It’s been quite a journey for this Buckeye.

NIU head volleyball coach Ray Gooden has gone from a kid in the neighbourhood spinning records, to collegian athlete, then into coaching, only to keep spinning records the whole time.

The Northern Star got a chance to mix it up with Gooden before the Huskies hit the road this weekend.

Northern Star: So you just reached 100 wins. What, is that like turning 21?

Ray Gooden: It’s like turning 50. I think it’s awesome. Unfortunately I get the credit for a bunch of folks who really helped me get to that point. All the players that have played here before, all the coaches who have helped with it, all the support staff, it just happens to be my name that goes with the record. I’m very fortunate, but by the same sense there’s way too many people who’ve helped me to get to that level.

NS: Now this is your seventh year as a head coach at NIU. Are you sort of the old man of the staff, at least in the fall sports?

RG: Some days it seems very long, but, especially with Jeff Compher [NIU’s Athletic Director] here, it just seems like a rebirth of things. So that parts pretty cool. For me it’s nice to have the same staff for three years. That helps to keep so many things in line so we don’t have to recreate the wheel and so we can move forward. That’s been a very positive part of it.

NS: How is working with Jeff Compher?

RG: For me personally its nice because we interact pretty well as he continues to learn what goes on here. He does his thing will all our sports, including volleyball. He’s not a in your face guy, but he definitely cares and has passions. It’s just a different style of leadership than what we’re used to with Dr. Phillips. I think we’re all pretty excited to see how it continues.

NS: You got the chance to coach in Europe this summer, how was it?

RG: It was great. I got a chance to go to Croatia and coach a team of 20 and under kids and coach with three other Division I coaches. It was nice to get a chance to interact with those coaches and those players from different conferences and different parts of the country. And, any time you get asked to do something like that you feel fortunate because you’ve got 300+ Division I schools, not to mention all the other levels. So when someone ask you, “hey you want to do this” it makes you pretty proud of what your doing, especially where your doing it at.

NS: How did you get ask to coach the team?

RG: The company’s called Bring it USA and what they do is they deal with getting college players to play professionally in Europe and South America. They also run university tours. I had coached a team back in 2006, a bunch of kids looking to get professional contracts. Then that spring we took our team [NIU] over there to go to Austria. So we’ve had a pretty good relationship. Then an opportunity came up to coach a tournament that was similar to a tournament that our players, Meagan Schoenrock and Kate McCullagh, played in before where kids who are 20 under can play under the USA national umbrella. They asked me to do it and I was able to do it with the support of the administration. It worked out well.

NS: What was the best part?

RG: I think the best part was just the general experience. Interacting with the players, the coaches, the other teams and with other people in Europe. Just interacting with people is something I love to do. Just to get a chance to interact with people who I’ve meet in previous trips, new people, the teams and the coaches was the most fun for me.

NS: Any new food that you tried?

RG: Nothing too outrageous. It’s pretty meat heavy, meat and potatoes heavy.

I guess we tried a couple different beers, by the way. The food maybe had a little twist, but for the most part it was a lot of pizza, they try to Americanize it a lot. But as I said, the beer was pretty good.

NS: Good lager, like a real Budweiser, I’m sure.

RG: You named it.

NS: So you played volleyball at Ohio State, so I have to ask, is it The Ohio State or just Ohio State?

RG: During my time at Ohio State it became The Ohio State. I think it was my sophomore year. It became Ohio State to The Ohio State University, which we though was the biggest joke. Obviously it’s probably the butt of many peoples jokes. I don’t know why they did. I don’t know if it was prestigious, if they were trying to be elite or if someone thought it was going to be cool to have those three letters. For us, especially around my era, it was a running joke. It was kind of like the people at one time who were around for the old Huskie dog and then the new Huskie. The old people don’t like the new Huskie, the new people don’t like the old Huskie, and you’re just kind of in between. I was in the in between phase. But heck, they’re just letters. Ohio State got’s it own thing. I’m just proud to be a Buckeye because it was a great time of my life to go to Ohio State.

NS: What memories do you have left from being a Buckeye?

