Josh Vaughan has played a huge role in the turnaround of the University of Mary men’s basketball program. In his first two season he had a combined record of 31-29 and finished 6th and 8th in the NSIC standings. The teams 22 conference victories over those two season was an increase of 10 wins from the prior two seasons.
In his first season as an assitant coach at the University of Mary in 2015-16, Josh Vaughan played a key role in turning around the fortunes of the Marauders men's basketball program. The squad improved by ten wins, recorded the program's third winning season in NCAA and Northern Sun play, hosted an NSIC playoff game for just the second time and advanced to the league semifinals for the second time.
The Marauders finished the 2015-16 season 19-12 overall and 12-10 in the Northern Sun. U-Mary finished third in the NSIC North Division and sixth overall, a jump of six placed in the standings from the year earlier. Among the wins was a 77-73 victory at #3 MSU Moorhead, the highest-ranked team U-Mary has beaten since beginning NCAA play in the 2006-07 season. U-Mary also won two NSIC playoff contests after winning just one the previous nine seasons.
Brough aboard by then new University of Mary men’s basketball coach Joe Kittell in spring 2015, Vaughan joined U-Mary from the NCAA Division I North Dakota State University coaching staff.
“We are very excited to have Josh join our program,” said Kittell. “I had the opportunity to be around Josh his first year of college as player and have watched him develop into a very strong young coach. He is a tremendous worker with a strong background and knowledge of what it takes to have a winning program. Josh is a perfect fit for the University of Mary men’s basketball program.”
Vaughan spent two seasons (2013-15) as the North Dakota State men’s basketball director of operations. During that time the Bison went 49-17 overall with two trips to the NCAA tournament.
Prior to joining NDSU, Vaughan served two seasons (2011-13) on the bench as an assistant under Chad Walthall at fellow Northern Sun member MSU Moorhead. In his two years at MSUM the Dragons went 40-21 and advanced to the NCAA tournament in 2012.
Vaughan began his college coaching career as director of operations at Wofford College in 2010-11, helping the Terriers reach the NCAA Division I tournament.
A native of Braham, Minn., Vaughan played four seasons at guard for North Dakota State from 2006-10. He appeared in 33 games off the bench for the 2008-09 Bison team that won the Summit League championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament. As a senior in 2009-10 he averaged a career-high 13.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
Vaughan graduated from NDSU with a bachelor's degree in sport and recreation studies in May 2010. He is married to Marauders women's basketball assistant coach Halie Vaughan.
