Ray Scott (basketball)

John Raymond Scott (born July 12, 1938) is a retired American basketball player and coach. A 6'9" forward/center who played college basketball at the University of Portland, Scott was selected with the fourth pick of the 1961 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons, and was a deadly shooter near the perimeter of the court. Scott had an 11-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the American Basketball Association (ABA), with the Pistons, Baltimore Bullets, and Virginia Squires.Scott also competed in high school against the great Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt at Overbrook and Scott at West Philadelphia. Scott was the successor to Wilt as the public league scoring champion.

Scott later coached the Pistons for three and a half seasons, from 1972 to 1976. In 1974, he won the NBA Coach of the Year Award after guiding the Pistons to a 52–30 regular season record.He was the first African-American to be so honored stating"now the door is open and i look for more to follow". Scott was fired by the Pistons on January 26, 1976, and replaced with assistant Herb Brown. At the time he was fired, the Pistons were 17–25. In March 1976, Scott was hired as the head basketball coach at Eastern Michigan University. Over three seasons, he guided EMU to a 29–52 record. Eastern Michigan fired Scott in March 1979.

After his coaching career, Scott went into private business. He also has the position of ambassador for children and families for the Wellspring Lutheran service agency in Michigan. In February 2008, Scott was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. In April 2008, during a celebration of the Pistons' 50th anniversary, he was named one of the "30 All-Time Pistons."