South Carolina AD Ray Tanner to be honored on Friday night in Columbia
South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner has earned a piece of hardware.
Tanner, USC’s longtime baseball coach and administrator, will receive the Richard Allen award recognizing people who have worked to educate the youth and who’ve made “exceptional contributions to society,” per a news release.
The award will be presented to Tanner on Friday night at the United Negro College Fund Scholarship Gala, hosted by Allen University.
“I appreciate the UNCF and Allen University for recognizing me with this prestigious award,” Tanner said in a news release. “I share this honor with my athletics department staff, especially our academic and student development staff, who create such great opportunities for our student-athletes to learn, grow and prepare for life after graduation.”
Tanner came to Columbia as South Carolina’s head baseball coach in 1996 after running the program at N.C. State. In 16 years guiding the Gamecocks on the diamond he won 738 games and back-to-back national titles in 2010 and 2011. Tanner won 70 percent of his games as a head coach, good for the second best winning percentage in Southeastern Conference history.
Following his time leading the baseball program at USC, Tanner was tabbed as athletic director in 2012. South Carolina has won two national championships, 16 SEC regular season and tournament championships, and notched three top six finishes in the Learfield College Directors’ Cup All-Sports Standings during his time in that role.
Tanner will join Gregory B. Levett & Sons Funeral Homes and Crematory founder Dr. Gregory B. Levett and James A. Muhammad, the first African-American President and CEO of Lakeshore Public Media, as honorees at Friday night’s event.
