Justin Gray finalizes CCU men’s basketball coaching staff

CONWAY, S.C. – New Coastal Carolina men’s basketball coach Justin Gray has finalized his coaching staff with the additions of Jayson Gee, Ryne Lightfoot, Kyle Taylor, Zack Freesman, Cody Cohen, and Austin Davis.

JAYSON GEE – Associate Head Coach/Chief of Staff

Gee joins the staff after spending the past three seasons working with Gray at Western Carolina.

A 35-year coaching veteran, Gee has served as both a head and assistant coach. Before working on the Cullowhee campus, Gee spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Cincinnati after serving as the associate head coach at Winthrop (2018-19).

Gee made the move to Winthrop from Longwood, where he was the Lancers’ head coach from 2013-18. He has also served as the head coach at the University of Charleston (W.Va.) from 1996-2003. He has a career head coaching record of 202-175 over 12 seasons.

Gee served as an assistant and associate coach at Cleveland State (2006-13), where he helped lead the Vikings to three NIT bids and an NCAA tournament appearance. He was also named one of the nation’s top 10 assistant coaches by BleacherReport.com

Gee was also an assistant coach at St. Bonaventure (2003-06), Ohio (1993-96), and at Youngstown State (1989-93).

The veteran basketball coach is also the author of “The Battle for Brandon,” a book that is a dramatic and compelling story about Gee, and his wife, Lynette, and their son Brandon’s courageous fight against child onset paranoid schizophrenia.

Originally from Springfield, Ohio, Gee played four years at the University of Charleston in West Virginia, helping the program to a record of 92-30, including 30-5 during his sophomore season. A two-year team captain, Gee finished his collegiate career third in both rebounds (844) and games played (122). He was inducted into the Charleston Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003 after previously being inducted into the Springfield South High Hall of Fame in 2000.

Gee earned his bachelor of science degree in social science education from Charleston in 1988, and his Master of Science degree in sport science and administration from Ohio University in 2003.

Jayson and Lynette, have three sons, Terrence, Brandon and Bryan, and a daughter, Briana.

RYNE LIGHTFOOT – Associate Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator

Lightfoot spent the past two seasons at Western Carolina and helped lead the Catamounts to a top-four Southern Conference regular season finish and two appearances in the semifinal round of the SoCon tournament. The Catamounts also made an appearance in the College Basketball Invitation (CBI).

While with the Catamounts, Lightfoot’s main responsibilities include running, implementing, and developing the Catamount defensive system, which improved from last place in the league in 2021-22 to finishing third overall in 2022-23. He also works directly with scouting and recruiting. His leadership in skill development helped three Catamounts – guards Vonteriuous Woolbright and Tre Jackson, as well as post Tyzhaun Claude – each earn postseason All-Southern Conference accolades following the 2022-23 season.
  
Prior to Cullowhee, Lightfoot spent two seasons as the Director of Player Development at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Ariz. During his time with the Lopes, Lightfoot helped lead the squad to a combined 40 wins, the 2020-21 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) regular-season and tournament championships, and to the university’s first-ever appearance in the postseason with a berth in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
 
Before his time at Grand Canyon, Lightfoot spent the previous eight seasons on the coaching staff at his alma mater, Bethel University in Mishawaka, Ind. In his first six seasons, Lightfoot was an assistant coach under his father, Mike Lightfoot. The younger Lightfoot took over as the head coach in 2017-18, posting a record of 43-21 in two seasons. His squad finished his final season ranked 20th in the NAIA poll and was ranked as high as No. 6 in the country in 2018.

Lightfoot played for the Pilots for four seasons, recording 2,075 points and 702 assists to rank 10th and fifth, respectively, all-time in the program record books. He added over 500 career rebounds and was one of three players at the time with over 2,000 points, 700 assists, and 500 rebounds at the NAIA level, joining NBA Hall of Famer, Scottie Pippen and former Bethel guard Rico Swanson.

Lightfoot was a five-time All-American and was awarded the 2010 NCCAA Pete Maravich Award, presented to the men’s basketball student-athlete recognized for excellence in competition, skill, academics, and Christian service during his career. He was also a member of Bethel University’s 2018 Athletics Hall of Fame class.
 
Lightfoot graduated from Northwood High as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,673 points and is a member of the Elkhart County Sports Hall of Fame.
 
Ryne is originally from Wakarusa, Ind., and was married to his wife, Justine, in 2010.

KYLE TAYLOR – Assistant Coach/Offensive Coordinator

Taylor joins the Chanticleers after serving the past five seasons as the head men’s basketball coach at Salt Lake Community College.

In just five seasons, Taylor posted an overall record of 143-20, earning five consecutive trips to the NJCAA Championships in Hutchinson, Kan. SLCC has earned four Region 18 titles in Taylor’s tenure, also posting four NJCAA Western District titles. The Bruins have also led the NJCAA in scoring in two of the past three seasons. He has also picked up four West District Coach of the Year honors.

Not only has SLCC been successful as a team in Taylor’s tenure, the Bruins have seen a great deal of individual success. To date, SLCC has had five NJCAA All-Americans (three First-Team members), 17 NJCAA Academic All-American players, and has had 36 players accept offers to NCAA Division I programs.
 
Before taking over at SLCC, Taylor worked as the Associate Head Coach at Idaho State University. During his tenure with the Bengals, he worked as the program’s offensive coordinator and also helped with skill development. Taylor also worked as the program’s recruiting coordinator. Prior to that, Taylor worked for Utah State University under former coach Tim Duryea as his special assistant. 
 
