North Carolina A&T State University Men's Basketball

North Carolina A&T Director of Athletics Earl M. Hilton III announced the appointment of Monté Ross as the new head men's basketball coach on April 10, 2023. Ross became the 14th head coach in the history of the A&T men's basketball program.  In his first season with A&T, Ross led the Aggies to a 4-2 start in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) before an injury to guard Landon Glasper derailed the season. Glasper missed eight games but still made third-team All-CAA and earned preseason first-team All-CAA under Ross to start the following season.  Ross's second season saw Nikolaos Chitikoudis improve from averaging 7.1 points and 5.3 rebounds to 10.8 points and 9.3 rebounds as a sophomore. The Aggies also got a key win at the Citadel and defeated archrival North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in a nationally televised game on CBS. However, injuries and defections impacted the Aggies' conference season.     Before coming to A&T, the Philadelphia native spent the previous three seasons as an assistant coach with the Temple Owls. Before landing with the Owls, Ross spent 10 seasons (2006-16) as the head coach for the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Delaware Blue Hens.  "This is an exciting time in North Carolina A&T Athletics, and coach Ross adds to that excitement," said Hilton. "Coach Ross brings a decade of head coaching experience in the CAA, where he was tasked with building a program. He had some outstanding seasons for the Delaware men's basketball program, and we think that translates well for us at North Carolina A&T as we strive to win championships in the CAA. We hired the best person to lead and mentor our young men on and off the court."  A 1992 graduate of Winston-Salem State, Ross played for legendary head coach Clarence "Big House" Gaines from 1988-92. After spending 13 seasons as an assistant coach at various Division I programs, Ross became the Blue Hens' coach in 2006.  In his sixth season at Delaware, he led the Blue Hens to an 18-14 record overall and a 12-6 mark in the CAA. The Blue Hens appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) before going 19-14 the following season, finishing second in the CAA with a 13-5 mark. He followed the second-place finish with one of the best seasons in Blue Hens program history. They posted a 25-10 record, winning the CAA regular-season title with a 14-2 record and the tournament championship.  Advancing to the NCAA tournament marked just the fifth NCAA tournament appearance in program history and the first since 1999. For his efforts, Ross earned CAA Coach of the Year. The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association honored him with the Clarence "Big House" Gaines Division I Coach of the Year award. In addition, he earned the National Association of Basketball Coaches UPS District 10 Coach of the Year award. He posted 132 wins at Delaware, the second most in program history.  Ross also had tremendous success at Saint Joseph's as an assistant coach for 10 seasons (1996-06). In 2003-04, the Hawks went 27-0 during the regular season and rose to No. 1 in the nation before finishing with a 30-2 record after a loss in the Elite Eight. Saint Joseph's made it to the postseason seven times during Ross' tenure there, including four NCAA appearances. Ross has also had assistant positions at Drexel (1994-96) and Lehigh (1993-94). He was on the staff that saw Drexel win its first-ever NCAA tournament game, an upset over Memphis in 1996.  Ross and his wife, Michelle, relocated to Greensboro. They have two children, Justin Monté and Lauren Noelle.  

Ricky Moore became an assistant men’s basketball coach for North Carolina A&T on June 29, 2023, as announced by head men’s basketball coach Monté Ross. Moore will coach the Aggies’ forwards/wings, scout and recruit. Moore brings to Aggieland a successful professional basketball career and NCAA national championship experience as a player and an assistant coach. Moore came to Aggieland after spending two seasons as the head coach at Northwest Cabarrus High School in Kannapolis, N.C. In two seasons with the Trojans boys basketball program, Moore posted a 26-24 (.520) record overall and an 18-11 mark in the South Piedmont Class 3A Conference. In 2022-23, Moore led the Trojans to the third round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) 3A playoffs before losing to defending 3A state champion West Charlotte. Before coaching at Northwest Cabarrus, Moore spent some time coaching on the AAU circuit after spending six seasons (2012-18) at his alma mater, UConn. During his first season at UConn in 2012-13, Moore served as the men’s basketball program’s assistant director of basketball administration. He was promoted to the assistant coach position the following season. Led by the guard play of Shabazz Napier, Moore helped the Huskies win the 2014 national championship. The following year brought Division I transfer and McDonald’s All-American Rodney Purvis to the program, who scored 845 points in three seasons as a Huskie. The Huskies made the 2015 American Athletic Conference (AAC) tournament championship game before losing to SMU. After an 11-year professional basketball career that included stops in Austria, Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey and Germany, and domestic stops in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and the NBA Developmental League (NBDL), Moore started his coaching career at Dartmouth College in 2010 before coming back to UConn in 2012. Before starting his professional basketball career, Moore co-captained UConn’s national championship team in 1999, the program’s first in school history. During his four seasons (1995-99) in Storrs, Conn., the Huskies went 114-24 overall and 55-17 in the Big East. Also, over that span, the Huskies won three Big East regular-season and tournament championships, and they reached the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1996 and the NCAA Elite Eight in 1998 before winning the national title in ‘99. Moore made the Final Four and West Regional all-tournament teams, and Basketball News Magazine named him national defensive player of the year in 1999. He also made UConn’s all-century team in 2001. A native of Augusta, Ga., Moore had an All-America high school career at Westside High School.     

