Rich Gray

Three-time USA Basketball assistant coach Rich Gray of the St. Louis Basketball Club (Mo.) tackled his fourth USA Basketball coaching assignment as an assistant coach for the 2011-12 USA Basketball Developmental National Team.

In his first summer as the USA Developmenatal National Team assistant coach, Gray aided the U.S. squad to a 5-0 mark, the 2011 FIBA Americas U16 Championship gold medal and a berth for the U.S. into the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship. More recently Gray was on the sideline as the 2012 USA U17 World Championship Team defended the USA's U17 title in Kaunas, Lithuania. In claiming the gold medal with a perfect 8-0 record, the U.S. outscored teams by 39.9 points a game, averaging a tournament-best even 100.0 ppg., while holding teams to a low of 60.1 ppg.

Prior to being named as an assistant for the USA Developmental National Team, Gray helped the USA to a 101-97 comeback victory over the World Team in the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit. Gray also was an assistant coach for the USA in the 1997 Nike Hoop Summit, which the USA won 97-90, and an assistant coach for the USA North Team in the 1999 USA Basketball Youth Development Festival.

For more than 24 years, Gray has served as president of the St. Louis Basketball Club, which is a two-time AAU national championship program that has featured NBA talents such as Tyler Hansbrough, Larry Hughes and David Lee; as well as 2012 NBA Draft participant and MVP of the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship Brad Beal.

One of Gray's greatest accomplishments as a coach came in 1996 when his 17 & Under Eagles compiled a 51-6 record on their way to winning the 1996 AAU National Championship.

In 1998, Gray coached the 16 & Under and 15 & Under St. Louis Eagles boys squads, leading both teams to a combined 73-16 finish and the AAU National Tournament.

Gray currently serves on the Matthew Dickey Boys Club board and has served on the executive board of the St. Louis Sports Commission and is president of the St. Louis Police Board of Commissioners.

Additionally, he serves on the Youth Action Network in Florida, is a lifetime member of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice and he has served as a National Commissioner for Boys AAU Basketball.

Gray is the President/CEO of the St. Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation whose mission is to award full scholarships for students to attend historically Black Colleges.

Basketball isn’t the only avenue Gray has pursued in order to represent his country.

After joining the U.S. Navy, Gray was selected to be a member of the U.S. Naval Presidential National Honor Guard. Later promoted to head the Presidential Drill Team, Gray became the first African American in the country to serve in this capacity for four consecutive years.

Gray was one of only four Navy members chosen to participate in the Honor Guard Elite Burial Watch for President Harry Truman in Independence, Mo. He also served in the Inauguration for President Richard M. Nixon and stood alongside the helicopter on Nixon's final day in the White House.