University of Oklahoma Vice President and Director of Athletics Roger Denny and Head Men’s Basketball Coach Porter Moser announced the hiring of Lucas McKay as OU’s first-ever men’s basketball general manager.
McKay joins the Sooners with more than two decades of experience as a basketball support staff member, administrator, coach and general manager. Fourteen of those years were spent at Clemson under head coach Brad Brownell.
McKay was the Tigers’ men’s basketball general manager in 2025-26 after serving five seasons as the program’s director of recruiting (2018-19 and 2021-25), four as director of operations (2014-18) and four as video coordinator (2010-14). He also served as an assistant coach at UMKC (now Kansas City) in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
As OU Men’s Basketball’s chief front-office strategist and roster architect, McKay’s responsibilities will include:
- Roster management, player acquisition and alignment to head coach vision;
- Player valuation, analytics and market intelligence;
- NIL and revenue-share strategy;
- Recruiting operations and relationship management;
- Player retention, experience and professional pathways; and
- Governance, compliance and risk management
The OU general manager role brings professional-grade structure, analytics and market awareness to roster management and player acquisition, enabling the head coach to maximize on-court development and competitive performance. McKay will be supported by NBA star and former Sooner Trae Young, particularly in the offseason. Young was announced last spring as assistant general manager.
McKay’s general manager duties at Clemson included agent relations, player relations, NIL and revenue-share strategy and developing a system for player evaluation and valuation.
In March, McKay was recognized by The College Front Office as one of the nation’s top nine men’s basketball general managers. The online publication noted that McKay “replaced virtually all meaningful production outside of Dillon Hunter with six transfers, four of whom came from the mid-major ranks, and all four acclimated immediately to ACC competition. The Tigers finished the season with the fourth-best conference record, with challenging roster turnover.”
In the five seasons after McKay’s return to Clemson following his two-year stint at UMKC, the Tigers won 115 games. They registered at least 23 wins each of the last four seasons (averaged 24.5), including a 27-7 performance in 2024-25 when they finished second in the ACC with a program-best 18-2 (.900) record. The Tigers participated in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments and in 2023-24 reached the Elite Eight for the first time in 44 years (second time ever). Their 98 victories over the last four campaigns represent the most over any four-year stretch in program history (the next most was 93 from 2006-07 through 2009-10).
In four seasons as Clemson’s director of operations, McKay helped the program to 35 ACC regular season wins, including a then-school-record 11 in 2017-18. That season resulted in a then-school-record-tying 25 overall victories and a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16. The Tigers finished tied for third in the ACC after being picked 13th in the league’s preseason media poll.
While McKay served as Clemson’s video coordinator, the 2013-14 team made a 10-win improvement over the previous season by finishing 23-13 overall.
In 2011-12, the Tigers were 16-15 overall but rallied to an 8-8 conference record. They beat three eventual NCAA Tournament foes, including Sweet 16 participant NC State.
As a first-year video coordinator in 2010-11, the Tigers finished 22-12 overall and registered the school’s first NCAA Tournament win in 14 years.
Prior to Clemson, McKay spent two seasons (2007-09) as a graduate assistant and one season (2009-10) as an administrative assistant under Brownell at Wright State. The Raiders amassed a 61-35 record over those three campaigns.
McKay first worked under Brownell as a student manager at UNC Wilmington from 2003-06 and was part of a team his final season that won the Colonial Athletic Association championship and participated in the NCAA Tournament.
McKay earned his undergraduate degree in political science from UNC Wilmington in December 2006. After graduation, he spent the 2006-07 season as an assistant varsity coach at Harrells Christian Academy in Harrells, N.C. He earned his master’s degree in student affairs in higher education from Wright State in June 2009.
https://soonersports.com/news/2026/4/6/ou-hires-lucas-mckay-as-mens-basketball-general-manager
