Barclay Radebaugh

Barclay Radebaugh enters his ninth season as head men’s basketball coach at Charleston Southern in 2013-14 and looks to build on back-to-back 19-win campaigns that rank among the most successful in program history.

CSU entered the 2012-13 season as the Big South favorite and backed up that billing with a 12-4 conference record which earned the Bucs the inaugural South Division championship, as well as the de facto league-wide regular season crown. Led by the sophomore backcourt of Saah Nimley (All-Big South 1st Team) and Arlon Harper (All-Big South 2nd Team), CSU highlighted its first regular-season conference title in 26 years with an eight-game winning streak that was the third longest in school history and included a 7-0 start to Big South play.

The Bucs also reached their first Big South Tournament title game since 2005 with a pair of tough wins over Winthrop and VMI. CSU fell to a red-hot Liberty team in the final to miss out on a trip to the NCAA Tournament, but reached national postseason play for just the second time in school history with a berth in the NIT. Radebaugh and a still young squad made the most of the experience, giving top-seeded Southern Miss all it could handle in a 78-71 loss before a raucous partisan crowd in Hattiesburg.

Under Radebaugh's guidance, CSU once again thrived offensively in 2013-14, as it finished the year 39th nationally in scoring offense. The three-point shot continued to be a strength for the Bucs, who led the country in made threes per game for parts of the year and finished second behind only Iowa State. Although undersized, CSU also excelled on the glass, finishing second in the Big South and 57th nationwide with a +4.0 rebounding margin.

Radebaugh earned Big South Conference Coach of the Year honors for his efforts in 2012-13, as the Bucs went 19-12 and advanced to the conference tournament semifinals behind a starting lineup which featured three freshmen and a junior college transfer. CSU’s 19 wins were the program’s most since 1994-1995, as the Bucs secured their first winning season since 1996-1997. Senior Kelvin Martin led the way for Radebaugh’s young group, as the forward played his way onto the all-conference first team while earning a nod as the league’s defensive player of the year for a second consecutive season. Radebaugh was also instrumental in the growth of freshmen guards Saah Nimley and Arlon Harper, as the two started 56 of a possible 62 games and were unanimous selections to the conference’s all-freshmen team. The freshmen duo helped power a CSU offense which featured outstanding balance and had four players in double figures for the majority of the season (Martin, Nimley, Harper, and Mathiang Muo). As a team, CSU finished the season 22nd nationally in scoring (76. 9 ppg), 20th in three-point field goals per game (8.4), 30th in three-point field goal percentage (38.0%), 40th in steals per game (8.1) and 27th in turnover margin (+2.7).

The Bucs opened the season in style when they led Big 12 power Kansas State by 14 at halftime, before taking the Wildcats all the way to the wire in a 72-67 loss. Radebaugh's squad also enjoyed a home-and-away sweep of Atlantic Sun foe Stetson, a 33-point home victory over VMI, a road win over Liberty, an 18-point blowout of then first-place Campbell, a triumph at Big South regular season and tournament champion and preivously undefeated UNC Asheville, a home win over rival Winthrop, a sweep of Presbyterian and a conference tournament win over Liberty. CSU also continued to enjoy a distinct home court advantage, posting a 12-2 mark to improve to 35-7 at the Buc Dome over the last three seasons.

CSU took a step forward in 2010-2011 as well, as it went 16-6 overall and 9-9 in the Big South, finishing sixth in the conference. The Bucs were particularly good at home, as they won their first ten games inside Buccaneer Fieldhouse and teamed with the women’s program to hold the distinction of being one of the last four schools in Division I to have both teams undefeated on their home court. The Bucs would conclude the season 12-3 at home, highlighted by a second straight win over The Citadel, and conference victories over the likes of rivals Winthrop and UNC Asheville.

In his first season at CSU, Radebaugh put his imprint on the program immediately by leading the Bucs to a 13-16 overall record and an appearance in the Big South Tournament Semifinals. The Buccaneers also beat the College of Charleston for the first time since 1988, and captured the city championship for the first time since 1986 with a victory over The Citadel. 

The Bucs followed this performance with a second consecutive city championship in 2006. Big home victories over High Point, Liberty and Coastal Carolina highlighted his third season at the helm. The Buccaneers also set a Big South record with 10 Freshman of the Week honors, capped off by Omar Carter earning Big South Freshman of the Year. 

Under the direction of Radebaugh, Jamarco Warren had a breakout sophomore campaign during the 2008-09 season, breaking the CSU single season record for three pointers made with 99. 

Radebaugh has an impressive coaching resume from a career that began in 1986 as a student assistant coach at East Tennessee State under Les Robinson. After stops at Wofford and Furman, Radebaugh began a seven-year stay at South Carolina.

While at South Carolina, the Gamecocks won the SEC regular season title and received a number two seed in the 1997 NCAA tournament. In 1998, the Gamecocks finished the season ranked 14th and received a number three seed in the NCAA tournament. At South Carolina, Radebaugh was the position coach for USC’s all-time leading scorer B.J. McKie, all-time three-point scorer Jamel Bradley, and all-time steals leader Chuck Eidson, the cousin of former Buccaneer Director of Operations Sean Sweeney.

Radebaugh continued his success as an assistant at Winthrop University, helping the Eagles to back-to-back Big South Conference titles and an NCAA tournament berth in 2002.

Radebaugh then spent one season as the head coach at Queens University in Charlotte, guiding the Royals to a 21-8 record overall and a 14-4 record in the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference. There, Radebaugh coached Spencer Ross who was named the Sporting News Division II National Player of the Year.  Spencer was the only Division II player in the country invited to the Plymouth, Va. NBA pre-draft camp.

The next and final stop before CSU would be serving as an assistant coach at Miami. In his one season at the school, the Hurricanes finished 16-13, which was good enough for a sixth place finish in the ACC and an invitation to the NIT. Radebaugh served as the position coach for Guillermo Diaz who was second-team all-ACC, and Robert Hite, who earned Honorable Mention all-ACC honors.  Both Diaz and Hite went on to play in the NBA.  Diaz was drafted in the second round by the Los Angeles Clippers, and Hite enjoyed a stint with the Miami Heat.

A native of Lincolnton, North Carolina, Radebaugh received his master of arts degree in physical education from the University of South Carolina in 1996 and earned his bachelor of science degree in business administration at East Tennessee State in 1987.

Radebaugh and his wife, Hope, have three children: Anna (20), Reid (15) and Sophia (14).