Wichita native wants to make Coastal Carolina a destination for local hoop recruits
Coastal Carolina basketball doesn’t have much of a presence in Wichita.
But Wichita native Elwyn McRoy, a 1992 South graduate, wants to change that after being hired last week as a men’s basketball assistant coach for Coastal Carolina, which plays in the Sun Belt Conference and is located in Conway, South Carolina, just outside of Myrtle Beach.
“I’ve always been a big believer in Wichita kids and how underrecruited they are,” McRoy told the Eagle in a phone interview. “I’m hoping at Coastal Carolina, I can recruit some. Like (Southeast graduates Jerrick Harding and Israel Barnes) that went to Weber State, maybe they come to Coastal Carolina now instead of the Big Sky. I know there are a lot of great players in Wichita and the surrounding area and I’m excited to recruit them.”
Recruiting is what McRoy has built his reputation on in the coaching world.
He spent the previous two seasons serving as the recruiting coordinator for Washington State in the Pac-12. Before that, McRoy has been an assistant coach at the Division I level at Georgia Southern (2006-08), Arkansas State (2008-10), Iowa State (2010-11), Texas-Pan American (2013-14) and Coppin State (2014-17).
The 5-foot-6 former point guard, who played at Butler and Hutchinson before finishing his career at Cleveland State, is still looking for his first head coaching job. But that’s not the main reason why McRoy is still in coaching.
“What motivates me is I just love the game,” McRoy said. “It keep you young being around these young men and being a mentor. You get the chance to teach them about the game of basketball, but also about life and how the two coincide with each other.”
After two spending the last two seasons off the floor as a recruiting coordinator, McRoy is eagerly anticipating his return to the bench as an assistant under accomplished head coach Cliff Ellis, who has won 825 games over a 44-year career.
McRoy has already fully transitioned to recruiting for Coastal Carolina. He was in Atlanta on Monday, Lubbock on Tuesday and plans to hit Dallas, Tampa, Los Angeles, Wyoming and Salt Lake City all in the coming week.
“I’m super thrilled about this opportunity with Coastal Carolina,” McRoy said. “This is their fourth year in the Sun Belt, so I’m going to try to help them keep climbing. I’ve had two previous stops in the Sun Belt, both successful stints at Georgia Southern and Arkansas State. Coastal is a beautiful place and I’ve always heard good things about Myrtle Beach, but I didn’t really know until I got down here. I’m loving things so far.”
He’s hoping to have an excuse to come back home to Wichita, too.
Not only to see friends and family, but also to help bring some Wichita flavor to the Coastal Carolina team.
“I’m always happy and proud to represent the city of Wichita, regardless of where I’m at,” McRoy said. “And I’m always looking for Wichita kids to help do the same. It makes me proud to know that I can represent the city and I”m going to do my best here to make people proud.”
This story was originally published September 17, 2019 at 11:57 AM.
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