RG: Oh man, going back to interacting. I went to school with 55,000 to 60,000 people. I remember getting interviewed my freshman year and they asked me what I wanted to do and I said wanted to meet 5,000 people a year. Though you felt like a number sometimes, it was just nice to find newness every day. The ability to beat a Big Ten school was cool. Even though I’m from Evanston with Northwestern there, the attitude is totally different. People live and die Ohio State, they bled scarlet and gray. It was also fun to play volleyball where so few guys get to play varsity.

NS: Are you going to watch the big game on Saturday?

RG: I’ve been coaching college now, good lord, 15 years. Though I bleed scarlet and gray it’s tough for me with volleyball to really sit down and watch football games.

When I hear about it, it’s cool. I’ve been to one National Championship game my life and that’s pretty fun. I hope Ohio State beats USC but it’s not going to be the end all be all, because [the Huskies] are going to try and beat Bradley at the same time. But I’ll definitely kind of keep a little ear to it from the side.

NS: I know you used to disk jockey, do you ever blow off the dust on the vinyl?

RG: I still do it. I just did a wedding for an alum who was here, Coley Johnson, back from 2001. I did it in August. I’ve done some stuff here and there around town. It’s cool my wife let’s me do it. I can’t do it as much, but I still get a chance to do it, and when I do, I love it.

It’s just now on a computer with a CD player and software instead of just playing vinyl on crates. But it’s all the same stuff. It’s just trying to get people to enjoy their evening or enjoy their event. So whenever I can I do it. So don’t be surprised if you see me around town, not on occasion, but once every a while playing some bad music.

NS: What’s your favorite vinyl, not mp3, to play?

RG: I would play any kind of 90s hip hop to A Tribe Called Quest to really bad stuff like Digital Underground. A whole bunch of 90s hip hop. Stuff along those lines. I still have a bunch of those records around. I still play a lot of house music. I could pull out vinyls for that. Everything is so digital now though that I just play mp3s.

NS: How about this, what’s the worst song that gets request?

RG: When it goes through those phases it’s those bad hip hop songs. It was “Laffy Taffy” and that “Get Silly” song was around. I like it, it has the beat. But then you get the random one’s sometimes when people want to hear “Living on a Prayer”, or “Sweet Child of Mine”, or “Sweet Home Alabama”, just because the places I play are so random. They always get requested, you just have to do it, everyone gets excited, and you just have to go from there.

NS: What got you started as a DJ?

RG: Well, back in the day, the mid to late 80s, house parties were the big thing from where I was from. There was a whole bunch of guys who pooled their money together and bought a turntable, and then two turntables, and records and we had record stores in our town or around the city. More and more guys became popular, and they had a chance to spin in clubs or play for DJs like Cool-Mo-Dee. The thing is I just love music. If there was one hobby that I have it’s music. I love music all the time. We have music in practices. I love making people feel good when they can hear music at an event, a party, a weeding, whatever. So when I went to college, I sold my stuff. But then picked it up again. I acquired more stuff, then sold that stuff out of college. But then I started DJing in Chicago at clubs. Then I thought I was done with it again when I came out to DeKalb, but I started playing some more. Every time its gone from vinyl, to CDs, to now mp3s – just different software programs. But it’s a blast. It’s a lot of fun. It’s a great way to spend four, five hours at a night club to play music to make people feel good.

NS: Do you ever think there will be a game called DJ hero?

RG: It’s kind of funny because I think some of the software programs that I have feel like a computer game. I think it’s hard to be like the cool DJ, who spins behind your neck to get some points. I think Guitar Hero is the closest you’re going to get to it.

NS: Last question before you are off the hot seat, what is your favorite thing to do off the court?

RG: Right now, honestly is playing with Gianna, my little girl, and hanging out with my wife Stephanie. And in all honesty, if I can play some music it’s great. If I can sit back and chill and play some beats it’s great. Not only do I like it, but Stephanie likes it and Gianna bounces around. That’s the biggest thing. That’s the way I chill. It’s pretty fun.

NS: You better watch out, Ginanna might start stealing your DJ equipment.

RG: You know what, she’s already bouncing around. We have her a little DJ set up and she’s starting to mess around with it. I wouldn’t be surprised.