Allan Nathaniel Ray (born June 17, 1984) is an American sports agent and former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for four years at

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

. He played one season ( 2006–07) with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

College career

Ray was recruited out of that year's

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

Champions, St. Raymond High School, by Villanova head coach Jay Wright. He committed to the Wildcats in 2001, along with three other players that made up a highly praised recruiting class. Along with

Randy Foye Randy Foye (born September 24, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. He played collegiately at Villanova University. He was selected seventh overall in the 2006 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics, but was immediately traded to ...

Curtis Sumpter Curtis Sumpter (born January 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player currently working as an assistant coach for the Delaware 87ers of the NBA G League. A 6'7" forward from Brooklyn, New York, Sumpter was named to the All-Big East ...

and Jason Fraser, Ray was part of a class proclaimed as the players to lead the Wildcats back to a championship.

Freshman and sophomore seasons

Ray's career at Villanova was slightly hampered by injuries, but nothing that kept him from scoring 2,000 points as a Wildcat. His freshman season, he was a key contributor. He had 16 points in his Wildcat debut against Marquette on November 15, 2002. As a sophomore, he averaged a team-leading 17.3 points per game.

Junior season

In his junior season, Ray was named second team all-

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

and led the Wildcats in scoring with 16.2 ppg. That year, he also led Villanova to the Sweet 16 of the 2005 NCAA tournament where they lost to eventual national champion

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

by one point.

Senior season

His senior season was arguably Ray's best season as a college player when he averaged 18.5 ppg. Villanova tied for the Big East regular-season championship with

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

and split their two games with the Huskies. Their final Big East regular-season record was 14–2. Overall, their record was 28–5. In 2006, Ray was named to the Big East first team, along with teammate Randy Foye, who was given the honor of

Big East Player of the Year The Big East Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year award is given to the men's basketball player in the Big East Conference voted as the top performer by the conference coaches. It was first awarded at the end of the league's inaugural sea ...

. Ray led Villanova to the Elite Eight of the 2006 NCAA tournament, playing in a four-guard offense with Foye,

Kyle Lowry Kyle Terrell Lowry (born March 25, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been a six-time NBA All-Star and was named to the All-NBA Third Team in 2016. Lowry ...

and

Mike Nardi Mike Nardi (born January 30, 1985) is an American basketball coach and former player. He attended St. Patrick High School (New Jersey), St. Patrick High School in Elizabeth, New Jersey and Villanova University. He is 6'2" 170 lb Playing ...

Eye injury

During the 2006 Big East tournament, Ray was poked in the eye by

Carl Krauser Carl Isaac Krauser (born May 13, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Quebec Kebs of the National Basketball League of Canada. He was a point guard for the University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsb ...

during the semifinal game against

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. His vision apparently left him for a period of time and his eyeball had seemed to come loose from the socket, leading most to believe it was an extremely serious injury. However, his vision returned and it turned out to be only soft tissue damage. He was able to play less than a week later in the NCAA tournament, without goggles. In his first game back, he led Villanova in scoring. While on the video it appeared as though his eye came loose from the socket, his eyelid actually went behind his eye, giving off the impression of his eye coming loose.

Professional career

Ray was not selected in the 2006 NBA Draft, surprising many Big East fans and some

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

experts. On July 6, 2006, he was signed as a free agent by the

. Ray was sent to the D-League

Austin Toros Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, but was recalled after just two games there. He led the Toros in scoring in both games he played for them. During the last two months of the season, Ray began receiving extended playing time with the Celtics, and had two 22-point games and three others where he scored 20, 18 and 17 points. Ray was also fourth among rookies in three-point percentage. Despite a seemingly bright future in Boston, Ray agreed to terms on a $2 million contract to play in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, instead of having the Celtics pick up his $687,456 option. Ray signed with the Euroleague club

Lottomatica Virtus Roma Pallacanestro Virtus Roma, commonly known as Virtus Roma, was an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. It competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the LBA, for the last time in the 2020–21 season. It was form ...

on July 27, 2007. Midway through the following season, after the club signed

Brandon Jennings Brandon Byron Jennings (born September 23, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player who played 9 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is known for being one of the first Americans to go from high school to ...

(whom Ray served as a mentor to), Ray left to sign a contract with Carife Ferrara for the remaining part of the season. After sitting out the 2009–10 season to recover from knee surgery, Ray signed with Sutor Montegranaro for the 2010–11 season. In November 2011 he signed a temporary contract with

BC Krka Košarkarski klub Krka (English: Basketball Club Krka), commonly referred to as KK Krka or simply Krka, is a professional basketball team based in Novo Mesto, Slovenia. The team competes in the Premier A Slovenian Basketball League and the ABA Le ...

in Slovenia, but in December 2011 he signed a new contract with

Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez Elan Corporation plc was a major drugs firm based in Dublin, Ireland, which had major interests in the United States. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as ELN, the Irish Stock Exchange as ELN.I, and the London Stock Exchange as ELN. ...

in France. In August 2012, he moved to Germany and signed with

ratiopharm Ulm Ratiopharm Ulm, officially stylized as ratiopharm Ulm, is a professional basketball club based in Ulm, Germany. The club has two teams, one professional team, which plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, the major German professional league and one ...

for the 2012–13 season. In November 2013, he signed with the Croatian team

Cedevita Zagreb Košarkaški klub Cedevita Junior ( en, Cedevita Junior Basketball Club), also known as Cedevita Junior, is a men's basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is named after its main sponsor Cedevita, and competes in the Croatian HT Premi ...

for the rest of the 2013–14 season. On July 30, 2014, he signed with

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

for the 2014–15 season. On March 11, 2015, he signed a two-year contract extension with Virtus. On March 31, 2016, he parted ways with Virtus. In 2015–16 season, he played only six games due to an injury. On October 30, 2016, he signed with Amici Pallacanestro Udinese of the Italian

Serie A2 Basket Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with pro ...

. On March 30, 2017, he parted ways with Udinese. On April 3, 2017, he signed with Turkish club

TED Ankara Kolejliler TED Ankara Kolejliler Spor Kulübü, more commonly known as TED Ankara Kolejliler is a professional basketball team from the city of Ankara in Turkey. Their home arena is the Ankara Arena with a capacity of 10,400 seats, which was opened in April ...

for the rest of the 2016–17 BSL season. On December 4, 2017, Ray signed with Byblos Club of the

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is the top-tier professional men's basketball league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketball Federation (FLB). Currently, the leagu ...

.Allan Ray signs with Byblos in Lebanon
/ref>

References

External links

Profile
at euroleague.com
Profile
at legabasket.it {{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Allan 1984 births Living people ABA League players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Croatia American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Lebanon American expatriate basketball people in Slovenia American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Austin Toros players Basketball players from New York City Boston Celtics players Élan Béarnais players KK Cedevita players KK Krka players Pallacanestro Virtus Roma players Point guards Ratiopharm Ulm players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Brooklyn Sutor Basket Montegranaro players TED Ankara Kolejliler players Undrafted National Basketball Association players Villanova Wildcats men's basketball players Virtus Bologna players