Thirty-two years after breaking into the coaching profession, Ray Martin joined the basketball staff in 2007 as Assistant Basketball Coach, but was named Assistant Head Coach in 2009.
A 1977 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Martin boasts a wealth of basketball coaching experience at the Division I and II levels. His first coaching job was as the head freshman coach at Harvard University during the 1977-78 campaign. Martin then spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at North Carolina State University under head coach Jim Valvano.
During his tenure at N.C. State from 1980-88, the Wolfpack won two ACC Championships (1983, 1987) and made six trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a National Championship title in 1983. Following N.C. State, Martin held assistant coaching positions at Southern Methodist University (1988-89), the University of Tennessee (1989-93), Shaw University (1994-95, 2002-03, 2004-05), Florida Atlantic University (1995-96), Miami (Ohio) University (1996-98), Fordham University (2003-04), and South Carolina State University (2006-07). Martin spent three seasons as head basketball coach at Long Island University from 1998-2001. He also served as an assistant coach to John Thompson during the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials in Colorado Springs. Martin has recruited and coached more than 10 NBA professional athletes, including Allan Houston, Spud Webb, Sidney Lowe, Wally Szczerbiack, Nate McMillian, Vinny Del Negro, Thurl Bailey and Tom Gugliotta.
Born and raised in Long Island City, Queens, N.Y., Martin was an All-American on the hardwood at Mater Christi High School (now St. John's Preparatory High School) in Astoria, Queens, N.Y., and was voted as the Best High School Basketball Player in New York City in 1973. Martin went on to play four years of basketball at Notre Dame under head coach Digger Phelps, starting at point guard and earning the honor of team captain as a senior for the Fighting Irish. He was a college teammate of NBA standout Adrian Dantley and a member of the Notre Dame team that ended UCLA's 88-game winning streak on Jan. 19, 1974. Martin graduated from Notre Dame in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in economics.
Martin and his wife Valerie have four children - Nina, Alexis, Ashley and Anthony - and two grandchildren, Bryce Gregory Johnson and Samaya Nicole.
