Rick Croy is joining the Sun Devil Men’s Basketball program after spending the past 13 seasons as the head coach of Cal Baptist University. He helped the Lancers transition from a Division II powerhouse to a Division I NCAA Tournament participant this season. In the first two seasons of Division I play, the Lancers combined to win 37 games - a NCAA record for most wins in the first two years of a transition program. During his tenure in Riverside, he compiled a 275-137 (.667) record and established himself as one of the top developers of talent in all of college basketball. Guards Dominique Daniels Jr. (2026) and Milan Acquaah (2020) were named WAC Player of the Year under the guidance of Croy.
The 2025-26 season was the pinnacle of Croy’s tenure at CBU. The Lancers finished the year with 25 wins, the most in the program’s Division I history. They were awarded a No. 13 seed in the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, where they faced Kansas in the First Round. Croy surpassed 400 career wins this past season and led CBU to their first WAC Tournament Championship in program history, beating Utah Valley in the conference championship game to clinch an automatic bid to March Madness. Croy led the Lancers to a 15-0 home record and a 19-game win streak at home, the eighth-longest active streak in Division I.
Prior to CBU, Croy spent three years as the lead assistant coach at St. Mary’s. During his time working under Randy Bennett, the Gaels went 80-22 overall, winning two regular-season West Coast Conference championships and making two NCAA Tournament appearances. The duo has been reunited in Tempe for the first time since 2013.