Donald Ray Tanner Jr. (born March 25, 1958) was a former baseball coach at the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

. Tanner began this role after leading the South Carolina Gamecocks baseball program for sixteen seasons. He is currently the athletic director

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

and a senior advisor to the president at South Carolina after being replaced as athletic director by Jeremiah Donati on December 5, 2024. 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 a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

appearances in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

; three consecutive College World Series Finals appearances in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

; two College World Series Championships in

and

; and coached the

USA Baseball The United States Baseball Federation, doing business as USA Baseball, is a 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that acts as the national Sports governing body, governing body for baseball in the United States. USA Baseball ...

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 Interstate 95 in North Carolina, 95 and Interstate 40 in North Carolina, 40. Benson celebrates Mule Days on the fourth Saturday of September, ...

, Ray Tanner attended

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

, in

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

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 ...

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 Big Ten 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 ...

completed the season 55-14 and won the program's second national title after sweeping the championship series against the

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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 The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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

Skip Bertman Stanley "Skip" Bertman (born May 23, 1938) is an American 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 Southeast ...

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 Baseball ...

. 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 Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The only two losses came at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

and

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. 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 Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

. The couple has three children. On November 10, 2010, Tanner was initiated into the Chi Omega chapter of

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig or KSig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fr ...

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 *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