Lady Monarchs coach Nikki McCray set to become head coach at Mississippi State

by: Bruce Rader

Posted: Apr 9, 2020 / 10:27 PM EDT

Updated: Apr 10, 2020 / 01:25 AM EDT

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — It only took her three years to turn around the historic women’s basketball program at Old Dominion, and it appears her big payday is coming. Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen is set to hire Lady Monarchs coach Nikki McCray to replace Vic Schaefer as head coach of the Bulldogs.

McCray has an outstanding resume and after her success at ODU it was only a matter of time before she would make the million dollar move to a Power Five team. The opportunity arrived four days ago when Schaefer departed for Texas who is expected to pay him more than $2 million a year. It is not known what McCray’s salary will be but it will be a nice raise over the $200,000 plus she was believed to be making at ODU.

A three-time NBA All-Star over her 11 year professional career, McCray won two Olympic gold medals. She served ten years as the top assistant to Dawn Staley at South Carolina before coming to Norfolk where her Lady Monarchs teams recorded a 53-40 record the past three seasons. ODU was her first head coaching job and she has yet to advance to the NCAA Tournament as a head coach.

That could surely change at Mississippi State with a SEC team that could very well good deep in the NCAA Tournament next year.

There has been no official word from either Mississippi State or Old Dominion officials as of Thursday night, follow BruceRaderSport on Twitter and Wavy.com for the latest.