ELON, N.C. -- New Elon men’s basketball coach Matt Matheny has announced the first addition to his coaching staff – former North Carolina State standout Justin Gainey.  Gainey comes to the Phoenix program after spending the past three seasons working with the NC State program in Raleigh.

“Justin brings invaluable experience both as a player and a coach in this area,” said Matheny.  “His number one quality, however, is that he is a person of high character who will represent Elon with an incredible degree of integrity.”

Gainey returned to North Carolina State in August of 2006 to serve as the program’s administrative coordinator.  In that role he acted as the liaison between the coaching staff and the academic support personnel.  He earned the title of director of basketball operations in January.  Gainey has also assisted in camp planning and served as a camp director as well as worked toward keeping the program in compliance with NCAA regulations.

Prior to returning to his alma mater, Gainey was an assistant varsity basketball coach at the Cary Academy for three seasons.  At Cary Academy he was responsible for guard development and assisting in game strategy.

Gainey, a three-year starter for the Wolfpack program, acted as a team captain and was an honorable mention all-conference pick as well as an ACC all-tournament team member during his career.

At the 1997 ACC Tournament, Gainey set a league record by becoming the first freshman to play all 40 minutes in four tournament games.  His play helped send the Wolfpack to the ACC title game as the number eight seed.  

Gainey ranks ninth in Wolfpack history with 344 assists and fourth in steals with 190.

He then played professionally in Europe for two seasons.  He was a member of the Woerthersee Piratens, a first division Austrian league team, in 2000-01 and then played for the Olypique D’Antibes, a first division team in France, in 2001-02.

Gainey holds both a bachelor of science in business administration and a master of science in parks, recreation and tourism from North Carolina State.   He earned his undergraduate degree in 2000.

Gainey is married to the former Courtney Taylor.  They are the parents of two sons – Jordan and Jayson.

-- ELON --