His previous head coaching experience came at Covenant College, where he was also the Director of Athletics for the NCAA Division-III institution in Georgia. While at Covenant, he led the team to their first NCAA tourney appearance and a school-record 18 wins after the 2016 season. In his role as Athletic Director, Taylor successfully navigated a transition from NAIA to NCAA membership. 
 
Taylor’s coaching experience started in California at Pepperdine University, working as a video coordinator. He also worked as an operations director at Cal State Northridge. The California native earned an undergraduate degree from UCLA and a graduate degree from Northwest Missouri State University. 
 
Taylor and his wife, Shannon, are the parents of three children – Kade, Quinn, and Phillip.

ZACK FREESMAN – Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator

Freesman enters his first season at Coastal Carolina after spending the past three seasons as an assistant coach at Western Carolina University, where he played a vital role in WCU’s top-four Southern Conference regular-season finish, as well as the program’s fourth postseason appearance in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).

Freesman played a big part in helping turn around the Catamount men’s basketball program. Upon hiring Freesman, Gray appointed him as the team’s offensive and special situations coordinator. Under Freesman’s leadership, Western Carolina produced an extremely efficient offense, ranking in the top 125 teams nationally.

Before joining Gray at Western Carolina, Freesman served head coach Pat Kelsey as the Director of Basketball Operations at Winthrop University. While in Rock Hill, Freesman helped the Eagles qualify for back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.
 
Prior to his time at Winthrop, Freesman spent two seasons at VCU as a graduate assistant. Freesman completed his master’s degree coursework in sport leadership while at VCU.
 
A 2016 graduate of the University of North Florida, Freesman earned his bachelor’s degree in sport management with minors in business and community leadership. He spent four years as a manager for the Ospreys’ men’s basketball program and was named head manager for the final two. In 2015, the Ospreys won back-to-back Atlantic Sun Conference Championships and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

Originally from Weston, Fla., Freesman graduated from Cypress Bay High School in 2012. He and his wife, Jillian, were married in May of 2021.

CODY COHEN – Director of Basketball Logistics and Scouting

Cohen comes to Coastal Carolina after spending the past three seasons at Western Carolina University. He was the video coordinator for two seasons before being promoted to assistant men’s basketball coach and the director of scouting entering the 2023-24 season.

While at WCU, Cohen was part of transforming the Catamount program into a contender as WCU increased its win total from 2021-22 and 2022-23 and advanced to the postseason for just the fourth time in program history with a return to the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) in 2023.

Before joining the Western Carolina men’s basketball staff, Cohen served for two seasons as an assistant varsity basketball coach at North Broward Preparatory School in Coconut Creek, Fla. While at North Broward, he coached and aided in the development of four players who went on to play at the collegiate level.  
 
Cohen also coached with Florida PRO AAU in the spring of 2021 and spent the 2018-19 season as an assistant coach at Palm Beach State College, helping lead the Panthers to the FSCAA Southern Conference title and an appearance in the Region 8 tournament. Cohen was tabbed as the No. 7 junior college assistant in the Southeast region by coachstat.net

Cohen was the video coordinator at Murray State from 2016-18, with the Racers winning the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament championships and reaching the NCAA tournament.

Before heading to Murray State, Cohen worked as an operations assistant with Synergy Sports Technology from 2016-18. While at Synergy, he encoded video with Synergy Sport’s software, verified statistics and uploaded video, and helped loggers troubleshoot system issues. The Boca Raton, Fla. native also worked with the Miami Heat during the team’s 2015 training camp as a video intern where he set up and broke down film equipment for practice and coded offensive and defensive segments.

A 2014 and 2016 graduate of Florida Atlantic University, Cohen was a basketball student manager as an undergraduate before serving as a graduate assistant. During his time at FAU, the Owls secured the 2011 Sun Belt regular season championship and an appearance in the NIT.

AUSTIN DAVIS – Director of Men’s Basketball Performance

Davis joins Gray at Coastal Carolina after working with him for the past two years at Western Carolina University as the assistant director of sports performance, where he worked with men’s basketball and volleyball.

A former NCAA Division I student-athlete who played basketball at the University of Michigan, Davis went to Cullowhee after completing a strength and conditioning internship at his alma mater, where he served under Jon Sanderson, Michigan’s head strength and conditioning coach. He worked primarily with the Michigan men’s and women’s basketball teams, as well as the golf teams upon his return to Ann Arbor.
 
Davis was a five-year letter-winner on the Wolverines’ basketball team where he served as a team captain in his final season. He

was a four-time Academic All-Big Ten Conference selection, three-time Michigan Academic Achievement recipient, and collected two Outstanding Sportsmanship Awards while in Ann Arbor.

He also contributed to the Wolverines’ success on the court and helped the team win two straight Big Ten tournament titles, a Big Ten regular season title, and making a Final Four and National Championship game appearance.

Following his graduation, he signed an international basketball contract with Klub Koszykówki Wloclawek of the Polish Basketball League, located in Wloclawek, Poland, before returning stateside to pursue his career in strength and conditioning.
 
Originally from Onsted, Mich., Davis graduated from the University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology with a Bachelor of Science in Movement Science in April 2020. He earned his Master of Science in Movement Sciences in April 2021. He is Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the NSCA and also holds certifications through USA Weightlifting, Precision Nutrition, Applied Performance, and the American Red Cross.

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