Clay Nunley

Clay Nunley

  • Title:
    Head Men's Basketball Coach
  • Phone:
    540-375-5273
  • Email:
    nunley@roanoke.edu
  • Twitter:
    @Clay_Nunley

Nunley is entering his eighth season as the Maroons head coach in 2023-24.

Over the past seven seasons, he has amassed 119 wins including a 20-win campaign last season. He has led seven players to All-ODAC honors at Roanoke.  

Nunley guided the 2022-23 squad to a 14-2 start to the season including winning the Frankie Allen Tip-Off Tournament with wins over Whitworth and Alfred. The team finished the season 20-7 overall and 12-4 in the ODAC, reaching the semifinals of the ODAC Tournament for the sixth-straight season after a 117-103 4OT win over Washington and Lee in the quarterfinals. The season also saw Kasey Draper '23 wrap up his career under Nunley. Draper was a three-time First Team All-ODAC Selection, Two-Time Academic All-American. Following the season he was named the recipient of the ODAC's "Doc" Jopson Award, the conference's highest award for a student-athlete.

The 2021-22 season saw Nunley guide the Maroons to 18 wins including a 77-68 win over No. 3 Marietta to win the Dick Leftwich Tip-Off Tournament. The Maroons advanced to the ODAC Tournament semifinals and finished the season 18-9 overall after falling to eventual National Champion Randolph-Macon. 

The spring season of 2021 saw a condensed schedule that saw the Maroons win 10 straight victories and finished 10-2 overall after falling in the ODAC Tournament semifinals.

Roanoke finished with 17 wins under Nunley in 2019-20. 

The Maroons finished sixth in the final NCAA South Regional rankings in 2018-19.

The 2017-18 season saw the Maroons hit the 20 win mark for the first time since 2000-01. Nunley guided RC to the second-seed in the ODAC Tournament and the Maroons advanced to the championship game for the first time since 2007.

In addition, Nunley also mentored Josh Freund who became the first ODAC Player of the Year and All-American since 1997. Three different Maroons have earned All-ODAC honors in Nunley’s first three seasons.

Roanoke posted 15 victories during Nunley’s first season and picked up the program’s first ODAC Tournament win since 2013 in the process.

Nunley was introduced as the College's 10th Head Men's Basketball Coach on April 25, 2016.

No stranger to the ODAC, he came to Salem after nine seasons at the helm of the men's basketball program at Randolph College, where he guided the WildCats since the program's inception in 2007.
 
Nunley is just the fifth head coach of the Roanoke program since 1967 and follows the likes of RC Hall of Famers Charlie Moir (1967-73), Ed Green (1977-89) and Page Moir (1989-2016).

In less than a decade, Nunley led Randolph to the NCAA Tournament and to three appearances in the ODAC Championship game, including the 2016 season as the WildCats advanced to the title game as the sixth-seed.

In 2012-13, Nunley guided the WildCats to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, earning an at-large bid. Randolph set a program record with 21 wins on the season, and also set the bar for most conference wins by a basketball team at the College with 11. That same season, Colton Hunt was voted as the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year and earned the prestigious Jostens Trophy.
 
In 2010-11, Randolph earned a spot in the ODAC title game. Nunley led the WildCats to an 18-10 overall mark, earning ODAC and South Region Coach of the Year accolades.
 
Nunley's coaching background includes stints at the United States Military Academy and Wright State University. Prior to arriving at Randolph, Nunley served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the U.S. Military Academy for five years, where he was also involved in on-court instruction, scouting and practice planning.
 
During his four years at Wright State, Nunley was a part of back-to-back 18- and 17-win seasons. Highlights included a victory over #7-ranked and eventual national champion Michigan State during the 1999-2000 season, and a road win over previously unbeaten and #18-ranked Butler in 2002.
 
Nunley graduated from Goucher College in Baltimore, Md. with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He was a four-year letter-winner at Goucher when the Gophers captured two Capital Athletic Conference Championships and made two trips to the NCAA Tournament. The 1996-97 team set the school record for victories in a season.

Nunley and his wife, Tara, reside in Salem with their children, Landon and Hannah.