UT Arlington men’s basketball coach Chris Ogden has finalized his first coaching staff as a head coach with the appointment of Riley Davis, Royce Johnson and Greg Young as assistant coaches.
“I’m thrilled we have put together such an outstanding coaching staff,” said Ogden. “The moment I accepted the position as head coach at UTA, I immediately went to work to attract coaches who share the same vision for excellence. We have put together an experienced staff with exceptional pedigrees. As a group, we are prepared to execute our shared vision and work to make UTA men’s basketball a championship program year-in and year-out.”
Ogden and his staff own more than 75 years of leadership experience at a variety of levels, including youth, high school, junior college, NCAA Division I and professional basketball.
Young will be entering his second consecutive term with the Mavericks and owns significant experience in various Texas high school, junior college and Division I basketball programs. Davis returns to his home state following a pair of seasons on the basketball staff at the University of Tennessee. Johnson led Dallas’ Kimball High School to three championships in seven total trips to the Texas UIL state tournament and is a member of, arguably, one of the most successful basketball coaching families in the state of Texas.
Davis returns to his home state following a two-year stint at the University of Tennessee as video coordinator and director of player development under head coach Rick Barnes. Prior to his time in Knoxville, Davis spent four seasons as a member of Barnes’ basketball staff at the University of Texas, spent a season at Sam Houston State and served a year as a scout for the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats.
“Riley Davis has a tireless work ethic and will make a significant impact on our program,” said Ogden. “He has a deep commitment to developing players, has a hunger for recruiting and has deep ties to every level of basketball in the state of Texas. I’m very excited that he is able to return to his home state and help us build every aspect of the UTA basketball program.”
After graduating from the Texas in 2011, where he spent two seasons as a volunteer student assistant and one season as a graduate assistant, he spent the 2012-13 season as an assistant coach at Sam Houston State University. He then spent one year as a regional advance scout for the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats (now the Charlotte Hornets) in 2013-14.
“My wife, Kayla, and I count ourselves very fortunate to return to our home state and work with Coach Ogden and the UTA community. Early in my career, Coach Ogden helped me get my foot in the door and has been a valued mentor ever since. He is a man of great leadership and vision and I cannot express how excited I am for the opportunity to assist in bringing his vision for UTA basketball to fruition.”
A 2011 Texas graduate, Davis played basketball at Western Texas College in 2006-07 before transferring to Howard College. At Howard, Davis received team awards for academic excellence and maintained a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.
After completing his junior-college eligibility, Davis served as a student assistant at Howard during the 2008-09 campaign. He coordinated travel, scheduling, scouting, assisted with recruiting and also coached the junior-varsity squad.
During his two seasons spent at Howard, the Hawks went a combined 49-12 while winning the Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAC) title and advancing to the Region V NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Tournament both years.
Davis also helped recruit a signing class at Howard that later went on to win the 2010 NJCAA national championship.
Davis’ seven total years at Texas were split into two separate stints. He served two years as a volunteer student assistant with the Texas program (2009-11) and one year as a graduate assistant (2011-12). In those roles, he assisted in film exchange as well as all aspects of video coordination and internal operations.
After leaving Austin in 2012, Davis spent the 2012-13 season as an assistant coach at Sam Houston State University. He then spent one year as a regional advance scout for the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats (now the Charlotte Hornets) in 2013-14.
Davis returned to the Texas staff for the 2014-15 campaign in the full-time role of special assistant/video coordinator. The Longhorns posted a 20-win season, defeated three ranked opponents and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Davis then made the transition to Tennessee.
Johnson served as the head boys basketball coach at Kimball High School in Dallas from 1998-2014. He compiled a 373-76 record in 14 seasons, had more than 130 players earn college scholarships and led the Knights to three state championships.
“I am beyond thrilled to have Coach Royce Johnson join our staff,” said Ogden. “He is one of the most respected coaches in the state of Texas, especially in the D-FW area. His track record of winning and his ability to mentor young people is something that I knew we wanted in our program. Coach Johnson will be a big asset to our program.”
A 2013 graduate of Thomas Edison University, Johnson started his career as an assistant coach under his father, Goree, at Kimball in 1995. He helped lead the 1996 and 1997 teams to state titles during that time. He assumed the head coaching position in 1998 and helped develop and mentor future NBA players such as Quinton Ross, Jeryl Sasser, Acie Law, Juwan Evans and Jalen Jones.
