Rick Stansbury
From Hoopedia
Rick Stansbury (born December 23, 1959 in Louisville, Kentucky) is a native of Battletown, Kentucky and is the current head men's basketball coach at Mississippi State University (MSU). On March 13, 1998, Stansbury became the Bulldogs' 18th head basketball coach, replacing the retiring Richard Williams, who is Mississippi State's all-time winningest basketball coach. With his first win in the 2006-07 season, Stansbury moved into second place on that list. He is consistently ranked among the top 20 roundball recruiters in the country.
Stansbury played high school basketball for Meade County HS in Brandenburg, Kentucky, graduating in 1977. From 1977-81, he played college ball at Campbellsville College (now Campbellsville University) in Campbellsville, Kentucky, leading the team to the NAIA Tournament in his senior season.
Stansbury began his coaching career at his alma mater as a student assistant (1982-83). Following his stint at Campbellsville, he served as a graduate assistant at Cumberland College (now University of the Cumberlands) in Williamsburg, Kentucky (1983-84), helping lead the team to a 31-5 mark and a second-round appearance in the NAIA Tournament. In 1984, Stansbury moved to Austin Peay State University, where he served a six-year term as an assistant, helping guide them to three consecutive winning seasons, beginning with a conference tournament championship and a subsequent NCAA Tournament second-round berth during the 1986-87 season, while the APSU Governors posted a mark of 20-12.
After APSU, Stansbury served as an assistant coach at MSU under his former mentor Richard Williams from 1990-94, becoming Williams' associate head coach in 1994 until 1998. During those eight seasons, the Bulldogs: won the overall Southeastern Conference (SEC) regular season championship (1991); twice won the SEC West crown (1995 and 1996); won the SEC tournament championship (1996); and advanced to the "Sweet 16" and "Final Four" in back-to-back seasons (1995 and 1996).
Taking-over the helm as the Bulldogs head coach in 1998, Stansbury led his team to post-season tournament play seven times in nine seasons (four NCAA and three NIT tournaments), with five consecutive post-season tournament appearances, the first MSU basketball coach in history to accomplish this feat. His 2001-02 MSU team compiled the most wins in a single season in school history (27), winning the SEC tournament championship. His teams won the SEC West crown in the 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2006-07 seasons, with the 2003-04 squad winning the overall SEC regular season championship outright. Stansbury also owns MSU's record for consecutive 20-win seasons with four from 2002-06.
From his days as an MSU assistant until the current season, Stansbury has been a part of over 300 MSU victories and more than 10 postseason tournament appearances.
