Harold Rayford joins the Norfolk State men’s basketball program for the 2012-13 season as an assistant coach. He arrives at NSU after spending three seasons as the head coach at SUNY Ulster County Community College in Stone Ridge, N.Y.
While at SUNY Ulster – the same school NSU head coach Anthony Evans coached at for two seasons from 1999-2001 – Rayford guided the Senators to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 15 semifinals in his last season in 2011-12. It marked the first time SUNY Ulster advanced that far in the playoffs since Evans manned the sidelines there.
During the 2007 season, Rayford served as an assistant coach with the Hudson Valley Hawks in the National Professional Basketball League when the Hawks won the NPBL National Championship with a 13-2 record. His duties as an assistant included scouting opponents as well as recruiting and scouting professional talent, coordinating practices and travel, and planning and evaluating player development.
Rayford spent the 2006-07 season as the assistant junior boys varsity coach at his alma mater, Newburgh Free Academy in Newburgh, N.Y. During his one season with the Goldbacks, he helped lead them to an 18-1 overall record.
He originally got his coaching start while leading his hometown Newburgh Zion Lions club team from 2000-08, directing the squad to NYS Metropolitan AAU Regional Championships in 2005, ’06 and ’07.
Rayford’s experience also includes working different camps as well, including the New York Knicks Summer Camp, the Bill Bayno Summer Camp, and the NBA Hoop It Up tournament.
Prior to his stint at SUNY Ulster, Rayford served as an intern at Virginia State under the assistant athletic director during 2008-09 school year while finishing up his degree. Rayford graduated from VSU in May 2009 with a bachelors in health and recreation after earning his associate’s degree in liberal arts from SUNY Ulster in May 2006.
