Ray Tanner
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Ray Tanner (born March 25, 1958) is the head baseball coach at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC. He has led the Gamecocks to three consecutive College World Series appearances from 2002-2004 and coached the USA Baseball National Team during the 2003 summer.
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Playing career
After graduating from South Johnston High School in Four Oaks, NC, Ray Tanner attendedNorth Carolina State University, in Raleigh, NC from 1977-1980. He played for Sam Eposito, starting four seasons at shortstop and third base.
Coaching career
NC State
Tanner became an assistant coach to Eposito immediately after his playing days were over. He remained in that position from 1980-1987, when Eposito 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 1990-1994. His nine year record at NC State was 395-173-3.
South Carolina
Prior to the 1997 season, Tanner agreed to follow June Raines as the baseball coach at the University of South Carolina. He also convinced longtime friend and assistant coach Jim Toman to join him in Columbia. He hired Jerry Meyers as the pitching coach, who remained with the program through the 2004 season, before accepting the head coaching job at Old Dominion University After a rebuilding year in 1997, the 1998 Gamecocks reached the NCAA tournament and won the SEC East title in 1999. Among the key players during these seasons were Adam Everett and Brian Roberts, both playing shortstop. They were drafted in the first round of the Major League draft during their junior season and now both of them play in the Major Leagues.
In 2000, Drew Meyer joined the program. He would become the third consecutive shortstop playing under Tanner, to be drafted in the first round after the 2002 season. That 2000 season saw the Gamecocks dominate their regular season opponents, as they cruised to a record of 56-10, being ranked #1 for most of the season. During NCAA regional play in Columbia, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette however managed to upset the team to advance to the College World Series. That team was led by the so-called 'Killer Bs', Kip Bouknight, Scott Barber, and Peter Bauer, one of college baseball's most dominant pitching staffs. Bouknight was named the national player of the year by several sources and won the Golden Spikes Award and the Gamecocks claimed their first Southeastern Conference title.
In 2001, the team again reached the Super Regional, this time in Palo Alto, California. They lost to Stanford two games to one, falling 2-3 in the final game, the same as one year before in Columbia.
In 2002, Tanner compiled one of his most offensive minded teams. On the power of players like Yaron Peters, Trey Dyson, and Brian Buscher, the Gamecocks won 57 games en route to the College World Series and the National Title game. Winning the SEC title, and hosting regional and super regional play in Columbia, Tanner finally reached the College World Series after his team pulled of a miracolous comeback against the University of Miami Hurricanes in the ninth inning of game three in the super regional. Tanner had promised himself never to go to Omaha unless he was leading his team to the College World Series. Though friends often asked him to go with them, he had always refused. In his 13th appearance in the NCAA tournament he finally got the honor. After losing the opening game against Georgia Tech. The team stormed back to pull of four consecutive wins, before falling to the University of Texas in the title game. Along the way, the team beat in-state rival Clemson twice to elimenate them from the playoffs. Tanner would reach the College World Series again in 2003 and 2004. During the past eight seasons at the University of South Carolina, Tanner holds a record of 372-152, a winning percentage of 71%.
Team USA
Ray Tanner has a longstanding commitment to USA Baseball. He served as an assistant coach in 1993 and again in 1995 and 1996, coaching at the Olympics in Atlanta, GA. During these stints he coached together with college baseball legends such as Skip Bertman and Ron Polk. During the summer of 2002, Tanner served as the head coach of the USA Baseball National Team, comprised 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 and Cuba. The team finished the tournament as the runner-up. The win total of 27 is the highest in team history.
Personal
Tanner is married to Karen Donald and the couple has one daughter, Bridgette Grace, born in 2003.
Achievements (prior to 2005)
- Career Record of 767-325-3
- 7th among active coaches by winning percentage
- Top 40 among active coaches by victories
- 25th all-time by winning percentage
- Coach of the year in 2000
- 15 NCAA Tournament Appearances
- 5 consecutive super regional appearances starting in 2000
- 3 consecutive College World Series Appearances starting in 2002
- 2000 & 2002 SEC Championships
- 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2003 SEC East Championships
- 2004 SEC Tournament Titel
- Three 50-win seasons
- Winningest college baseball coach from 2000-2004 by victories
- Second winningest college baseball coach in SEC history by winning percentage, trailing only Skip Bertman of LSU
- Five first round draft picks at South Carolina
External links
- Biography at uscsports.com (http://uscsports.collegesports.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/tanner_ray00.html)
- 2004 college baseball record books in .pdf format (http://www.ncaa.org/library/records/baseball_records_book/2004/2004BaseballRecords.pdf)