Royal Ivey is the head coach of the South Sudanese national basketball team who is all set to lead the team to their debut Olympic competition, find out more about him and his wife
Notably, Royal Ivey also serves as the current assistant coach of the Houston Rockets in the NBA under Ime Udoka.
Who is Royal Ivey South Sudan basketball team coach, bio, age, height, family, parents, wife, high school, college and stats
Under Royal Ivey, South Sudan have Deng and Fortune Solomon as assistant coaches for the tournament.
Royal Ivey bio
Royal Terence Ivey is an American professional basketball coach and former player who was born on December 20, 1981, in Harlem, New York, USA. As a player, Ivey played 11 seasons in the NBA and currently serves as the assistant coach for the Houston Rockets of the NBA. Notably, he serves as the head coach of the South Sudanese national basketball team.
Age and height
Royal Ivey is currently 42 years old and stands at a height of 1.93 m.
Education
During his childhood, Royal Ivey attended the Benjamin N. Cardozo High School and Blair Academy. He later attended The University of Texas at Austin where he graduated with a degree in applied learning and development in 2011. During his time there, he played college basketball, where he finished as the school’s all-time career leader in games started with 126.
Parents and siblings
Royal Ivey was born to parents Jennifer Ivey, and Rodney Ivey, and has a brother named Sterling Ivey.
Playing career
Royal Ivey started off his professional career after the Atlanta Hawks selected him as the 37th overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft. He later signed a one-year contract with the Bucks on September 18, 2007. After the contract expired, Ivey joined the Philadelphia 76ers on July 24, 2008. After refusing a renewal on June 15, 2009, he became an unrestricted free agent, but eventually re-signed with the 76ers in August 2009.
The following year, the 76ers traded Ivey to the Milwaukee Bucks on February 18, 2010 before signing with the Oklahoma City Thunder later that same year on July 21. However, he returned to the 76ers on July 27, 2012 and signed with the Atlanta Hawks on September 30, 2013. After getting waived, on October 25, he signed a 10-day contract with OKC on January 16, 2014. ย After his contract expired, Royal Ivey joined the Guangdong Southern Tigers of China, playing for the rest of the 2013โ14 season before ending his 10-year playing career.
Coaching career
Following his retirement, Ivey joined Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA Development League as their assistant coach on September 29, 2014. He eventually became the player development assistant two years later and then became an assistant coach with OKC. Ivey then joined the New York Knicks as an assistant coach on June 7, 2018, under David Fizdale.
He served in the role before joining the Brooklyn Nets on November 11, 2020, as assistant coach under Steve Nash. The following year, Ivey signed as head coach of the national team of South Sudan. He first led the team at AfroBasket 2021, which is the countryโs first major tournament.
Under Royal Ivey, South Sudan qualified for their first ever World Cup in 2023 and then earned a first ever Olympic berth at the 2024 games after finishing as the best African team. Last year, on July 3, 2023, the Houston Rockets hired Royal Ivey as an assistant coach, where he currently serves.
Wife
Royal Ivey married his wife Deanna Herrington in 2023. He and Deanna were married with a reception with 280 guests after months of planning and they had all of three days in Turks and Caicos before going to training camp in Lake Charles, La., with the Rockets.
Royal Terence Ivey made at least $8,165,468 playing in the NBA.