Andre Gray - Assistant Coach - Staff Directory - East Carolina University Athletics

Staff Directory

Andre Gray

Title:
Assistant Coach
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Andre Gray was named an assistant coach for the Pirates' men's basketball program on April 17, 2026.

Gray joins the Pirates after serving as the associate head coach at Western Carolina for the past two seasons and brings over 20 years of coaching experience within the state of North Carolina including 15 years at the NCAA Division I level to Greenville. During his collegiate coaching career, he has been a part of 10 postseason and conference championship teams, recruited and developed 28 all-conference performers, and mentored both six mid-major and five national All-America selections.

Western Carolina, UNCG and Wingate all posted program records for single season victories with Gray on the bench.

“Andre Gray brings an incredible amount of experience, including as a head coach in this state to our program,” head coach Michael Schwartz said. “The relationships and respect he has in North Carolina as a basketball coach, but more importantly as a genuine person is as good as it gets. We are thrilled to be able to add Andre to our coaching staff and looking forward to the strong impact he will make in all areas of our program”.

Gray's collegiate coaching career began at his alma mater Methodist College. He then spent four seasons on the bench at Wingate University, located just outside of Charlotte. The Bulldogs made the NCAA Division II tournament in back-to-back seasons in 2006 and 2007, capturing the South Atlantic Conference Championships in both seasons. In the latter, Wingate advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, winning the South Atlantic Region championship.

His career path then took him west of the Queen City as he made the move to the NCAA Division I level, joining the coaching staff at Big South Conference member, Gardner-Webb in July 2007. The 2007-08 Runnin' Bulldogs won 16 games including a victory at nationally ranked Kentucky.

Gray then spent three years (2008-11) as an assistant coach in his first stint at Western Carolina. While in Cullowhee, the Catamounts posted three consecutive winning seasons and two Southern Conference North Division titles. The 2009-10 Catamounts finished 22-12 marking WCU's first-ever 20-win season – a mark that was matched in 2023-24 – and advanced to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).

Following the three years at WCU, Gray was on the sidelines for three seasons at UNCW (2011-14) under head coach Buzz Peterson. His career path then took him to Winston-Salem State for a season in 2014-15, helping the Rams win 18 games and reach the championship game of the CIAA Tournament.

Gray then spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Charlotte (2014-18). While in the Queen City, he helped recruit Jon Davis who garnered Conference-USA All-Freshman team honors in 2015-16 before finishing second in the C-USA the following season. Davis and Joseph Uchebo both earned all-conference honors, Uchebo after setting the C-USA single-season rebounding record.

After his three years at Charlotte, Gray spent three seasons at UNCG (2018-21) and was part of three seasons with 20 or more wins including a program-record 28 victories in 2018-19. UNCG made two postseason appearances in Gray's three years on the bench, once earning the SoCon's automatic NCAA bid by winning the conference tournament and also garnering the overall No. 1 seed in the 2019 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 2018-19.

Before his second stint at Western Carolina, Gray was the head men's basketball coach at Elizabeth City State University, taking over as the program's interim leader in May 2022 before being named the full-time head coach in 2023. In his first season, his squad led the NCAA Division II in blocked shots as a part of ranking sixth in the country in defensive field goal percentage and finished as a Top 30 rebounding squad. He coached and developed the 2022-23 CIAA Defensive Player of the Year in Amadou Faye and CIAA All-Freshman team selection, Jaquantae Harris.

Gray graduated in May 1998 with a B.S. in Physical Education from Methodist University. He returned to his alma mater to begin his collegiate career as the top men's basketball assistant coach in 2001, serving as the recruiting coordinator and junior varsity head coach. With Gray back on the bench as a coach, the Monarchs claimed the 2003 DIAC/USA South Atlantic Conference regular season championship and posted a 22-6 league record in his two seasons.

A native of Elizabethtown, N.C., Gray received a Master of Science in Sport Management from Western Carolina University in June 2022. He is married to the former Tarius Williams.