Following up on something that I first reported back on May 3rd (D3 DIRT). Former Holy Cross assistant Sam Ferry has officially taken over as the head coach at Rhode Island College. Here is the press release from RIC:
Rhode Island College introduced Sam Ferry as its new head men’s basketball coach at a press conference held in The Murray Center on Tuesday afternoon.
“Providence is home for me and my family and I could not be more excited to join the Rhode Island College community,” Ferry said. “I am grateful to Don Tencher, Jo-Ann D’Alessandro and the search committee for the opportunity to lead this program. Rhode Island College is a keystone of higher education in the state of Rhode Island. It is both a place where you can have a major impact on young people’s lives and a place where you can consistently compete for championships.”
Ferry spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach on the College of the Holy Cross men’s basketball staff. He was intimately involved in recruiting, on-court coaching, practice planning, opponent scouting, player development and game planning. Ferry was also heavily involved in academics and helped the Crusaders to their highest semester GPA in over a decade in the spring of 2020, with eight players being selected to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll (the most in program history).
Holy Cross had four All-Patriot League selections and four Patriot League All-Rookie team honorees during his time on the staff.
Ferry joined the Crusaders after spending the 2018-2019 season as an assistant coach at Cleveland State under Head Coach Dennis Felton. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Pittsburgh under Head Coach Kevin Stallings during the 2017-2018 campaign.
Previously, Ferry spent six seasons on the staff of Head Coach King Rice at Monmouth from 2011-2017. He joined the Hawks as the director of basketball operations in 2011, before being promoted to assistant coach prior to the 2013-2014 season. Ferry helped lead Monmouth to a pair of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season titles in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. The Hawks set a school single-season record with 28 victories in 2015-2016 and then won 27 games in 2016-2017.
Monmouth totaled 106 wins during Ferry’s six years on the staff, which included five high-major wins in 2015-2016 and made two appearances in the National Invitation Tournament. In 2016, Ferry was named to the Under Armour 30-under-30 Team as part of the NABC’s Guardians of the Game Awards, which recognizes 30 men’s basketball coaches under the age of 30. In addition, all 21 of Monmouth’s seniors graduated during his time on the staff.
A 2010 graduate of Vanderbilt with a bachelor’s degree in human and organizational development, Ferry spent four years as a student manager for the Commodores before serving as the team’s director of video operations in 2010-2011. He was a part of four NCAA Tournament teams with the Commodores (2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011).
Ferry, his wife, Eileen, and their daughter, Elliot, reside in Providence.
