Rich McBride, a veteran coach with experience at both the NCAA Division I and Division II levels, joined the Lincoln men’s basketball program as the team’s assistant coach in 2022. Now in his second season at LU, McBride was promoted to the position of associate head coach in 2023.
In his first season at Lincoln, McBride helped coach the second-biggest improvement in NCAA Division II, as the Blue Tigers improved their win total by 13 games from 2021-22. McBride helped Lincoln begin the year with a preseason victory over NCAA Division I opponent UMKC, and end the season with 17 victories. That included 13 wins against MIAA opponents, a new single-season high by the Blue Tigers. McBride additionally coached three players who were named to the All-MIAA team as Lincoln finished its season in Kansas City at the MIAA Championship Tournament for the first time since 2019-20.
McBride served as a graduate assistant at the University of Missouri in 2021-22, and he was also an assistant coach at the University of Illinois from 2014-16. McBride additionally played for Illinois, earning All-Big 10 honorable mention status while taking the Fighting Illini to the NCAA Final Four in 2005.
Before going to Missouri to pursue a master’s degree, McBride was an assistant coach at Moberly Area Community College from 2019-21. In his first season with the Greyhounds, McBride helped lead the team to the NJCAA national tournament. That stint followed a three-year run as the assistant coach at Minot State, where he helped the program achieve its best single-season record ever en route to an NSIC tournament championship.
A 2019 inductee into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, McBride began his career as the head coach at Cairo High in Illinois, and he has also worked at Green County High in Kentucky and Lanphier High in Illinois. In the summer of 2016, McBride was selected as an NBA Skills Trainer in San Francisco, and he also enjoyed success as a coach at the AAU level.
McBride graduated from Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in sports management, and he is currently pursuing a master’s degree in positive coaching and athletic leadership from Missouri.
