Ray Rankis, who has been the men’s basketball Coach at Baruch College for the past 29 years, announced his retirement from coaching today.

Rankis will remain as the Director of Athletics overseeing the 14 sports NCAA Division III and recreational program of the Baruch College Bearcats.

Rankis is the longest tenured and winningest coach in CUNY Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) history, and is second to Basketball Hall of Famer and CCNY legend Nat Holman (37 years) in terms of coaching basketball at a City University of New York (CUNY) school.

During his 29 years, Rankis compiled a 419-361 overall record that included winning the CUNYAC Championship in 2000 and making three appearances in the NCAA Division III Tournament (2000, 2006, 2009).

John Alesi, a 2003 graduate and a 1,000 point scorer at Baruch, has been promoted to Head Coach. Alesi just finished his first season as the Associate Head Coach.

Prior to joining Baruch, Alesi worked as the Head Coach at Hunter College (2010-11). He has also served as an assistant coach on the Division I staffs at Hofstra University (2003-2004), the University of Pittsburgh (2005-06) and Manhattan College (2006-10).

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