Darby Rich - Strength Coach - Men's Basketball Coaches

Darby Rich

Title:
Strength Coach
Email:
drich2@memphis.edu
Phone:
901-678-2346

Darby Rich joined coach Penny Hardaway's staff as strength and conditioning coach in June 2019. A former basketball player at Alabama and a staff member on nine NCAA Tournament teams, Rich came to Memphis after six seasons at Texas A&M.

He was in a similar capacity at Oklahoma (2004-09) and South Carolina (2002-04) before taking the Texas A&M job.

In two seasons in Memphis, Rich helped develop NBA Draft selections James Wiseman (2nd overall) and Precious Achiuwa (20th overall), with Achiuwa earning American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year honors in 2020. Moussa Cisse was named the AAC’s Freshman of the Year for the 2020-21 season. He helped the Tigers to back-to-back 20-win seasons and the 2021 NIT championship.

During his time in Aggieland, Rich helped to develop nine players who went on to receive all-conference accolades, including First-Team All-SEC selections Tyler Davis, Elston Turner and Danuel House. He also worked with first round NBA Draft selection and two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year Robert Williams, second-round pick Khris Middleton and NBA champion Alex Caruso.

While Rich was in College Station, the Aggies won the SEC championship in 2016 and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2016 and 2018.

Prior to that, Rich spent five seasons (2004-09) as the strength and conditioning coach for the University of Oklahoma men’s basketball team. During his tenure, the Sooners made the NCAA Tournament four times (20005, 2006, 2008, 2009) and claimed the 2005 Big 12 Championship. In his final season in Norman, OU went 30-6 and advanced to the NCAA Elite 8.

At Oklahoma, Rich worked with Blake Griffin, who was selected first overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2009 NBA Draft, and Taylor Griffin, who was taken with the 48th overall pick of the 2009 Draft by the Phoenix Suns. He left following the 2008-09 season to work as a personal strength coach for pro golfer Anthony Kim, who won the 2010 Shell Houston Open and was third at the 2010 Masters.

Rich joined the Oklahoma program after serving the previous two seasons as South Carolina's men's basketball strength coach, where he helped the Gamecocks to 35 wins and the program's only NCAA Tournament berth in the previous 14 seasons. Rich also served as USC's women's basketball strength coach during that time, working with an NCAA Tournament team in 2003.

Before his stint with South Carolina, Rich spent a year and a half as a strength and conditioning intern with the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. He began that position, working under legendary strength coach Joe Jurazsek, in May 2001.

Ahead of making the temporary move to football, Rich spent three seasons (1998-99 through 2000-01) as an assistant coach at Sam Houston State. Working for head coach Bob Marlin, he helped the Bearkats win the school's first Southland Conference title (2000) and recorded the school's highest Division I victory total for a season (22 in 2000). Rich rejoined Marlin at SHSU in December 2009 as a volunteer assistant coach, helping Marlin's team win the 2010 Southland Conference regular season and tournament championships. The Bearkats made their second appearance all-time in the NCAA Tournament that year, dropping a tight first-round game to an eventual Elite 8 opponent.

Rich began his college coaching career at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, serving from 1994 to 1998 as an assistant coach. Along with his assistant coaching responsibilities, Rich also served as HCC's strength and conditioning coach. Hutchinson was 117-24 during his tenure and won the 1994 NJCAA national title.

An All-State basketball player at Riverside High School in Greer, S.C., Rich played five seasons at Alabama. He served as a tri-captain his senior year (1992) with future NBA stars Robert Horry and Latrell Sprewell. He was a member of the Crimson Tide's 1989, 1990 and 1991 SEC championship teams and was a three-time SEC academic honor roll selection.

A 1992 Alabama graduate with a degree in criminal justice, Rich and his wife, Jennifer, wed in September 2006. The couple welcomed their first child, Case, in August 2011, and a second son, Cannon, in February 2014.