Tulane men’s basketball head coach Ron Hunter has announced his complete coaching staff ahead of his first season at the helm of the program.

Ray McCallum has been named associate head coach and Claude Pardue will serve as assistant coach. Both held the same titles on Hunter’s staff at Georgia State. Kevin Johnson has also been tabbed as assistant coach after 10 seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette.

Additionally, Nate Summers will take over as director of basketball operations, and Sean Mock will be the team’s recruiting coordinator and director of player development. Summers has been a member of Hunter’s staff for 11 years including the last eight at Georgia State. Mock was a special assistant to Hunter for the 2018-19 season at GSU.

“I’m ecstatic to keep consistency within my coaching staff,” Hunter said. “They are all familiar with my system, have the ability to teach, and, most importantly, know what it takes to win. Including myself, we have three coaches with Division I head-coaching experience, and I’m extremely fortunate to say I’ve hit home runs with each one of them.”

RAY MCCALLUM
McCallum, a 32-year coaching veteran who has 19 years of head-coaching experience and nearly 300 career wins, arrives at Tulane after helping lead Georgia State to three-consecutive 20-win campaigns and two NCAA Tournaments in three seasons with the program. His head-coaching resume includes eight seasons at Detroit (2008-16), four years at Houston (2000-04) and seven at his alma mater, Ball State (1993-00). He was also an assistant coach at Indiana (2006-08), Oklahoma (2004-06), Michigan (1993) and Wisconsin (1984-93).

During McCallum’s tenure at Detroit, 16 Titans went on to play professionally, including his son and 2013 Horizon League Player of the Year, Ray McCallum Jr., who was selected 36th overall in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings. At Houston, he guided the Cougars to their first postseason appearance in nine years with a spot in the 2002 NIT. While at Ball State, he led the Cardinals to two NCAA Tournament appearances (1995 and 2000) and an NIT berth (1998) and became the first coach in program history to post seven consecutive winning seasons. There, McCallum also recruited and coached Bonzi Wells, who went on to become the 11th overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft.

McCallum lettered four years at Ball State where he was a three-time All-MAC first team selection and scored 2,109 points to graduate as the league’s all-time scoring leader. He compiled numerous accolades including MAC Player of the Year and MAC Tournament MVP as a senior, MAC Freshman of the Year and won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as the nation’s best senior under 6 feet tall. He was the first player in program history to have his jersey retired and was selected by the Indiana Pacers in the 1983 NBA Draft.

CLAUDE PARDUE
Pardue comes to Tulane after eight seasons as an assistant coach at Georgia State, guiding the Panthers through its most successful stretch in program history which included six straight winning seasons. During his tenure, he oversaw workouts with the team’s guards and wings, helping develop four all-conference guards including Ryan Harrow, Devonta White, Sun Belt Player of the Year D’Marcus Simonds and two-time Sun Belt Player of the Year R.J. Hunter. He also oversaw the successful Ron Hunter Basketball Camps each summer at Georgia State.

His time in Atlanta began as a graduate assistant for the men’s basketball program where he was responsible for the planning and coordination of official visits and the recruiting database. He also assisted with all aspects of the team’s video operations.

Pardue served as a program coordinator on Tim Floyd’s staff at UTEP during the 2010-11 season, where he was responsible for planning, coordinating and executing all team travel. He acted as the liaison between the men’s basketball team and the compliance department.

KEVIN JOHNSON
“Kevin’s Louisiana ties are unparalleled and I’m excited to bring him on board,” Hunter said. “I drew a lot of interest in this position, but Kevin rose to the top of a deep pool of candidates because I couldn’t have picked anyone with more experience.”

A Morgan City, Louisiana native, Johnson joins the Green Wave possessing a quarter century worth of college coaching experience. He spent the last 23 years coaching and recruiting the state of Louisiana, including the last 14 as an assistant coach at ULL (2010-19), Nicholls State (2007-10) and Louisiana Tech (2005-07). He was also an assistant at Centenary (1997-99), before being elevated to head coach, a title he held for the next six seasons. Johnson has also worked at Texas-Pan American (1996-97) and Northwestern State (1989-90).

Johnson has coached 25 all-conference selections, four defensive player of the year picks, three player of the year choices and three freshman of the year honorees during his coaching career. Regarded as one of the most experienced recruiters in the state of Louisiana, he coached and developed numerous talents, including NBA veteran Paul Millsap at Louisiana Tech and current New Orleans Pelicans standout Elfrid Payton at ULL.

As a player, Johnson was a four-year letterwinner at Texas-Pan American (now UTRGV) from 1984-88 under current Oklahoma head coach Lon Kruger. He went on to play professionally for three years in England before entering the coaching ranks.

NATE SUMMERS
Summers arrives in New Orleans after seven seasons as director of operations at Georgia State following a one-year stint as a graduate assistant with the Panthers. He was also a three-year undergraduate student manager under Hunter at IUPUI.

At IUPUI, he was in charge of filming games and player equipment, as he was part of the 2007-08 team that went 26-7 overall and featured current NBA veteran guard George Hill.

SEAN MOCK
While Mock spent one year on Hunter’s staff at GSU, he previously served as an assistant coach at a pair of NCAA Division II programs, including one year at Henderson State following a two-year stint in the same role at Northwood University.

Before he entered coaching, Mock was the director of basketball operations at Miami University (Ohio) for four years. He was a four-year letterwinner for the RedHawks, where he was voted as the team’s co-captain during his senior season. Mock earned the Spirit of Miami Award presented annually to one male and female student-athlete for exceptional enthusiastic commitments to their teams. He was also a two-time winner of the Marshal North Award which is given to the player who best exemplifies the virtue of loyalty to the university, team and coaches, and whose personal sacrifice of time, effort and energy contribute materially to the advancement of the record of the team.

https://tulanegreenwave.com/news/2019/4/12/hunter-completes-mens-basketball-coaching-staff.aspx