Ray Gooden joined the North Central College women's volleyball coaching staff in the summer of 2024 as the 12th head coach in program history.
In his first year with the Cardinals, North Central posted a 22-8 overall record with a fourth-place finish in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin. Four Cardinals earned All-CCIW accolades with Maddi Barickman (2024 CCIW Setter of the Year) and Bailey Houlihan (2024 CCIW Defensive Player of the Year) earning special awards.
Gooden came to North Central after serving as the head women's volleyball coach at Northern Illinois University from 2002 to 2022, winning five Mid-American Conference (MAC) West Division Titles, three MAC Regular Season Championships, and the MAC Tournament Championship in 2016. The five-time MAC Coach of the Year won 357 matches, the most in program history. Over his 20 years with the Huskies, he coached four American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Americans, two Academic All-Americans, and an NCAA Woman of the Year finalist.
Prior to NIU, Gooden served as the associate head women's and men's volleyball coach at Loyola University Chicago, the assistant men's volleyball coach at Lewis University, the assistant volleyball coach at Northwestern University, and was the first head men's volleyball coach at Thomas More College (Kentucky) while serving as the assistant women's volleyball coach for the Saints.
In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Gooden works as an open program tryout evaluator and the High Performance head coach for USA Volleyball. He has also worked as an assistant coach for the Boys Junior National Team and as a visiting coach apprentice for the USA National Team. Globally, Gooden has coaching experience in Europe and Brazil as the head coach for Bring It USA, and worked as a team advisor for the Sakai Blazers Men's Professional Team in Osaka, Japan for two seasons.
As an AVCA member, Gooden served on numerous committees and leadership programs, including the All-Region Committee and the Diversity Development Team. He has also been a panelist and keynote speaker at multiple AVCA Conventions and worked as a volleyball analyst for the Big Ten Network, ESPN, NBC Sports Network, and other media outlets.
A graduate of Ohio State University with a bachelor's degree in economics, Gooden played for the Buckeyes' varsity and club teams from 1990-94.
Gooden resides in Dekalb and has three children Gio, Donovan and Zoe
