North Carolina A&T head men’s basketball coach Jay Joyner announced the hiring of three assistant coaches and a director of basketball operations on Wednesday.
Ray Martin, Will Jones and Marque Carrington will serve as Joyner’s assistants as he heads into his first full season as the Aggies head coach. Adrian Powell will serve as the director of ops.
“I think the staff assembled here is going to have a major impact on A&T’s program because they have tremendous knowledge of the game, they’re passionate and they have the ability to build great relationships,” said Joyner. “Those attributes are vital on the recruiting trail, in ensuring our players are strong academically and in our practices.”
Martin has been in the college basketball coaching profession for five decades. Martin played basketball for four years under head coach Digger Phelps at Notre Dame where he was a team captain and a member of the Fighting Irish team who ended UCLA’s 88-game winning streak on Jan. 19, 1974. After earning his degree in 1977 in economics from Notre Dame, Martin began his coaching career as the freshman coach at Harvard during the 1977-78 season. Martin then spent eight seasons (1980-88) as an assistant coach at North Carolina State under head coach Jim Valvano.
The Wolfpack won two ACC championships (1983, 1987) and made six NCAA tournament appearances including a national championship title run in 1983 during Martin’s tenure. Other assistant coaching stops for Martin include Southern Methodist (1988-89), Tennessee (1989-93), Shaw (1994-95, 2002-03, 2004-05), Florida Atlantic (1995-96), Miami of Ohio (1996-98), Fordham (2003-04), South Carolina State (2006-07), North Carolina Central (2007-11), University of Maryland-Baltimore County (2011-2015) and Grambling State (2015-16). Martin spent three seasons as head men’s basketball coach at Long Island University (1998-01), and he served as an assistant coach to John Thompson during the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo.
At N.C. A&T, Martin will be responsible for coaching the Aggies big men, scouting, assisting with academics, putting together the Aggies game schedule each year and making sure the players have housing.
“Ray is a consummate professional who has been involved in college basketball for a long time,” said Joyner. “I’ve known him for 13 years. He has a sterling reputation in the college basketball circles and will bring knowledge and wisdom to our staff.”
Jones comes to N.C. A&T after spending the 2015-16 season at Florida A&M. Joyner said Jones will take the lead in recruiting for the Aggies. Jones’ other responsibilities include player development, some aspects of academics and scouting. He will also serve as the defensive coordinator.
Jones started his career as a graduate assistant at Tennessee State (2003-05). Jones then earned an assistant coaching position for two seasons at Northwest Florida State College, a junior college in Niceville, Fla. He also served as an assistant at Charleston Southern (2009-11) and Jacksonville University (2011-2014). Before his time at FAMU, he spent one season (2014-15) as the head basketball coach and physical education instructor at West Nassau High School in Callahan, Fla.
“Will and I worked together at Tennessee State, so I know how hard he is going to work each day,” said Joyner. “He is a go-getter when it comes to recruiting, so I think he is going to have a major impact on the program from that standpoint.”
Carrington’s new assistant coaching position is a return home for the 2002 N.C. A&T graduate. Carrington averaged 9.0 points, 3.0 assists and 1.7 steals during his 85-game career at N.C. A&T. At N.C. A&T, Carrington’s duties include organizing community service events, scheduling team travel, setting team practice times and scouting.
Carrington spent the past two seasons at Division II Saint Augustine’s College in Raleigh as an assistant men’s basketball coach. Prior to his time at Saint Augustine’s, he was the boys varsity basketball at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh for six years. In 2010 his Cardinal Gibbons’ team won the Carolina 6 conference championship, and he was named conference coach of the year. Before becoming the head coach at CGHS, Carrington served as the school’s junior varsity head coach and assistant boys varsity coach.
“I’m excited to have Marque comeback as a former Aggie,” said Joyner. “As long as I’m here, I’m going to try to have some type of Aggie representation on my staff because I think that is important.”
Powell is certainly a familiar face to Aggie fans having recently led the Aggies to their latest MEAC title as the tournament’s 2013 Most Outstanding Performer. Powell is one of 30 players in N.C. A&T history to score 1,000 career points. Powell will be in charge of the everyday aspects of the administrative work in the men’s basketball office. He will also be in charge of organizing the summer basketball camp, assisting with team travel and monitoring classes.
“Adrian is really excited about the position, and I am excited for him,” said Joyner. “He is going to be able to relate to the guys because of his age. I’m hoping within those relationships, he can tell the story of what it took in terms of the pain and agony of going through the first three years of not winning a title, before turning it around as a senior to win the championship.”
