EFSC hires Thomas Gray to be new men's basketball coach

Eastern Florida State College has named Thomas Gray to be the 12th head men's basketball coach in program history.

Gray comes to Eastern Florida State College after being the Director of Recruiting for Vanderbilt University last season.

"My family and I are beyond grateful to start this journey at Eastern Florida! From the first conversation I had with athletic director Jeff Carr, I knew this was a special place led by an administration that strives to put their student-athletes in the best position to be successful not only on the court but more importantly in life," Gray said. "I am thankful for the opportunity school president Dr. James Richey and coach Carr has placed before us."

The Memphis, Tennessee native has also been an assistant coach at McNeese State College from 2021 to 2023 and was at the University of Mississippi as the coordinator of men's basketball operations from 2018 until 2021.

In 2014 Gray took over as the head coach at Southwest Mississippi Community College and compiled a 61-39 record in four seasons. He led the Bears to the NJCAA Region 23 semifinals in each of his final two seasons and led them to three seasons of at least 17 wins.

His team was also named the NJCAA Men's Basketball Academic Team of the Year for the second consecutive year with a team GPA of 3.59, the second-highest cumulative GPA in the history of NJCAA Men's Basketball. The Bears became the first MACJC men's basketball team to ever win the award in 2015-16, boasting a 3.42 GPA. In just his second season as Southwest head coach, Gray led the Bears to a MACJC state championship for the first time in 53 years.

"We are ecstatic about the hiring of Thomas Gray as our new men's basketball coach," Eastern Florida State College Associate Vice President of Athletics Jeff Carr said. "Thomas has been very successful as a head coach and was on the Vanderbilt staff this year with Jerry Stackhouse and also was at Ole Miss with Kermit Davis and has been at other NCAA Division I schools. He knows the game, has great connections in the basketball world and is a man of integrity. We are excited to add Thomas joining the EFSC Titan staff."

Gray replaces Jeremy Shulman who was at Eastern Florida State College for 14 seasons and 346 wins which is the most in program history.

"My friend Jeremy Shulman has made Eastern Florida one of the premier NJCAA basketball programs and our staff will look to continue that standard of excellence," Gray said. "We look forward to being great teammates of all of the phenomenal coaches on campus and are extremely excited about what the future holds for Eastern Florida State College athletics."

Gray began working in the college basketball world as a graduate assistant at Mississippi College, where he earned his master's degree in 2011. Gray also attended Mississippi College as an undergraduate, collecting a bachelor's degree in 2009.
 
Gray is married to Ashley and they have a daughter Charlotte.