Joey Halley enters his second season as an assistant coach for Metro State in 2013-14.
Metro State tied the school record for best winning percentage in a season in 2012-13, going 32-3 (.914). The season started with 22 straight wins, the best start for any team in school history. The first setback came Feb. 22 at No. 17 Fort Lewis, but MSU Denver responded for a convincing win the following night at Adams State. The Roadrunners swept the RMAC tournament, winning the championship game 61-60 over Fort Lewis to avenge the previous loss. The winning streak reached six games after the regional tournament, hosted by Metro State after earning the No. 1 seed in the South Central Region. It was the first time the Roadrunners hosted a regional tournament since 2005.
Metro State entered the Elite Eight after three straight wins over Texas opponents in the regional tournament, including a 78-70 win over No. 23 St. Mary's in the regional championship. A 78-65 win over Franklin Pierce (N.H.) pitted MSU Denver against top-ranked West Liberty (W.Va.), which entered the Final Four averaging 103 points per game. Metro State limited WLU to just four points over the first 10 minutes of the game in the 83-76 victory to send Metro State to the championship game for the first time since 2002. The Roadrunners came up one point short in the title game, falling 74-73 to No. 7 Drury (Mo.) after leading nearly the entire game.
Senior Jonathan Morse was named Capital One second team Academic All-America and earned second team All-America honors, while being named RMAC player of the year. He became just the fifth player in RMAC history to reach 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. All five starters earned all-RMAC honors and Morse and junior Brandon Jefferson were both named all-region.
In addition to Morse's success in the classroom in 2012-13, Mitch McCarron was named RMAC academic player of the year and Nicholas Kay was named first team academic all-RMAC. Kay also earned the prestigious Elite 89 award with the top GPA at the NCAA championship event, as well as the RMAC's Summit Award.
Halley joined the Roadrunners after spending the 2011-12 season as an assistant at UC-Colorado Springs and had three total years of college coaching experience prior to MSU Denver.
Prior to his time at UCCS, Halley was an assistant for two seasons at Johnson & Wales in Denver, helping the Wildcats to conference titles in 2010 and 2011, along with two NAIA Tournament appearances. The 2009-10 season was the first winning season in JWU history. Halley also coached two NAIA All-America players and two Association of Independent Institutions Players of the Year.
He also served as interim head coach of the JWU women's team at the end of the 2009-10 season, leading the Wildcats to their first conference tournament appearance in school history.
A native of Weaverville, Calif., Halley earned his bachelor's degree in business management in 2008 from Johnson & Wales. He helped start the JWU men's basketball program as a student, becoming the president and founder of the first men's basketball club in 2000. Two years later, the Wildcats converted to a varsity basketball team. Halley also spent several years in telecommunications before beginning his coaching career.
