Head Women's Basketball Coach Rob Cross has announced the addition of one of the NCAA's winningest coaches to the Racer basketball coaching staff for the 2010-11 season. Tony Cross (no relation) joins the Racers as an assistant coach after 26 years at the helm of the Belmont University Women's Basketball program.  He will be instrumental in academics, recruiting and player development. Tony Cross will have a hand in practically all aspects of day-to-day operations and will work primarily with post players and forwards.

"We are thrilled with the addition of Tony to the Racer Family,” said head coach Rob Cross. “He has a well deserved reputation as a great basketball coach (his record speaks for itself), but the things that excite me the most about his joining our program are the tremendous work ethic he brings to the table and the quality of his character. He will be a tremendous asset not only to our student-athletes but also to our entire staff."

The Knoxville, Tenn., native comes to the Racers after spending 26 seasons as the head coach at Belmont University. While with the Bruins, Tony Cross guided the team into a perennial power as a member of the NAIA and successfully transitioned the team to a winning tradition at the Division I level in the NCAA. He ended his tenure at Belmont with a 544-255 (.681) career record and was ranked No. 20 on the NCAA's Winningest Active Coaches (by win total) at the start of the 2009-10 campaign. In his 26 seasons with Belmont the team recorded 23 consecutive seasons with at least a .500 record.

“I am excited about the opportunity to work with the Murray State women's basketball team,” said Tony Cross. “Rob Cross and I have known each other for several years and the timing worked out for me to have the opportunity to work with him. I just hope that I can help make a difference in the experience that the student-athletes will have during their time with the Racers.”

As a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference for eight seasons, Tony Cross' recruiting skills showed as the Bruins had at least one player earn All-Atlantic Sun First Team honors. In 2005-06 he guided Alysha Clark to become the first player in Atlantic Sun history to receive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors in the same season. She repeated as Player of the Year in 2006-07 and became just the sixth player in the conference to win the honor twice and the fourth to win the title in consecutive seasons.

Belmont had a strong academic tradition under Tony Cross as well. For nine years the Bruins were among the top-15 of the Women's Basketball Coaches of America (WBCA) Top-25 Academic Honor Roll.

He began his coaching career at Norma Elementary School where he led the boys' and girls' basketball teams to a combined 72-18 record in three seasons.  Tony Cross then became the head girls' basketball coach at Lake City High School for the next four seasons, guiding the team to a 103-29 record. In his fourth season at Lake City, he was honored as East Tennessee Coach of the Year after the team finished 35-1 and earned the No. 1 ranking in Class AA. He then moved to the Anderson City High School girls' team for one season. In 1983-84 he served as a graduate assistant for the legendary Pat Summit at the University of Tennessee before taking the head position at Belmont.

Tony Cross graduated from Belmont in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in business administration, while playing for the men's basketball team (1970-74). He earned a master's degree in elementary education from Tennessee in 1984.

Tony Cross is married to the former Lois Wilder of Knoxville, Tenn., an elementary school teacher at Granbery Elementary in Brentwood, Tenn.