Nike Boys Basketball Camp at Stony Brook University

The squad was also one of the most protective in Stony Brook's Division I history, finishing with the second-lowest turnover rate since 2000. It also was the fourth-most efficient offense since 2000 and the best mark since the 2015-16 campaign. His squad finished inside the Top 25 nationally in fewest fouls and fewest turnovers, as well as the top 50 nationally in turnovers per game.

Ford guided one of the nation's most intimidating defenses in 2020-21, finishing 16th nationally in blocks per game and 36th in the country in field-goal percentage defense.

In his first season at the helm of Stony Brook in 2019-20, Ford led Stony Brook to its seventh 20-win season in nine years, finishing with a 20-13 record and a berth in the America East semifinals.

They continued a decade of excellence in which they finished inside the top two in nine of the last 10 seasons, something that hasn't been done by any other America East team. He also helped lead three all-conference selections, including first-teamer Elijah Olaniyi and second-team selection Andrew Garcia to success this season.

His offense also broke records from beyond the arc this season, making a total of 274 3-pointers this year, a new team record. Makale Foreman also set a new mark individually, draining 104 shots from outside.

The Cambridge, Ohio native became the head man after three years as the Associate Head Coach under Boals, helping lead Stony Brook's offense to one of its most prolific outputs in Division I history with 71.6 points per game. That number was only bettered by the 2015-16 conference championship team.

Under Ford's associate head coach tenure, Stony Brook finished inside the top two in the standings in two of his three seasons with two America East semifinal berths also during that time.

He also brings a wealth of head coaching experience with two stops coming before this. He took over at Kent State in 2008, helping lead the Golden Flashes to a 68-37 record in his three years just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. This included a 35-13 mark in the Mid-American Conference and a pair of MAC regular-season championships, becoming the first MAC coach in 48 years to win back to back regular-season crowns.

He parlayed that into a job in the Missouri Valley Conference with Bradley, guiding the program to the nation's seventh-best turnaround in his second season, leading the team from a 7-25 mark to 18-17 the following year. He also coached the second MVC player ever to record 500 points, 100 rebounds, 100 assists and 70 steals in a season in Walt Lemon, Jr.

The Ohio University graduate sits sixth in school history with 1,752 career points after averaging 18.9 and 18.7 per night in his junior and senior seasons, respectively. He was also First-Team All-MAC and Academic All-Conference selection as a senior in 1997.

He made 115 appearances over four seasons with the Seawolves, averaging 13.3 minutes per contest. He spent his final two seasons under Ford, playing a key leadership role at the point guard position.

Rickard returned to the Seawolves after a three-year hiatus and helped lead Stony Brook's offense to new heights. This included setting the team's 3-point record with 274 makes on the season and Makale Foreman setting the individual mark with 104.

Before re-joining the Seawolves staff, Rickard was a men's assistant at NYU for the 2018-19 season. Under his tutelage, NYU made great strides on the defensive end of the floor, jumping from eighth to third in defensive efficiency in the UAA.

Rickard was promoted to assistant coach on the men's basketball staff in 2007 and was a part of four America East regular season championships, three postseason NIT berths and two spots in the CBI. He was part of a complete renaissance under head coach Steve Pikiell that included the most successful run in program history. In those eight seasons, Stony Brook has racked up 179 wins. In the last five seasons, Stony Brook has gone 119-47 overall and 67-13 in America East. The 67 conference wins over the last three seasons rank first in the nine-team league.

The 2015-16 season was Stony Brook's finest as it captured the America East regular season championship and tournament title. For the first time in Division I program history, the Seawolves advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where they faced Kentucky.

In 2013-14 Rickard coached a Seawolves squad that won 23 games and reached the America East Championship final for the third time in four years. Under his tutelage, the Seawolves offense averaged 71.4 points a game, more than a 3.0 point jump from the previous season. Stony Brook was top-four in America East in scoring offense, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. He also was mentor to two All-America East selections in the backcourt in seniors Dave Coley and Anthony Jackson.

In 2012-13 Rickard coached a Seawolves team that won a Division I program record 25 games, which also led all Metropolitan New York schools, captured its third regular season championship and NIT berth in the last four years and won its first-ever national postseason game, a 71-58 victory at Massachusetts in the first round of the NIT. The team finished the year ranked No. 20 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.

