Ray Harper (basketball)
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Jacksonville State |
| Conference | C-USA |
| Record | 169–125 (.575) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | October 11, 1961 Bremen, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1980–1982 | Texas |
| 1983–1985 | Kentucky Wesleyan |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1985–1989 | Kentucky Wesleyan (assistant) |
| 1989–1996 | Kentucky Wesleyan (assoc. HC) |
| 1996–2005 | Kentucky Wesleyan |
| 2005–2008 | Oklahoma City |
| 2009–2012 | Western Kentucky (assistant) |
| 2012–2016 | Western Kentucky |
| 2016–present | Jacksonville State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 505–235 (.682) (NCAA) 95–17 (.848) (NAIA) |
| Tournaments | 1–4 (NCAA Division I) 27–5* (NCAA Division II) 14–1 (NAIA) 2–1 (CBI) 1–1 (NIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2 NCAA Division II tournament (1999, 2001) 2 NAIA Men's Division I Tournament (2007, 2008) 2 Sun Belt tournament (2012, 2013) OVC tournament (2017) ASUN West Division (2022) ASUN regular season (2022) | |
| Awards | |
| 7× Division II National Coach of the Year ASUN Coach of the Year (2022) C-USA Coach of the Year (2025) | |
Lilburn Ray Harper Jr. (born October 11, 1961) is an American college basketball coach, currently head coach for Jacksonville State University. Previously, he was head coach at Oklahoma City University, Kentucky Wesleyan College, and Western Kentucky University. At Kentucky Wesleyan Harper compiled a 242–45 win–loss record.
He has been named the Division II National Coach of the Year seven times and won two national titles at Kentucky Wesleyan in 1999 and 2001.
Harper was named interim head coach at Western Kentucky on January 6, 2012, after Ken McDonald was fired. He was named permanent head coach on February 19, 2012, by then-athletic director Ross Bjork. He resigned from the position on March 17, 2016, following the permanent suspension of three of his players. Harper was subsequently hired at Jacksonville State on April 6, 2016, where he took the 2016–17 team to the school's first NCAA appearance.
Born in Greenville, Kentucky and a native of Bremen, Kentucky, Harper played collegiately at the University of Texas as a freshman and at Kentucky Wesleyan, during his sophomore-senior seasons, where he was named third team NABC All-American as a senior in 1985.
He is married to Shannon Harper, a WKU alumna.