North Carolina A&T head men’s basketball coach Montè Ross announced Dorian Long as an assistant coach for the program on June 28, 2023. Long will be responsible for scouting, recruiting and coaching the Aggies guards. Long came to Aggieland after spending the previous five seasons at Marist University.   Long served as an assistant coach with the Red Foxes during his final two seasons with the program after serving as the director of basketball operations (DOBO) for the first three seasons. Long began taking on extra responsibilities during the 2020-21 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.   The Red Foxes went 12-9 overall and 10-8 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), securing their best record in 13 years. Away from the game, Long became an advisor to Marist’s Black Student Athlete Alliance and joined Marist’s IDEA committee.   Before joining Marist’s staff, Long spent two seasons as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for Lincoln University under head men’s basketball coach and former NBA player Doug Overton. During his tenure, Long recruited five players who made the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) all-rookie team, two All-CIAA standouts and CIAA defensive player of the year, Deaquan Williams.   As the defensive coordinator during the 2017-18 season, Long helped the Lions finish in the top-eight nationally in field goal percentage defense and 3-point percentage defense. Long also served as the program’s academic liaison, increasing the team’s grade point average. Long also spent two seasons (2014-16) at James Madison University as the men’s basketball program’s DOBO.   The Dukes went 19-14 overall and 12-6 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in 2014-15, winning a share of the league title for the first time since 1999-00. The following year, the JMU went 21-11 overall and 11-7 in the CAA.   At Washington College, his stop before coming to JMU, Long mentored and developed three All-Centennial Conference players, earning him a promotion to associate head coach. Long’s collegiate coaching career began at his alma mater, Neumann University, where he served as an assistant from 2008-12. While there, he recruited and developed five all-conference players and four 1,000-point scorers.   Before entering the collegiate ranks, Long was the head coach for the Whiz Basketball Club out of Philadelphia for five years. He was also an assistant coach at his high school alma mater, Monsignor Bonner, in Drexel Hill, Pa., for three years. Long also earned an internship at Saint Joseph’s University, working with the men’s and women’s basketball teams.   Long is a 2010 Neumann University graduate earning a bachelor of science degree in sports management.      

Colin Daly joined the North Carolina A&T men’s basketball staff on June 26, 2023, as the director of basketball operations (DOBO). Daly will handle the Aggies day-to-day operations under head coach Montè Ross, including travel coordinating, meal planning, practice scheduling, planning recruiting visits, and exchanging film. He will also serve as the video coordinator. Daly comes to A&T after spending two seasons (2020-22) as a Temple men’s basketball player, where Ross served as an assistant coach before A&T hired him as its head coach in April of 2023. Before becoming a Temple Owl, Daly spent three seasons at Division II West Chester, serving as a team captain for one season. He played 71 games for the Golden Rams, scoring 371 points, grabbing 113 rebounds and dishing out 58 assists. He made 40.5 percent of his field goals (100-for-247) and 36.3 percent of his 3-point attempts (70-for-193). He also made 86.1 percent of his free throws (37-for-43). During his days at Temple, Daly became an assistant coach for the Philly Pride Gold AAU travel team. Also, during his time with the Owls, he made the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court for academic excellence. Daly received his bachelor’s degree from Temple in business management from the Fox School of Business. Before becoming a collegiate basketball player, Daly graduated from the prestigious Archbishop Carroll High School.