DI/DII/DIII/NAIA/Baseball
By Michael Coker/Black College Nines
One of America’s greatest sports past time at the intercollegiate level is more than the love for the game of baseball. Many former college baseball players are now coaching, started out as either a volunteer or graduate assistant coach the stepping stone into the top position.
Several Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) head baseball coaches have set records during the start of the 2015 season achieving career wins looking beyond. College coaches continue to pile up milestone wins across the country. Here’s a quick look at some of the more recent prominent accomplishments:
Alcorn State University Head Baseball Coach Barret Rey picks up career-win No. 100 while at the helm of the Braves baseball program.
ASU on 2/14/2015 defeated Savannah State 9-4 earning Coach Rey his 100th career victory at Alcorn.
Rey fourth season as Alcorn State head baseball coach, in his first year with the Brave’s he was selected as the 2011 SWAC Coach of the Year. During the 2011 season, Coach Rey Braves squad won their first ever Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Baseball Championship the first in Alcorn State’s history.
Prior to coaching Alcorn State, Ray manned the head coaching duties at Grambling State University from 2007-09. During his two seasons, the GSU Tigers participated in the SWAC conference tournament and advanced to the conference semifinal game in the 2009 season. Rey is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Bethune-Cookmen Head Coach Jason Beverlin picked up his 100th coaching victory this past March 15, 2015 in a series sweep of North Carolina A&T, taking both games of a doubleheader at War Memorial Stadium.
The 2015 season marked the fourth-year Beverlin has led the Wildcats earning 95 wins in just three years, while leading back to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championships in both 2012 and 2014, included two NCAA regional appearances.
Beverlin first season at B-CU, the Wildcats journeyed to the NCAA Regional in 2012, his first season at B-CU finishing with a regular season conference best 34-27 overall record.
Jackson State Head Baseball Coach Omar Johnson notches his 300th career coaching victory during the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Baseball Championships this past May 14, 2015. The Miami, Florida native reached the milestone in only nine seasons manning the JSU baseball program.
In his ninth seasons at JSU, Johnson has posted nine 30-plus wins to go along with back-to-back league championships, 2013 and 2014.
During the 2015 regular season, Coach Johnson led the Tigers to nine consecutive winning seasons as they have concluded this season with a 32-25 overall record. Johnson’s winning career record at ASU, 301-198 overall.
During Johnson’s tenure at Jackson State University, he has helped the team achieve national recognition, as the tigers were cellar dwellers now national contenders.
Piling victories is certainly a milestone and speaks to the many years of effort to build one of finest programs. When kids buy into your program, good things happen.