Vassar athletic director Michelle Walsh announced Wednesday morning the hiring of Ryan Mee as head coach of the Brewer men's basketball program. Mee replaces BJ Dunne, who left to take the head coaching position at Gettysburg in April.
"I'm excited to welcome Ryan to the Vassar family," said Walsh. "Ryan has extensive coaching experience at the Division III and Division I levels and has been an integral part of building championship programs at multiple academically rigorous institutions. His personal philosophy of trust, commitment, and care are in line with our mission here at Vassar and I look forward to the positive impact he will have on our student-athletes."
"It is an honor to be named the head men's basketball coach at Vassar College," said Mee. "I'd like to thank (Walsh) and the search committee for trusting me to develop our student-athletes to play an exciting style of basketball that will make the Vassar fans proud."
Mee comes to Vassar for his first head coaching position, after serving as an assistant coach at five prior destinations over many different levels. Since 2012, Mee has served as an assistant coach at Division I Davidson under legendary head coach Bob McKillop.
While at Davidson, Mee helped in the recruiting efforts, while also focusing on day-to-day coaching responsibilities, player development, game and practice preparation, on-court coaching, social media management, scouting report preparation and community outreach.
During his time at Davidson, the Wildcats earned three NCAA Tournament bids along with being part of a staff that earned Atlantic 10 Coaching Staff of the Year in 2014-15. Mee helped mentor 14 Wildcat players that earned either Southern Conference or Atlantic 10 yearly honors, while also helping assist three conference Players of the Year and an A-10 Rookie of the Year this past season in Kellan Grady.
Prior to Davidson, Mee was an associate head coach at his alma mater, the University of Rochester from 2009-12. While at Rochester, Mee assisted will all aspects of the basketball program including scheduling, budget management, conditioning, and weight training in addition to his coaching responsibilities. Head coach Luke Flockerzi was named D3hoops.com East Region Coach of the Year in 2011, while Mee was on staff.
Other coaching stops along the way for Mee include one at another Liberty League school, as he was the assistant coach at Skidmore from 2008-2009. Mee also was an assistant at Elmira from 2006-2008 while serving as an assistant at Hilbert from 2005-2006.
As an undergraduate, Mee was a four-year varsity letter winner at Rochester, serving as team captain in 2004-05. He helped the Yellowjackets to four NCAA Tournament appearances as his squads went a combined 97-17 over his four seasons as part of the winningest class in the program's history.
Mee earned honorable mention UAA honors in 2003-04, and helped the squad to the national title game in 2005, finishing his career seventh in 3-pointers made. Mee earned his bachelor of arts from Rochester in economics in 2005, while also acquiring a master's from Elmira in 2006.
Mee and his wife, Haniya, have two children, Trotter and Capucine.
"My experiences at Division III as a player and as a coach helped me understand how incredibly talented these student-athletes are both on and off the court," said Mee. "That well-rounded student-athlete is exactly what we are looking for at Vassar."