John McCray enters his third season as an assistant coach with the Holy Cross women’s basketball team in 2022-23.
McCray was a key part in the Crusaders capturing the 2022-23 Patriot League Tournament championship. Working with guards, Bronagh Power-Cassidy took a huge third year leap leading the team in scoring while earning Patriot League Championship MVP honors and a spot on the All-League second team. Addisyn Cross continued to stifle opponents with her defensive prowess as she became the only two-time All-Defensive Team honoree in team history. Kaitlyn Flanagan also thrived under McCray as she was the lone Crusader representative on the Patriot League All-Rookie team.
McCray’s main position group of guards, saw great success during his second season on Mount St. James in 2021-22. Avery LaBarbera was named the Patriot League Player of the Year, First Team All-Patriot League and Second Team All-ECAC leading the team in points (16.4), rebounds (9.8), assists (4.0) and steals per game (1.7). Addisyn Cross earned a Patriot League All-Defensive Team selection as well ranking 11th in the conference in steals per game (1.4), seventh in assist-to-tunrover ration (1.3), and tied for 10th in assists per game (2.9). Cara McCormack saw her three-point percentage rise from 25% to 36.9% in her second year as the Crusaders won the Patriot League regular season title, recorded the 22nd 20-win season in program history and set the program single season conference win mark with 14.
Under McCray’s tutelage in 2020-21, Bronagh Power-Cassidy earned Patriot League Rookie of the Year honors, a spot on the Patriot League All-Rookie Team and led all freshmen in the Patriot League with 11.5 points per game. Freshman Cara McCormack claimed Patriot League All-Rookie Team laurels and junior Avery LaBarbera earned a spot on the All-Patriot League Second Team and All-Defensive Team. McCray also helped the Crusaders capture the No. 5 seed in the Patriot League Tournament.
McCray comes to The Hill from the University of Florida, where he served as an assistant coach from 2017-20. While at Florida, McCray primarily worked with the player development of guards, scouting assignments and recruiting strategy. He helped spark a seven-win turnaround for Florida in 2019-20 as the Gators finished .500 (15-15) for the first time in four years, and helped Florida, one of the league's least-experienced rosters, double their SEC win total. McCray and Florida earned a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament for the first time in four years while collecting two AP Top 25 wins. He played a key role in Florida's 2019 recruiting class, which was ranked No. 26 overall by ProspectsNation.
Prior to his time at Florida, McCray spent four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he was responsible for the development of post players and served as the team’s recruiting coordinator. During his tenure, the Mocs made four NCAA tournament appearances, winning Southern Conference titles in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
He was a graduate assistant at St. Joseph’s University before that, assisting with scouting, film exchange and recruiting. He spent one season as a video assistant at The Ohio State University. McCray also worked at Veritas Academy in Columbus, Ohio, serving as the athletics director, varsity girls basketball head coach and varsity boys basketball associate head coach.
McCray graduated from Ohio State in 2011 with a Bachelor’s degree in sport and leisure studies. He later earned his Master’s degree in organization, development and leadership from St. Joseph’s in 2016.
