Donald Ray Tanner Jr. (born March 25, 1958) is an American college athletics administrator and former baseball coach who is the athletic director at the University of South Carolina, a position he took on July 13, 2012, after 16 seasons as head coach of the university's baseball program. His record at South Carolina was 738-316 (.700). He led USC to three consecutive

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

appearances in 2002, 2003, and 2004; three consecutive College World Series Finals appearances in 2010, 2011, and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

; two College World Series Championships in 2010 and 2011; and coached the

USA Baseball USA Baseball is the national governing body for organized baseball in the United States, and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Baseba ...

National Team during the 2003 summer. On April 11, 2010, Tanner recorded the 1,000th win of his career with a 2–0 victory over Vanderbilt, becoming the 44th Division I coach to reach the milestone.

Playing career

After graduating from South Johnston High School near his home in

Benson, North Carolina Benson is a town in Johnston County, North Carolina, United States, near the intersection of Interstates 95 and 40. Benson celebrates Mule Days on the fourth Saturday of September, a festival that attracts over 60,000 people each year. In 2010 ...

, Ray Tanner attended North Carolina State University, in

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

from 1977 to 1980. He played for Sam Esposito, starting four seasons at shortstop and third base.

Coaching career

NC State

Tanner became an assistant coach to NCSU coach Sam Esposito immediately after his playing days were over. He remained in that position from 1980 to 1987, when Esposito retired and Tanner was named his successor. At age 28, he was one of the youngest head coaches in the country. During his first season the Wolfpack reached the NCAA tournament, playing in the East Regional. His teams earned bids to the NCAA tournament during seven of his nine seasons as head coach at NCSU, including five straight from 1990 to 1994. He was named ACC Coach of the Year in 1990. His nine-year record at NC State was 395–173–3.

South Carolina

Tanner arrived at South Carolina prior to the start of the 1997 season. Tanner guided the Gamecocks to a 33–24 record in his first season in 1997 and finished fourth in the competitive SEC. The Gamecocks were greatly improved in 1998 and finished with 44 wins and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. In 1999, Tanner led the Gamecocks to the SEC East Division title for the school's first division crown. Starting in 2000, Tanner help guide South Carolina to one of the most successful stretches in program history. The Gamecocks made the

in 2002, 2003, and 2004. The 2002 team finished runner-up after losing to the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

in the championship game. The South Carolina baseball team has made the NCAA tournament every year since 2000, and they currently have the longest streak of NCAA tournament appearances in the Southeastern Conference. The 2010 South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team won the College World Series championship after taking the series 2-0 over the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

. The championship was the first men's NCAA championship in school history. The

2011 South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team The 2011 South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2011 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Gamecocks played their home games in Carolina Stadium. The team was coached by Ray Tanner, who was in h ...

completed the season 55-14 and won the program's second national title after sweeping the championship series against the Florida Gators 2-0. This marked the first time that a team repeated as national champion since 2006-2007. On the way to the second championship, the Gamecocks went 10-0 in the NCAA tournament and set new records by winning 16 straight NCAA tournament games and 11 straight

games. Both streaks were started in the 2010 season. In his 16 seasons, through 2012, Tanner has posted a 738–316 overall record with six College World Series appearances. Under Tanner, the Gamecocks have made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, advanced to the Super Regionals ten times, and have posted fourteen 40-win and five 50-win seasons. Tanner led the Gamecocks to the 2010 and 2011 NCAA College World Series Championship. In addition, South Carolina won the 2000, 2002 and 2011 SEC regular season championships and the 2004 SEC Tournament championship. The Gamecocks claimed six Southeastern Conference Eastern Division titles (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2011, 2012) with Tanner as head coach. He was named SEC Coach of the Year in 1998, 2000, and 2011. Tanner was also named National Coach of the Year in 2000 after the Gamecocks finished the season with a 56–10 record, in 2010 after the team finished 54–16, and in 2011 after a 55-14 campaign. On July 13, 2012, Tanner was named director of athletics at South Carolina.

Team USA

Ray Tanner has a longstanding commitment to

. He served as an assistant coach in 1993 and again in 1995 and 1996, coaching at the Olympics in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. During these stints he coached together with college baseball legends such as

Skip Bertman Stanley "Skip" Bertman (born May 23, 1938) is a former college baseball coach and athletic director at Louisiana State University (LSU). He led the LSU Tigers baseball team to five College World Series championships and seven Southeastern Confer ...

and

Ron Polk Ronald George Polk (born January 12, 1944) is an American professional coach in NCAA Division I college baseball. He was a long-time head baseball coach at Mississippi State and is considered to be the "Father of Southeastern Conference Basebal ...

. During the summer of 2002, Tanner served as the head coach of the USA Baseball National Team, composed of some of the top college players. The team went undefeated during the regular season, including a sweep of its biggest rival, Japan. The only two losses came at the Pan American Games to

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

and

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. The team finished the tournament as the runner-up. The win total of 27 is the highest in team history.

Personal

Tanner grew up in

. He received a bachelor of science degree in recreational administration from NC State in 1980 and is married to the former Karen Donald, a native of Charleston, South Carolina. The couple has three children. On November 10, 2010, Tanner was initiated into the Chi Omega chapter of the

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and col ...

fraternity at South Carolina. According to the University of South Carolina's website, "Coach Tanner's involvement with Kappa Sigma comes from the chapter's commitment to the Ray Tanner Foundation, which is dedicated to bettering the lives of economically and medically disadvantaged children.Kappa Sigma Initiation of Coach Ray Tanner Featured in National Magazine
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Head coaching record

Achievements

* Career record of 1133–489–3 (.699) *National Coach of the Year in 2000, 2010, and 2011 *21 NCAA Tournament appearances **10 Super Regional appearances, including 5 consecutive from 2000 to 2004 **6 College World Series appearances, including three consecutive from 2002 to 2004 and 2010 to 2012 **2002, 2012 national runner-up **2010, 2011 national championship *2000, 2002 & 2011 SEC Championships *1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2011 & 2012 SEC East Championships *1992 ACC Tournament Title *2004 SEC Tournament Title *Five 50-win seasons *Second-highest winning percentage among college baseball coaches in SEC history, trailing only

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

*Eight first-round draft picks at South Carolina

References

External links

South Carolina profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanner, Ray 1958 births Living people NC State Wolfpack baseball coaches NC State Wolfpack baseball players People from Smithfield, North Carolina South Carolina Gamecocks athletic directors South Carolina Gamecocks baseball coaches People from Benson, North Carolina