Rick Ray joined the Vanderbilt staff in spring of 2024 bringing nearly 30 years of coaching experience to the Vanderbilt staff.

In his first season at Vanderbilt, Ray helped the Commodores to a 20-13 overall record and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017. 2024-25 marked the first 20-win season since 2012 and the Dores also won four games over top-15 ranked opponents, the most in a single season since 1987-88. Vanderbilt also reached the national rankings for the first time since 2015 as the Dores climbed to No. 24 in the AP Poll.

Ray spent the four seasons prior to joining Vandy as an assistant at Colorado where he helped the Buffaloes to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths and another two NIT appearances.

During his time in Boulder, the Buffaloes won 20 or more games in three seasons. He also helped Colorado land the 13th-ranked recruiting class in the nation in 2021.

Prior to his time at Colorado, Ray spent seven seasons as a head coach. He led Southeast Missouri for five seasons (2015-20) after spending three seasons at the helm of Mississippi State (2012-15). During his tenure in Starkville, Ray developed a pair of SEC All-Freshmen selections in Craig Sword and Gavin Ware.

Ray spent 15 seasons as an assistant before earning his first head coaching job. He served as the associate head coach at Clemson for two seasons (2010-12) following a four-year stint at Purdue (2006-10) and two-year tenure at Northern Illinois (2004-06). He began his coaching career at Indiana State where he spent seven seasons (1997-2004) on staff. During those 15 years as an associate or assistant, Ray helped his teams to seven NCAA Tournament appearances and a pair of Sweet 16 berths.

With Ray serving as associate head coach, Clemson won 38 games in two seasons including a 22-12 mark in 2010-11 with a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. During his tenure at Purdue, the Boilermakers made the NCAA Tournament every season and advanced to the Sweet 16 in each of his last two years. He also played a part in landing Purdue’s vaunted 2007 signing class which feature All-Americans Robbie Hummel, JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore.

Ray played collegiately for Grand View (Iowa) College where he was an All-American Scholar Athlete in 1993. He earned a degree in applied mathematics and secondary education from Grand View in 1994 and a master’s in athletic administration from Nebraska-Omaha in 1997.