As offensive coordinator, Rickard helped develop a Seawolves offense that has blossomed over the last few seasons. In each of the last three seasons, the offense has improved in points per game, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. In 2012-13 alone, Stony Brook was in the top three of America East in six different offensive categories and led the conference in scoring (68.0 PPG) for the first time ever.

As recruiter, Rickard's tireless efforts helped Stony Brook recruit some of the best and brightest in program history. Rickard helped land Tommy Brenton, who went on to develop into a two-time America East Defensive Player of the Year and the 2013 America East Player of the Year. Brenton's 2012-13 season went down as one of the greatest ever in program history as he led the team in rebounds, steals and assists. He was named the 2013 recipient of the Lefty Driesell Award as the National Defensive Player of the Year and was named an All-America honorable mention by the Associated Press. Brenton graduated as the program's all-time leader in rebounds, assists and steals.

As backcourt coach, Rickard mentored a trio of All-America East guards in Bryan Dougher, Dave Coley and Carson Puriefoy. Dougher graduated as the program's all-time Division I leader in points and three-pointers made and was a three-time All-America East selection, including first-team honors in 2012. Coley, a steady offensive threat and one of the team's best defenders, developed into an All-Conference guard, earning third team and All-Defensive honors in 2013 and 2014. Puriefoy finished his career fourth in the program's Division I history in points (1,572). A two-time first team all-conference guard, Puriefoy was part of the winningest senior class in school history.

Rickard has been at Stony Brook for more than a decade, having played for the Seawolves from 2002-04. He appeared in 14 games over two seasons and helped the Seawolves reach the America East Championship semifinals in 2004, the furthest the program had advanced in the tournament at that time. Rickard graduated from Stony Brook in May 2004 with his bachelor's degree in Mathematics. He went on to earn his Master of Arts in Liberal Studies in 2006 while serving as the men's basketball graduate assistant.

Rickard lives in Port Jefferson with his wife, Courtney, their sons, Patrick and Braden, and daughter, Mallory.

He also guided two of the league's best guards to all-conference honors, as Tykei Greene and Anthony Roberts were both named Second Team All-Conference during the 2021-22 season. Greene improved in all areas, scoring 4.3 more points per game this season, shooting 8.3 percent better from the field and close to 13 percent better from 3-point land.

Roberts came in from St. Bonaventure and had a career year, shooting 15 percent better from the field, 15.3 percent from 3-point land and scored 11.1 more points per game under Avery's teaching.

The former Kent State guard arrived from Northwest Florida State College and East Tennessee State, where he served on each staff after graduating from the Golden Flashes in 2019.

"He is a high-character guy who had a terrific career as a player at Kent State," Ford said. "I believe he is going to be a real asset to our program through his teaching of the game and his ability to be a mentor to our players, especially our guards, where he will have a heavy involvement on a daily basis."

Avery was instrumental in creating, implementing and overseeing skill development, creating individualized skill development protocols for each player while at ETSU. He also helped in developing scouting reports and helped with video edits to send to potential recruits. After that, he jumped to Northwest Florida State, where he served as the main point of contact for recruiting.

Winner of the Walter Sage Athletic Memorial Endowed Scholarship before the 2018-19 campaign, he led the nation in assist to turnover ratio at Kent State during his junior season (5.04). He also paced the team with in assists (121) and 3-point field goal percentage (.374) on the 22-win Golden Flashes.

His 2019-20 tenure at ETSU was an exciting one, helping the Bucs to a 30-4 record and a Southern Conference Championship.

Before then, he was the recruiting coordinator under Ford at Bradley University, helping the Braves to one of the nation's best turnarounds in the 2012-13 season, winning 11 more games than the previous season in Illinois. He also helped Ford secure a star-filled recruiting class in 2013-14 that included a Top 100 high school recruit, a junior college All-American and a pair of NJCAA All-Region first-team selections.

He was also part of Ford's first staff at Kent State that was responsible in aiding the Golden Flashes to back to back Mid-American Conference regular-season titles and NIT bids in the 2010 and 2011 seasons.