NBA Development League: Front Office Call Ups

Ray Mathew - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL)
Ray Mathew joined the Red Claws at their inception in 2009 as an Account Executive and was promoted to Senior Account Executive in 2010 before leaving the team in 2011 to join the Tampa Buccaneers of the NFL as an Account Executive. Ray was born in Toronto, but grew up in Cary, NC, graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2004 with degrees in Business Administration and Economics. After completing his undergraduate degrees, he worked for three years as Logistics Analyst at Tekelec, a telecommunication company in Morrisville, NC. He then went back to school to receive an MBA and Masters in Sport Business Management from the University of Central Florida. While in Orlando, Ray worked for the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport and working game nights in the box office for the Orlando Magic. He was also involved in consulting projects for both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the NBA D-League.


Austin Ainge, Boston Celtics (NBA)
Austin Ainge became the Red Claws’ first head coach on July 21, 2009, leading the team to a 45-55 record over two seasons before being named the Director of Player Personnel for the Boston Celtics on May 13, 2011. His 2009-10 squad tied the NBA D-League record for wins by an expansion team in their first season with 27, narrowly missing the playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker. In his two seasons with the Red Claws, three Red Claws players earned NBA call ups and seven NBA players were assigned to the team. During the 2010-11 season, Ainge led a young Red Claws’ team that included up to seven rookies, including the 2011 NBA Development League Rookie of the Year DeShawn Sims.

Prior to joining the Red Claws, Austin Ainge was a scout with the Boston Celtics, where among his duties he was charged with working with Celtics rookies J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker while they were on assignment with Utah of the NBA Development League. Prior to joining the Celtics, Ainge served a stint as an assistant coach for Southern Utah University where he was responsible for perimeter players, recruiting, player development, video breakdown, and developing game plans.

Ainge had a successful playing career at Brigham Young University, where he was a two-year captain, leading BYU to two Mountain West Conference championships, three NCAA tournaments and one NIT appearances. Before playing at BYU, Ainge put his basketball career on hold and served a two-year mission in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.


Eric Little, Phoenix Suns (NBA)
Eric Little joined the Red Claws at their inception in 2009 as an Account Executive and was promoted to Senior Account Executive in 2010 before leaving the team in 2011 to join the Phoenix Suns front office. Originally from Milton, Vermont, Eric graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in Business Administration and holds an MBA and Master's in Sports Business Management from the DeVos Program at the University of Central Florida, where he worked in The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. Prior to joined the Red Claws, he had been involved in consulting projects for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the NBA D-League.


 
The Maine Red Claws are proud of our staff members, many of whom brought extensive experience in and out of the sports world when they joined the Red Claws' staff. We are also proud of our record of developing young talent, on the court and in the front office.