Ross McMains

American-born New Zealand basketball coach
Ross McMains
Personal information
Born1989 (age 34–35)
New Hampshire, United States
NationalityAmerican / New Zealand
Coaching career2013–present
Career history
As coach:
2013–2015Reno Bighorns (assistant)
2016Taranaki Mountainairs
2016–2017Santa Cruz Warriors (assistant)
2017–2018Westchester Knicks (assistant)
2019–2020Melbourne United (assistant)
2021–2022Louisville Cardinals (assistant)
2022–2023Maine Red Claws (assistant)
Career highlights and awards

Fraser Ross McMains[1] (born 1989) is an American-born New Zealand basketball coach. He is currently a player development coach with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Early life and career

McMains was born in New Hampshire in the United States before growing up in New Zealand on Waiheke Island.[2][3] He attended Kadimah College in Auckland, having to take the boat to school every day.[2] He returned to the U.S. at age 11 when his family moved to Santa Barbara. There he went to Santa Barbara High School. After high school, he returned to New Zealand and got a job working with the New Zealand Breakers organisation in 2007. A year or so later, he returned to the U.S. and started in player development, working with a mix of pro players in Los Angeles. That led to an opportunity to work with players in Latvia, France, and China. He also ran NBA Pre-Draft Preparation for two years in Santa Barbara, while also running off-season workouts for a selection of NBA and international players.[2] During this time, he studied at Santa Monica College (2008–10) and John Cabot University (2011) in Rome, Italy.[4] He was exposed to European basketball while in Rome.[2]

Coaching career

McMains' coaching career began as a player development coach with the Sacramento Kings in the 2012–13 NBA season. He then spent the next two seasons with the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League.[5]

McMains returned to New Zealand in 2015 and was named assistant coach for the New Zealand Tall Blacks.[5] He went on to win the New Zealand NBL Coach of the Year Award as head coach of the Taranaki Mountainairs in the 2016 New Zealand NBL season.[6]

McMains was an assistant coach with the Santa Cruz Warriors during the 2016–17 NBA Development League season[7] and an assistant coach with the Westchester Knicks during the 2017–18 NBA G League season.[8] He joined the New York Knicks for the 2018–19 season as head video coordinator.[9]

In August 2019, McMains was appointed an assistant coach with Melbourne United of the Australian NBL.[9] He parted ways with Melbourne in August 2020.[10]

In May 2021, McMains was appointed an assistant coach with the Louisville Cardinals men's college basketball team.[11]

For the 2022–23 season, McMains served as the associate head coach of the Maine Red Claws of the NBA G League.[12]

For the 2023–24 season, McMains joined the Boston Celtics in a player development role.[13] He contributed to the Celtics' 2023–24 NBA championship.[14][15]

As of July 2023, McMains was still an assistant coach for the New Zealand Tall Blacks.[13]

References

  1. ^ "New Zealand – FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2016". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d "THE MCMAINLANDER - ROSS MCMAINS RETURNS FOR A BIG SEASON IN NZ". nz.basketball. 9 March 2016. Archived from the original on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  3. ^ "DRAGIĆEV TRENER: Navija za Slovenijo in Novo Zelandijo". kosarka.si (in Slovenian). 29 August 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2019. I was born in New Hampshire, grew up in New Zealand, attended high school in Santa Barbara and went to the University of Rome.
  4. ^ "Ross McMains". kiwihoopers.com. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b Reive, Christopher (2 April 2015). "Ross McMains appointed Tall Blacks assistant coach while Chris Lucas gets nod for Tall Ferns". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  6. ^ Reive, Christopher (5 June 2016). "Taranaki Mountain Airs' Logan Elers, Ross McMains and Bernie Smith among NBL award winners". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  7. ^ "Warriors Complete Coaching Staff for Upcoming Season". NBA.com. October 20, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  8. ^ "Westchester Knicks Announce Coaching Staff Additions". NBA.com. October 23, 2017. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Ross McMains joins Melbourne United as an Assistant Coach". melbourneutd.com.au. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  10. ^ "Assistant Coach Ross McMains will not return to Melbourne United to rejoin our coaching staff for #NBL21..." facebook.com/MelbourneUnitedBasketball. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  11. ^ "Ross McMains Named Assistant Coach for UofL Basketball". gocards.com. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Media Guide 2022-23" (PDF). gleague.nba.com. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  13. ^ a b "TALL BLACKS NAME FIBA WORLD CUP COACHING STAFF". nz.basketball. 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  14. ^ Reive, Christopher (1 June 2024). "NBA Finals: Boston Celtics player development coach Ross McMains on quest for NBA championship". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  15. ^ Reive, Christopher (7 June 2024). "NBA finals: Boston Celtics player development coach Ross McMains on journey to brink of NBA glory". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 3 July 2024.

External links

  • New Zealand Breakers' 2014 article on McMains
  • v
  • t
  • e
New Zealand NBL Coach of the Year Award