He waited patiently for his opportunity, and now is the time to shine for new Wayne County head basketball coach Lemetrice Ray. After years of learning from some of the state’s most legendary coaches and putting in his time on the sidelines, Ray believes he has what it takes to reenergize the Yellow Jackets program.
“My work ethic, not giving up, but trusting in God knowing that I was going to do something special with my life,” he said.
Ray has always known that basketball would play a part in his life. To this day he still plays pickup games at his church. His concern for young people is such that had he not become a basketball coach, he would have still been a teacher, but at a Juvenile Corrections high school facility.
Although originally from Tifton, Georgia, Ray graduated from Crisp County High School in Cordele. He attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College on a scholarship, Georgia Southwestern State University, and American Military University.
Ray not only stayed at a Holiday Inn Express, he managed one.
“I was a manager at Holiday Inn Express while I was in school my last semester when my coach from high school asked me to come be a part of his staff,” Ray said.
He learned at the knee of Henry Gardner at Crisp County. Wanting to be around the team, Ray was a manager for three years before he started playing for Gardner. He credited the coach with teaching him basic coaching principles and, more importantly, how to be a man. Gardner made sure his players were champions on and off the court.
Immediately after graduation, Ray returned to his alma mater, where he was named the Region Assistant Coach of the Year for two consecutive years and the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year for the 2011-12 season. That was the year Crisp County won a region title and made it to the state final four.
“Each game we just had a mindset of greatness that led us to the final four that year to lose by three points to a great Eagle’s Landing team,” Ray said.
During his tenure as an assistant, Ray coached the Cougar’s ninth-grade team, winning several championships. To win his first championship, he had to guide his team to three wins in just two days at the Tift High Southwest Georgia tournement – an amazing accomplishment for a 3-A school in a 6-A tournament, especially to play two games back to back to win the title.
While his career is still young, Ray has coached some outstanding players. The best, he said, is Crisp County graduate and current Thomas University guard Javoris Cooks.
“This kid had it all – values, integrity, discipline – and he was just a hard worker,” Ray said. “He took no days off on or off the court. He was the true definition of a professional high school kid. He left it all on the court each practice. Each game we knew he was going to give his all.”
After spending seven years at Crisp County High, Ray left to become an assistant coach at Wayne County in 2015. Following last season, four-year coach Robert Cotton left to take the head coaching position at Dodge County. That’s when Ray was chosen to became the Yellow Jackets head basketball coach. The first thing he had to do this season was find a way to turn around a program that had won only four games the previous year.
“It’s a process, but it starts with relationships that you build with your team – each individual player,” Ray said.
He has worked to get his players to buy into doing the right thing on and off the floor. His biggest moment came in December when the Yellow Jackets got the opportunity to play the Valdosta Wildcats in Atlanta’s Philips Arena, home to the NBA’s Hawks.
He continues to improve the Wayne County team, but his system seems to be working so far, as the Yellow Jackets have more than doubled their win total from last season. But even more importantly, he has seen a change in the young men he coaches on a daily basis.
“Our focus this year was to make sure that we build champion young men first,” Ray said. “I will be a hall of fame coach by teaching young men how to be men on and off the court. My players’ success will be judged in the classroom, not in a gym by playing a sport.”
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Lemetrice Ray
Head Boys Basketball Coach
Wayne County High School
Building Champions
