RAFFERTY SELECTED AS MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH

Central Wyoming College has selected Pat Rafferty as the new head men’s basketball coach.

Rafferty, a former Casper College coach and currently the director of basketball operations at the University of Texas-Arlington, is set to begin duties at Central on June 3.

Rafferty was selected over finalist Shelby Lindley, who was elevated to interim men’s basketball coach in October 2012 and coached the Rustlers to a 23-7 record.

Before being named to the basketball staff at UT-Arlington, Rafferty was the head coach at Grayson College in Dennison, Texas. While at Grayson, Rafferty guided the Vikings to the NJCAA Region V Tournament six of his nine years with the program. In May of 2011, Grayson dropped its men’s and women’s basketball programs due to budget cuts.

Prior to coaching at Grayson, Rafferty was an assistant coach at the University of Louisville under legendary coach Denny Crum. Rafferty also spent two seasons as a scout for the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves. His overall junior college head coaching record is 291-196, which included stints at Midland College and Casper College. Rafferty’s teams have one appearance in the NJCAA National Tournament and he has coached seven NJCAA All-Americans. Over his career he coached five athletes who played in the NBA.

Rafferty is a graduate of Buffalo High School, Northwest College and Montana State University-Billings. He was a member of the first Wyoming team ever selected to play in the Wyoming-Montana All-Star Game. His parents, Jack and Iz Rafferty, are retired teachers and reside in Buffalo. His father Jack was inducted into the Wyoming Coaches Hall of Fame in 1984.