Lucas McKay has been named UMKC Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach, announced by head coach Billy Donlon today (April 15). The Raleigh, N.C., native comes to Kansas City after being on the Clemson University men’s basketball staff for each of the past nine seasons. While at Clemson most recently, McKay was the Director of Recruiting and also has been the Director of Operations and Video Coordinator.
Donlon and McKay were on the same staff at Wright State University (Ohio) for three seasons (2007-10) when Donlon was the associate head coach and McKay was the administrative assistant. At UMKC, McKay will focus on all recruiting aspects of the Roos program.
“I want to thank coach Brownell (at Clemson) for the opportunity to be a part of his programs since 2003,” said McKay. “My wife Lindsay and I are honored to be reunited with coach Donlon at UMKC. We look forward to building UMKC basketball into a championship program.”
While at Clemson, McKay was part of a highly successful unit that won 45 games the past two years, which ranks as the third-most victories in back-to-back seasons in Clemson history. This past year, the Tigers went 20-14 and advanced to the NIT Second Round. In 2017-18, McKay was part of a program to post a school-record 11 conference victories and a trip to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
“Lucas is an extremely bright, hardworking young coach who is very well connected in recruiting and does a great job building strong relationships with players,” said Clemson head coach Brad Brownell, who has mentored McKay the past nine years. “He will be a tremendous asset to coach Donlon because he has also dealt with every aspect of the operations side of the basketball program.”
After graduation from University – North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) in 2006, McKay was the assistant coach for one season at Harrells Christian Academy, a prep school in Harrells, N.C. After that, he worked as an administrative assistant under Brownell and Donlon at Wright State for three seasons from 2007-10. He was part of a team to record a 61-35 mark. McKay basically oversaw the day-to-day organization of the basketball office.
“I have known Lucas since he was a freshman at UNCW in 2003 and became our student assistant,” said coach Donlon. “His work ethic and integrity are second to none. Lucas is detail-oriented, an excellent teacher of the game and our players and UMKC community will love his effervescent personality. We are excited to welcome his family, his wife Lindsay and their children to the Roo Family. ”
McKay earned his master’s degree in student affairs in higher education from Wright State in June 2009. He has served on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Operations panel at the last two Final Fours. He is married to the former Lindsay Martin and they have a son, Ethan, and daughter, Emerson.
The hire by coach Donlon is his first since being named the UMKC head coach on March 29th.
Coaching Career:
- 2019-20 season: UMKC – Assistant Coach
- 2010-19 seasons (9): Clemson – Director of Recruiting; Director of Operations; Video Coordinator
- 2007-10 seasons (3): Wright State – Administrative Assistant
- 2006-07 season (1): Harrells Christian Academy – Assistant Coach
