Quick Facts
Biography
Richard Lee Stansbury (born December 23, 1959), is the head men's basketball coach at Western Kentucky University.
In 2014, despite his retirement from Mississippi State, he eventually became the men's basketball Associate Head Coach under Coach Billy Kennedy at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
Stansbury was the MSU Bulldogs' 18th head basketball coach. In 1998, he replaced his mentor, Richard Williams, who was then Mississippi State's all-time most successful basketball coach. During the 2007–2008 season, Stansbury passed Williams as the all-time most successful basketball coach at Mississippi State, with 192 wins, but was never able to match Williams's run in the NCAA tourney as he failed to get past the 2nd Round despite recruiting a huge talent pool. Stansbury retired with 293 wins, ranking 9th in the history of the SEC.
He was hired as Western Kentucky's head men's basketball coach in March 2016.
Early life
Born in Battletown, Kentucky, Stansbury played high school basketball for Meade County High School in Brandenburg, Kentucky from which he graduated in 1977. From 1977 to 1981, he played college ball at Campbellsville College (now Campbellsville University) in Campbellsville, Kentucky. He led the team to the NAIA Tournament in his senior season.
Coaching career
Early coaching career
Stansbury began his coaching career at his alma mater as a student assistant (1982–1983). Following his stint at Campbellsville, he served as a graduate assistant at Cumberland College (now University of the Cumberlands) in Williamsburg, Kentucky (1983–84). There, he helped to lead the team to a 31-5 mark and a second-round appearance in the NAIA Tournament.
In 1984, Stansbury moved to Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he served a six-year term as an assistant, helping guide that team to three consecutive winning seasons, beginning with a conference tournament championship and a subsequent NCAA Tournament second-round berth during the 1986–87 season, while the APSU Governors posted a mark of 20-12.
Mississippi State
After APSU, Stansbury served as an assistant coach at MSU under Williams from 1990 to 1994. He became Williams' associate head coach and top recruiter in 1994 and remained in that position until 1998. During those eight seasons, the Bulldogs: won the overall Southeastern Conference (SEC) regular season championship (1991); twice won the SEC West crown (1995 and 1996); won the SEC tournament championship (1996); advanced to the "Sweet 16" in back to back years (1995 and 1996) and reached the "Final Four" in 1996.
Taking over the helm as the Bulldogs head coach in 1998, Stansbury led his team to post-season tournament play eleven times in fourteen seasons (six NCAA and five NIT tournaments), with five consecutive post-season tournament appearances, the first MSU basketball coach in history to accomplish this feat. His 2001–02 MSU team compiled the most wins in a single season in school history (27). Also achieved the highest National Ranking in school history 2003–04, #2 in the country (finished 26-4). Stansbury also owns MSU's record for consecutive 20-win seasons with four from 2001 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2010.
Stansbury won more SEC Championships in the last 10 years than any other SEC program except Kentucky 12. Mississippi State 8. (Florida 6) Western Conference Champion: 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010. SEC Tournament Champion: 2002, 2009. Overall SEC Champion: 2004. Under the leadership of Stansbury, MSU's teams were always a threat in the SEC Tournament, reaching the finals of the tournament four times, winning twice. His SEC Tournament record is 16-12.
From his days as an MSU assistant until 2012, Stansbury has been a part of over 15 postseason tournament appearances. Prior to his arrival at Mississippi State, MSU had two post-seasons in 27 years (both NIT). He is also 21-8 vs conference in-state rival, the Ole Miss Rebels.
Stansbury announced his retirement on March 15, 2012; he cited a desire to spend more time with his family.
Texas A&M
In May 2014, he was back into coaching as an assistant at Texas A&M. Stansbury helped the Aggie coaching staff sign a consensus top-10 recruiting class which was regarded as one of the most heralded groups in school history. On April 10, 2015 Stansbury was promoted to Associate Head Coach. He is a member of the Campbellsville University Athletics Hall of Fame.
Western Kentucky
On March 28, 2016, Stansbury was hired as head coach at Western Kentucky University, replacing Ray Harper who resigned March 17, 2016.
Former players
Six of Coach Stansbury's former players moved on to professional careers in the National Basketball Association.
- 1999:Tyrone Washington - Houston Rockets
- 2003:Mario Austin - Chicago Bulls
- 2003:Derrick Zimmerman - Golden State Warriors
- 2005:Lawrence Roberts - Seattle SuperSonics, Memphis Grizzlies
- 2010:Jarvis Varnado - Miami Heat
- 2012:Arnett Moultrie - Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi State Bulldogs (Southeastern Conference) (1998–2012) | |||||||||
| 1998–99 | Mississippi State | 20–13 | 8–8 | T–3rd (West) | NIT 1st Round | ||||
| 1999–00 | Mississippi State | 14–16 | 5–11 | T–5th (West) | |||||
| 2000–01 | Mississippi State | 18–13 | 7–9 | T–4th (West) | NIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2001–02 | Mississippi State | 27–8 | 10–6 | 2nd (West) | NCAA 2nd Round | ||||
| 2002–03 | Mississippi State | 21–10 | 9–7 | 1st (West) | NCAA 1st Round | ||||
| 2003–04 | Mississippi State | 26–4 | 14–2 | 1st (West) | NCAA 2nd Round | ||||
| 2004–05 | Mississippi State | 23–11 | 9–7 | 3rd (West) | NCAA 2nd Round | ||||
| 2005–06 | Mississippi State | 15–15 | 5–11 | 5th (West) | |||||
| 2006–07 | Mississippi State | 21–14 | 8–8 | T–1st (West) | NIT Final Four | ||||
| 2007–08 | Mississippi State | 23–11 | 12–4 | 1st (West) | NCAA 2nd Round | ||||
| 2008–09 | Mississippi State | 23–13 | 9–7 | 3rd (West) | NCAA 1st Round | ||||
| 2009–10 | Mississippi State | 24–12 | 9–7 | T–1st (West) | NIT 2nd Round | ||||
| 2010–11 | Mississippi State | 17–13 | 9–7 | 2nd (West) | |||||
| 2011–12 | Mississippi State | 21–12 | 8–8 | T–6th | NIT 1st Round | ||||
| Mississippi State: | 293–165 (.640) | 122–102 (.545) | |||||||
| Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (Conference USA) (2016–present) | |||||||||
| 2016–17 | Western Kentucky | 10-11 | 4–4 | ||||||
| Western Kentucky: | 10–11 (.476) | 4–4 (.500) | |||||||
| Total: | 303–176 (.633) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||