In 2002, he served as the head coach of the USA Basketball U19 national team that claimed the gold medal at the World Global Games. The team featured future NBA players Chris Bosh, Jarrett Jack, Antoine Wright and Ike Diogu.
“I am excited for the opportunity to begin my college coaching career in the DFW metroplex,” said Johnson. “We have the chance to do something really special here in Arlington. We have a president, athletic director and head coach who have set a very high bar. Chris Ogden is a guy who doesn’t take back seat to anyone. He is about out-working the competition and getting kids who are tough and fit his philosophies.
“I want to come in and establish myself as one of the hardest working assistant coaches in college basketball. I fully appreciate the opportunity here at UTA and I look forward to giving 100 percent to helping make Coach Ogden and the University’s vision become reality.”
Ogden has appointed veteran high school, junior college and NCAA Division I coach Greg Young, a 9-year member of the UTA men’s basketball staff, as an assistant coach for the Mavericks.
“I am really pleased that Greg Young will remain at UTA as a member of our staff,” said Ogden. “He has a tremendous amount of experience, is respected throughout the basketball community in state of Texas and has great relationships with high school and junior college coaches. He has been a big part of the evolution of the basketball program at UTA and I know our players and supporters will be happy that he will be a big part of its future.”
A native of nearby Cleburne, Young served as an assistant coach and associate head coach under head coach Scott Cross from 2010-18. The Mavericks went 175-118 during Young’s tenure and advanced to the postseason four times. The Mavericks were Southland Conference regular-season champions in 2011-12, reached the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship game in 2013 and earned the Sun Belt Conference regular season title in 2017.
“I’m really looking forward to remaining at UTA as a member of the basketball staff under Coach Ogden,” said Young. “I enjoyed my time at UTA under Scott Cross and am proud of how the way we built the program over the last decade. The players, the supporters and the commitment to success help make this a great place. I truly believe in this program and its continued growth under the direction of Coach Ogden. I appreciate the opportunity he has provided and look forward to continuing to be a Maverick.”
Young was named one of the Top 5 Southland Conference Assistant Coaches in Jeff Goodman’s “Yardbarker” blog for 2010-11. He came to UT Arlington from Jacksonville (Texas) College, where he spent four years as the head coach of the Jaguars. He also served as the school’s athletic director.
He led his team to a 21-10 record in 2008-09 which was one of the best seasons in school history. The Jaguars spent the majority of the season in the NJCAA national rankings and Young was honored following the campaign as the Region XIV Coach of the Year.
Young registered an overall record of 168-139 in 10 seasons as a junior college head coach. He has also had 55 players sign with four-year institutions, including 26 with Division I schools.
Young went to Jacksonville College from Texas State where he served for five years as the Bobcats recruiting coordinator. During his tenure the Bobcats played in the Southland Conference Tournament each season. He signed eight Top 100 players, according to Texas Hoops, during those five seasons. The Bobcats finished the 2002-03 season with the third most victories in school history as a Division I program.
Prior to his tenure at Texas State, Young was the head coach at Hill College for two seasons. He led the Rebels to consecutive Region V Tournament appearances and in 1999-2000 led the team to the regional tournament championship game. That was the first time the school had reached the finals since 1974.
From 1994-1998 Young was the head coach at Lamar (Colo.) Community College. Young turned the Lopes into a Region VIX contender in his four years there, twice reaching the Region VIX tournament quarterfinals.
Young was the assistant coach at Eastern New Mexico from 1991-94. He helped lead the Greyhounds to the Lone Star Conference title in 1992 and an appearance in the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen in the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
Young also spent time as an assistant coach at Cleburne (Tex.) High School during the 1990-91 season and as an assistant at Texas Wesleyan from 1986-90.
Young was a three-sport athlete at Cleburne High School, lettering in football, basketball and baseball. He then went on to play basketball at Howard Payne University where he was a four-year basketball letterman. He was named a captain his senior season and received the distinguished Paul J. Cunningham Award for excellence and dedication his senior year.
Young graduated from Howard Payne in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He later earned his master’s in education from Texas Wesleyan in 1990.
http://www.utamavs.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/051618aaf.html
