Mike Tully has served as Head Coach of the Roger Williams University Men’s Basketball Team since the 2002-03 season. In addition to his duties at RWU, Tully also serves as Assistant Athletic Director for Academic Services and Assistant Men’s Golf Coach.
Through 18 seasons as Head Coach, his 244 victories are the most in RWU Men’s Basketball history. In the 2008-09 season, Tully passed Thomas Sienkiewicz with his 90th career victory in late January 2009 to become the winningest head coach. He earned his 100th Roger Williams victory in a 63-58 win against Wheaton College on December 3, 2009, then collected his 200th win at RWU also against Wheaton on November 21, 2017. He has had at least 12 wins in 14 of his 18 seasons and was named CCC Coach of the Year in the 2007-08 season. For the 2016-17 season, his Hawks posted 19 wins on the year, the second-highest single-season total in program history. In addition, he has earned three trips to the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship Game, including a run to the title game in the 2015-16 season as the #6 seed.
The 2003-04 team finished the regular season with a record of 18-11 overall, winning more regular season games than any RWU men’s basketball team in 31 years. The Hawks earned a bid to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament where they posted their first-ever win over Norwich University, advancing to the semifinals of that tournament. The following season brought further excitement, as the Hawks earned the top seed in the South Division and returned to the CCC finals for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. After the 2005-06 season, the Hawks again won the CCC South Division before being upset by one point in the CCC quarterfinals.
Tully came to the University from Newbury College where he served as Athletic Director for two seasons. He guided Newbury through the process of obtaining membership in the NCAA and increased the number of participants in Newbury’s athletic program by more than 64% across 11 sports. Tully also served as Newbury’s basketball coach for three seasons. The team progressed nicely since their five-win inaugural season in 1999-00 and had a very competitive team when Coach Tully left for RWU.
From 1994-99 he served as head assistant men’s basketball coach/recruiting coordinator/scouting coordinator at perennial New England Division III power Salem State College. The Vikings won four MASCAC titles and earned four NCAA Tournament appearances while Tully was with the program. He has also coached teams in the Bay State Games, served as an instructor at the Salem State Basketball Camp and the Hartford Hellcat Basketball Camp.
Coach Tully was a four-year player at Clark University where he was team captain his senior year. During his freshman season the squad reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament and in his junior year they reached the ECAC Tournament semifinals. He ended his career as the Clark all-time leader in free throw percentage, shooting at .907 during his time. He was also a member of the varsity golf team for three seasons. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Clark in 1991. He completed a Masters of Arts in Education at the University of Rhode Island in December 2012.
In addition to his coaching and administrative duties, Tully has run the Mike Tully Basketball Camp in the summer annually at Roger Williams since 2003.
