Justin Gray enters his third season as head men's basketball coach at Coastal Carolina in 2026-27 after orchestrating one of the nation's top turnarounds during his first two years in Conway.
Since arriving at Coastal Carolina in March 2024, Gray has steadily elevated the Chanticleer program, culminating in a breakthrough campaign in 2025-26. The Chanticleers finished 19-13 overall and tied for second in the Sun Belt Conference standings with an 11-7 league record, earning the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament. Coastal more than tripled its conference win total from the previous season and recorded its highest finish in the Sun Belt standings since joining the league.
Gray's success earned national recognition as he was named a finalist for both the Hugh Durham Award, presented annually to the nation's top mid-major head coach, and the Ben Jobe Award, which honors the nation's top minority head coach.
Gray was named Coastal Carolina's ninth Division I head coach on March 12, 2024, following a successful three-year tenure at Western Carolina. Taking over a program that had won just 11 games in the season prior to his arrival, Gray increased the Catamounts' win total in each of his three seasons and guided the program to a 22-11 record in 2023-24. Western Carolina advanced to the Southern Conference Tournament semifinals and earned a berth in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), marking the program's first postseason appearance since 2016.
Prior to becoming a head coach, Gray spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Winthrop, helping the Eagles compile a 47-12 record, capture back-to-back Big South Conference regular-season and tournament championships, and earn consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances under head coach Pat Kelsey.
With Gray helping coordinate the offense, Winthrop led the Big South with 78.9 points per game, a league-best 15.0 assists per game, and 8.4 made 3-pointers per contest. Gray helped develop DJ Burns, who earned Big South Freshman of the Year honors in 2019-20 and was named Big South Player of the Year in 2020-21.
Gray began his collegiate coaching career as director of basketball development at Wake Forest, his alma mater, following a professional playing career that spanned more than a decade and included stops in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
During his 12-year professional career overseas, Gray played for teams in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland, Greece, Ukraine, China, Germany, France, Turkey, Lebanon, Bulgaria, Romania, and Belarus. He also had stints in the NBA Summer League. Gray won three Belarusian League championships and three Belarusian Cup championships. He also guided teams to a Czech Republic League championship and a Czech Republic Cup title and participated in the VTB United League All-Star Game in 2016.
One of the most accomplished players in Wake Forest history, Gray earned All-ACC honors three times, including First-Team All-ACC recognition in 2004, helping the Demon Deacons capture the ACC regular-season title. He finished his career with 1,946 points, ranking among the program's all-time scoring leaders, and helped lead the Demon Deacons to four NCAA Tournament appearances. During his senior season, Gray averaged 18.2 points per game while helping Wake Forest earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
His collegiate accolades also include ACC All-Freshman Team honors, as well as three USBWA All-District Team selections and two NABC All-District Team selections.
Originally from Charlotte, N.C., Gray played at West Charlotte High School before concluding his prep career at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va. He and his wife, Emily, are the parents of three children — Justin Jr. (JJ), Jhai and Kristian.
