-time – and the first since 2016 – as the squad traveled to Daytona Beach, Fla., for the 2023 College Basketball Invitational (CBI), falling to the eventual CBI champion, Charlotte.
Three
Catamounts landed on the
All-SoCon team with Vonterius Woolbright and Tre Jackson earning second-team honors from both the league’s head coaches and SoCon Sports Media Association, while Tyzhaun Claude collected third-team plaudits from the voting media. Woolbright also landed on the
SoCon All-Tournament team for the
Catamounts. Woolbright and Jackson, who both claimed player of the week accolades during the season, additionally earned National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District second-team honors with Gray recognized as the NABC District 21 Coach of the Year.
Entering his third season in 2023-24, Gray has solidified his presence in the mountains and has established a brand that resonates with college basketball fans, alumni, and the entire campus community. A new acronym – EDGE – was introduced in opening year three of the program as a new slogan and mentality of the program. EDGE – Energy, Discipline, Grit, Excellence – reflect the bedrock principles and an identity Gray has branded for year three and beyond.
As a part of Gray’s philosophy of the ABC’s – Academics, Basketball, Character – Catamount student-athletes have excelled off the court as well. Cam Bacote was named to the 2022-23 NABC Honors Court Honors Court which includes junior, senior, and graduate student men’s basketball players who finish the year with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher. Over the first two years leading the
Catamount program, five seniors have each earned their degrees.
Gray came to
Cullowhee after serving two seasons as an assistant coach on Pat Kelsey’s staff at Winthrop University. He also served as the Director of Basketball Development within the Deacon Club at his
alma mater, Wake Forest, which came on the heels of a successful 12-year professional playing career overseas.
On staff at Winthrop, Gray helped guide the Eagles to 47 victories over two seasons including a 24-10 mark in 2019-20 and a 23-2 campaign in 2020-21. Winthrop claimed the 2021 Big South tournament title and earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. With Gray helping coordinate the offense, Winthrop led the Big South with a 78.9 point per game average with a league-best 15.0 assists per game and 8.4 made 3-pointers per contest.
During the 2019-20 season, Gray had his hand in the development of Big South Freshman of the Year, DJ Burns, and second-team All-Big South Conference selection in point guard Chandler Vaudrin. In the 2020-21 championship season, Burns was named Big South Player of the Year, while Vauldrin earned first-team all-conference before playing professionally with the NBA G-League Motor City Cruise. Another Gray protege, Adonis Arms was named honorable mention All-Big South and is likewise playing professionally with the NBA G-League Memphis Hustle.
A three-time All-ACC selection in his playing career at Wake Forest (2002-06), Gray left Winston-Salem as one of the program’s most prolific 3-point shooter. He scored 1,946 career points over 120 career games for the Demon Deacons, finishing his career ranked eighth in program history in scoring while average 16.2 points per game. Gray continues to rank second on Wake’s career 3-pointers made chart with 319 treys. He additionally holds three of the top six spots among the Deacons’ single-season 3-pointers made list.
In his sophomore season, Gray and eventual first-round NBA draft pick Chris Paul teamed up to become one of the best
backcourts in the ACC as Gray averaged 17.0 ppg on his way to All-ACC First Team honors. In 2002-03, Gray played a role in helping the Demon Deacons to an ACC Regular Season Championship with a 13-3 league mark.
His collegiate career plaudits also include being named to the ACC All-Freshman team, as well as a three-time USBWA All-District Team and two-time NABC All-District Team selection.
During his 12-year professional career overseas, Gray played for various teams from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland, Greece, Ukraine, China, Germany, France, Turkey, Lebanon, Bulgaria, Romania, and Belarus. He also had a couple of stints in the NBA Summer League. Gray won three Belarusian League Championships and three Belarusian Cup Championships. He also guided teams to a Czech Republic League and Cup championship as well as participating in the VTB United League All-Star Game in 2016.
Gray competed in the highest level of European competitions:
Euroleague,
EuroCup, and
FIBA Europe Cup.
Originally from Charlotte, N.C., Gray played at West Charlotte High before concluding his prep career at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. He has two sons – Justin, Jr. (JJ) and Kristian, and a daughter, Jhai.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT JUSTIN GRAY:
"This search process afforded me the opportunity to speak with a number of people with recommendations for who our next men’s basketball head coach should be. When people spoke about Justin Gray, they simply said 'he’s going to be a great head coach one day. The universal respect for him as a leader, mentor, and a basketball mind provided me with no doubt in his ability to be successful here at Western Carolina University."
– Alex Gary, Director of Athletics, Western Carolina University
“This is a brilliant hire by Alex Gary. I give him so much credit for recognizing Justin’s elite gifts which are plentiful. He is going to be a star.”
- Pat Kelsey, head men’s basketball coach at the College of Charleston – former head coach at Winthrop
“I am so happy for Justin and his family. As a player, Justin was one of the most intelligent and competitive young men I’ve coached. It was only natural to watch his transition from player to coach. Now seeing him go from assistant coach to head coach, I’m thrilled for him. He will do an excellent job at WCU. Players will love his approach, his ability to connect and that same competitive spirit he’s always had. Western Carolina is in great hands with Justin Gray.”
- Chris Mack, head men’s basketball coach at Louisville –
former assistant at Wake Forest for Gray’s freshman/sophomore season
“Justin is a great hire by Western Carolina because of his knowledge of the game, his on-court presence, and his ability to communicate with the young men under his charge. Coaching is all about credibility with your administration, your fan base and most importantly with the players under your charge. Justin has tremendous credibility in our game. Having coached him for four years you immediately saw his leadership ability and his understanding of the game. Alex Gary made a great hire for Western Carolina basketball."
– Dino Gaudio, former assistant coach and head coach at Wake Forest all four years Gray competed
“Justin Gray is a fabulous choice for WCU. He is a great basketball mind and a first-class person. A terrific leader and a fine young coach.”
- Jay Bilas, ESPN college basketball analyst
