Rick Stansbury hired at WKU

Rick Stansbury has officially been named head basketball coach at Western Kentucky, the school announced Monday.

A news conference is tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday at WKU.

Stansbury, an associate head coach at Texas A&M this year, spent 14 seasons as head coach at Mississippi State where he won 293 games and was named Southeastern Conference coach of the year by The Associated Press in 2004.

The Battletown native, and Meade County High School and Campbellsville graduate, was an assistant at Austin Peay before beginning a stint as an assistant at MSU. He became the head coach in 1998 in Starkville, Miss.

In March 2012, Stansbury, 56, retired from Mississippi State. He returned to coaching in 2014 at A&M and was promoted to associate head coach prior to this season.

During his MSU tenure, some of Stansbury's notable players included Mario Austin, Erick Dampier, Dontae’ Jones, Tang Hamilton, Lawrence Roberts and Derrick Zimmerman.

The Bulldogs won five SEC West Division titles, two SEC tournament championships, and went to six NCAA tourneys and five National Invitational Tournaments.

Stansbury went 3-1 as MSU coach against WKU, with wins in 2009, 2003 and 1999. In 2010, Stansbury and the Bulldogs lost a 55-52 game inside E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Aggies lost to Oklahoma on Thursday in the NCAA Tournament.

Stansbury would replace Ray Harper who resigned March 17. Three players on the current roster – Fredrick Edmond, Chris McNeal and Marlon Hunter – were suspended from the program that same day. The Hilltoppers went 18-16 this past season.