Mississippi Valley State baseball program will have to hire a new head coach for the third time in the last 4 years after the dismissal of Milton Barney at the conclusion of this past 2023 season. The summer will be a time of transition for the baseball team.
The NCAA Transfer Portal recently opened and current Mississippi Valley State 2023 roster players have entered their names sources are confirming.
Black College Nines looks at some possible candidates that Athletic Director Hakim McClellan could call upon to take over the program, based largely on our sources, our own informed speculation and talks with interested candidates to replace Barney.
CJ BILBREY
CJ Bilbrey, is the former head coach at Harris-Stowe Hornets Baseball team. His Hornets teams had success both on the field and in the classroom. In 2017 and 2018 the Hornets won 30 games for just the second and third time in 75 seasons and they have had 85 AMC Academic All-Conference selections as well as five NAIA Daktronics Scholar Athlete Award recipients since 2016.
Bilbrey was a four-year member of the Harris-Stowe Hornets Baseball team (2004-2007) before starting his coaching career as an assistant at North Central Missouri College in 2008. After NCMC, he went on to coach under Mike Sigler at Maryville University from 2009-2012 where the program transitioned from NCAA III status to the Great Lakes Valley Conference and NCAA II. He then went on to coach at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2013 where the Cougars played their first playoff eligible season in the NCAA DI. Bilbrey then came back to Harris-Stowe working under David Estes for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
Bilbrey worked on the St. Louis Cardinals Care project beginning in 2015. In 2020 ground was broken on revitalizing Stars Park on the campus of Harris Stowe State University with a $1.1 million donation. Stars Park was home of the St. Louis Stars of the Negro National League from 1922-1931 seasons. While Bilbrey was head coach, HSSU raised over $250,000 for its operational budget through fundraising.
Bilbrey has coached high school summer programs, Rock Memorial Legion and the St. Louis Gamers. He has served as the head coach at three different college summer leagues, winning a 2013 summer league championship and being selected as the manager of the league all-star game in 2013 and 2014. Bilbrey is a graduate of Harris-Stowe State University where he earned a degree in Urban Education.
Bilbrey Career Record:
Year Overall AMC AMC Standings Playoffs
2016 18-33 8-19 9th Place NA
2017 30-20 15-11 4th Place 0-2
2018 30-24 15-14 6th Place 0-2
2019 20-30 13-17 7th Place 0-2
2020 12-16 3-6 7th Place Cancelled
Harris-Stowe Baseball Accomplishments Since 2016:
85 American Midwest Conference All-Academic Team
5 NAIA Daktronics Scholar Athletes
Highest single season winning percentage for a full season .600 (30-20)
7 First Team All-AMC: 3 Second Team All-AMC
4 AMC Player of the Week Awards
11 HBCU All-Elite Selections
5th place national ranking for HBCU Baseball in 2017
2018 HBCU Pitcher of the Year (Stephen Wells)
Three Hornets have gone on to sign professional contracts
2020 HBCU Small School Player of the Year (Matt Janocik)
JULIUS MCDOUGAL
Julius McDougal, associate head coach and recruiting coordinator joined the Georgetown University baseball program as associate head coach and hitting coach in March 2021. Along with leading the offense, McDougal serves as the program’s recruiting coordinator.
McDougal was an integral part of the Hoyas’ historic 2022 season that featured the program’s first BIG EAST Baseball Championship appearance since 2018. McDougal assisted the Hoyas in breaking program records for wins (32), home runs (98), total bases (925) and end of season RPI (137) while setting second-best marks in win percentage (.571), runs (400), RBIs (367) and slugging percentage (.480).
McDougal arrived at Georgetown University after spending three seasons at Eastern Kentucky University where he was the program’s recruiting coordinator, infield coach and assistant hitting coach from 2018-20 after serving as the volunteer assistant coach in 2017.
