University of Indianapolis Athletics

Former Oral Roberts and Kansas State head coach Gary Vaught is in his 16th season as head man at the University of Indianapolis and 21st overall as a collegiate head coach.  The 58-year-old skipper enters 2010 with a 511-345-2 (.597) mark in 15 years at Indianapolis and is the 15th winningest actvie coach in Division II.  The long-time skip also sports a 678-478-2 (.586) record in his time as a collegiate head coach, just 22 shy of career win number 700.

The chair of the GLVC Baseball Coaches Association, Vaught has compiled some impressive credentials in his 20 years as an NCAA head coach.  The UIndy mentor has had a number of players go on to play professional baseball, notably Mark Leiter, Bob Zupcic, Jim Crowell, and Brandon Braboy.  Crowell, from Vaught’s 1995 UIndy team, played with three major league clubs while Braboy played the 2009 season at Single-A Charleston after being drafted by the Yankees in 2008.

The Hounds are coming off a 43-win campaign and an NCAA berth in 2009, advancing to the Midwest Region final.  Last year’s win total represented the second-highest in program history, bumping Vaught’s career win total to a whopping 678 in 20 seasons as a college coach.

Vaught has guided UIndy to four straight appearances in the six-team GLVC Tournament.  UIndy has racked-up 10 30-win seasons in his time at the school, part of 13 30-win campaigns in his career.

Vaught's 2003 earned a three seed in the NCAA Regional and advanced to the nation’s final 16 while posting a 39-22 mark.  The Hounds lost to Grand Valley State in the North Central Regional finals.  The winningest coach in UIndy history, Vaught led his squads to seven consecutive 30-win campaigns from 1997-2003 and five NCAA II Tournament berths.

In 2001, the Hounds began the campaign with their highest preseason ranking ever (11th). They recorded their third straight GLVC North Division title with a conference-record 24 wins in 27 league outings. The Hounds won five consecutive games after dropping their GLVC Tournament opener to record the school's first conference title since 1984.  UIndy won a school-record 51 games and hosted the NCAA II North Central Regional for the first time. Vaught's squad did all this while producing an NCAA-best four Verizon Academic All-Americans.

After winning the NCAA Division II North Central Regional, the 2000 Greyhounds made their first-ever trip to the NCAA Division II World Series in Montgomery, Alabama. The team finished third, losing to eventual national champion Southeastern Oklahoma State. The Hounds set a then-school record for wins with 42, finishing fifth in the final NCAA Division II poll. Vaught's Greyhounds were Great Lakes Valley Conference North Division Champions for the second consecutive year and the only GLVC team to qualify for the NCAA Regional.

In ‘99, the team bettered its national ranking during the season to No. 4 at one point, and by the end of the year had earned a return trip to the NCAA II North Central Regional.

In his fourth year at UIndy, the Hounds received their highest national ranking at the time (10th) while  earning a berth in the 1998 NCAA II Regional.

Vaught took over the Greyhound reigns prior to the 1995 campaign.  In his second year, he guided UIndy to just its second winning season in 15 years while setting program records for wins, hits, runs, homers, stolen bases, walks, and saves.

From 1986-89, Vaught guided NCAA I Oral Roberts to a 114-66 record (.633) and a trip to the NCAA West Regional Finals in 1987. His ORU team lost to eventual national champion Stanford in the regional final.

Prior to his stint at Oral Roberts, Vaught was the head coach at Kansas State for three seasons. At KSU, Vaught guided the Wildcats to their first Big Eight Tournament appearance in 10 seasons. His 1985 team established 18 school records, earning him Big Eight "Coach of the Year" honors.

From 1980-84, Vaught coached at Connors State Junior College in Warner, Oklahoma, guiding his teams to an outstanding 305-57 (.843) win-loss record in four seasons. His teams achieved national rankings all four years, earning him Oklahoma "Coach of the Year" honors in 1984. At Connors, Vaught's teams set a school record for consecutive wins with 41, and his 1984 team finished ninth, after having been as high as fifth during the season. Prior to entering the college ranks, Vaught coached in Oklahoma high schools for eight years, posting an overall mark of 117-41-1.

Vaught, a native of Norman, Okla., holds a bachelor's degree (1974) and a master's degree (1976), from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. He was a four-year starter at UCO, earning all-conference honors three times, and all-district recognition once.