Ray completes basketball staff with Gordon's hiring
Adam Gordon
With the hiring of Adam Gordon last Tuesday, Rick Ray's staff at Mississippi State is now intact.
Gordon, who spent the past season on B.J. Hill's staff at Northern Colorado, will have the title of director of operations.
Prior to his time at Northern Colorado, he was a graduate assistant at Clemson for three years, where he worked with Ray.
"Adam is a guy that I got a chance to meet when I got to Clemson, and he did an unbelievable job of acclimating us to everything about Clemson and the ins and outs of the community," Ray said. "He's a young, energetic guy that has done an unbelievable job with travel, camps and academic monitoring. He'll be a valuable asset to me, our staff and our players."
Gordon, who turned 28 last month, will be in charge of traveling, camps, scheduling, on-campus recruiting and academic compliance.
"I'm really excited to be a part of the Mississippi State family and back working with Coach Ray," said Gordon, a 2006 graduate of Tampa who earned his masters in Youth Development and Leadership at Clemson. "I think he's one of the top young coaches in the country and one of the better people I've ever worked with. It's a great opportunity to come to an established program and help take it to the top of the SEC."
Gordon came to Clemson with an extensive basketball background. He was an assistant coach at Central Florida Community College in Ocala, Fla., from 2006-08. There, Gordon was responsible for recruiting, player development, opponent scouting, video editing and exchange, and academic counseling. He helped the Patriots to a pair of appearances in the NJCAA Florida State Tournament.
Prior to his coaching stop in Ocala, Gordon was head manager and student assistant coach at the University of Tampa from 2002-06. As manager, he was responsible for maintenance and organization of the team's athletic gear and distribution of the uniforms. As student coach, he aided in player development and helped conduct individual workouts and conditioning drills.
Gordon has also served as a counselor at many high-profile summer basketball camps, including with UCLA, the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings, as well as at camps run by NBA stars Jason Kidd and Amar'e Stoudemire.
Gordon was also one of the founders of Rising Coaches Elite, an organization that assists young coaches, operations directors and managers with networking and clinics.
For additional information about Mississippi State athletics, please visit www.HailState.com.
