Ray McCallum, Ball State (Men's Basketball)
Ray McCallum, who completed his collegiate career as the all-time leading scorer in both Ball State University and Mid-American Conference men's basketball history, was a four-year letterwinner for the Cardinals and was a three-time Most Valuable Player for Ball State. McCallum, who led Ball State to its first ever MAC Championships in 1981 and 1982, helped the Cardinals to the 1981 MAC Tournament Championship and first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament.
McCallum completed his outstanding career by being named the recipient of the 1983 Frances Pomeroy Naismith-Basketball Hall of Fame Award as the nation's outstanding senior collegiate basketball player under six-feet tall. After his senior season, McCallum was also named the MAC Player of the Year plus he earned honorable mention on The Associated Press and The Sporting News All-America teams.
McCallum was Ball State's Most Valuable Player in 1980, 1981 and 1983 plus co-captained the Cardinals in 1983. He was named to the All-MAC First Team in his final three seasons after being named the league's Freshman of the Year and earning all-conference second-team laurels in his initial campaign. He was named the MAC Tournament's Most Valuable Player in 1981, plus was selected to the league's all-tournament first team in 1981, 1982 and 1983.
McCallum was Ball State's leading scorer four consecutive seasons. He ranked in the top six in the MAC in scoring four straight years with averages of 16.5, 18.4, 17.6 and 20.7 respectfully. McCallum established Ball State freshman and sophomore scoring records plus held the school's career records for games played, minutes played, games started, steals and field goals made upon the completion of his career.
He scored in double figures in 106 of the 115 games he played in his college career plus scored 20 or more points in 51 of those contests. McCallum had a career-high 32 points in two different games -- vs. Kent State on March 2, 1983 and vs. Miami in the MAC Tournament on March 8, 1983.
In the final months of his collegiate career, McCallum was honored by then Muncie Mayor Alan Wilson, who proclaimed Feb. 23, 1983, as Ray McCallum Day. A feature story about McCallum's career appeared in Sports Illustrated's March 7th issue. On March 16, a resolution honoring McCallum was adopted in a joint session of the Indiana state legislature. His uniform No. 10 became the first number ever officially retired in the history of the university. At the conclusion of the 1982-83 academic year, McCallum was presented the Campus Headliner Award, given annually to the person or organization at Ball State doing the most to bring positive headlines to the university.
A 1979 graduate of Muncie Central High School, McCallum helped the Bearcats to the Indiana High School Athletic Association State Championship in 1978 and 1979. He was named Most Valuable Player of the 1979 IHSAA State Tournament plus was selected to the all-state first team as a senior.
After his 1983 graduation from Ball State, McCallum became an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin under his collegiate mentor, Steve Yoder. At Wisconsin, McCallum helped the Badgers to three postseason appearances in his final five years on the staff. In 1993, he was named assistant coach at the University of Michigan before quickly returning to Ball State to make his head coaching debut during the 1993-94 season.
The Cardinals posted a 126-76 record during McCallum’s seven-year tenure. McCallum directed Ball State to two NCAA Tournament appearances (1995, 2000) and an NIT berth (1998) and became the first coach in Ball State history to post seven consecutive winning seasons. During his head coaching career at Ball State, McCallum recruited and coached Bonzi Wells, who was the 11th pick of the 1998 NBA Draft. When he left Ball State for Houston in 2000, McCallum’s .624 winning percentage was the fourth-best in MAC history.
McCallum served as head coach at Houston for four seasons. In 2002, he led the Cougars to an 18-15 mark and a berth in the NIT, Houston’s first post-season tournament appearance in nine years. McCallum became head coach at Detroit Mercy in 2008-09 and led the Titans to the Horizon League title and NCAA Tournament appearence in 2012.