In 2020, McDougal helped EKU start the 2020 season with a 12-2 mark, including a win at No. 11 LSU, before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a team, EKU was 10th in the nation in on-base percentage (.420), 12th in batting average (.314), 13th in doubles, 14th in slugging and 15th in scoring (8.4 runs/game).
Known for his recruiting abilities, McDougal helped put together Perfect Game’s (PG) No. 65 recruiting class in the nation in 2020. EKU had six of the top 28 freshmen in the Ohio Valley Conference according to PG, which was the most of any school in the conference. Between 2018-19, McDougal had three recruits selected in the MLB Draft.
In 2018 and 2019, EKU posted consecutive 30-win seasons for the first time since 1999-2000. The program’s 16 conference wins in 2019 were the most since 2013, and he helped lead an offense that ranked in the top 25 in walks, runs, home runs and stolen bases. McDougal helped the Colonels upset two nationally-ranked teams in 2018… No. 15 Virginia and No. 11 Vanderbilt. As well, Eastern Kentucky University advanced to the final three at the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.
McDougal spent the 2016-17 seasons as the head coach at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He led Stillman to the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) regular-season conference championship in 2016, advancing to the finals of the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed. He had five players sign pro contracts. During that season, after McDougal made a mid-season position change, Stillman went on a 23-game winning streak.
He served as an assistant coach at Stillman during the 2015 season and at Kentucky State University in 2014. McDougal played collegiately at Claflin University in South Carolina. In 2010, he was chosen to the all-conference team after hitting .416, which was ranked 53rd in the country. He was named Claflin’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2011.
GABE ALFARO
A former coach at Florida International University, Gabe Alfaro brings 10 years of Division 1 coaching experience with him. While at FIU, Gabe worked under, Henry “Turtle” Thomas and Mervyl Melendez.
Under Coach Thomas’ tutelage Alfaro was able to help mentor and develop over 30 players selected in the MLB First Year Draft. In addition, the Panthers garnered three conference players of the year award winners, numerous all conference selections as well as a Johnny Bench Award semi-finalist in Aramis Garcia as well as a Gold Spikes award finalist in Michael Franco.
In 2011, The FIU Panthers were ranked as high as 15th in the country led by one of the most potent offenses in the country ranking nationally in the top 5 of many offensive categories. The Panthers finished the year as the #2 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional… the highest seed in school history. In 2014, the Panthers finished second in the country in ERA breaking the previous school record for lowest ERA in a single season. The year 2015 saw the FIU Panthers capture the school’s first ever C-USA Conference Tournament Championship as well as the #4 seed in the Coral Gables Regional.
During the 2017 offseason, under the mentorship of Head Coach Mervyl Melendez, Gabe Alfaro was able help lead the charge in securing the #1 recruiting class in the country ranked by Perfect Game, which featured current Major League players MJ Melendez and Heliot Ramos as well as future second round draft pick Logan Allen.
Alfaro’s experiences recruiting at the D1 level has enabled him to develop the ability to evaluate and project a player’s academic and athletic fits. As someone who has evaluated and recruited junior college and high schools players from across the country, his experiences bring a wealth of hands on knowledge to the players and families that he will be mentoring and working with in achieving their dreams of playing college baseball. His decade long experience of coaching at the D1 level brings a level of credibility, along with an extensive network of college programs and coaches that he has developed relationships with.
Gabe Alfaro has also worked for Perfect Game as a scout, and also with IMG Academy and Prospect Wire.
He was Director of Player Development at Florida International University. There, Alfaro helped evaluate and identify potential recruits for upcoming recruiting classes with database accumulation/creation and analytics breakdown for current and prospective athletes. He worked closely with hitting coaches to implement several player specific development strategies using blast motion, Rapsodo and Trackman.
PATRICK BARBOUR
Patrick Barbour, the former Lane College head baseball from 2018 to 2021, won a HBCU Baseball national title during the shorten 2020 Pandemic season. Before Lane, Barbour spent two seasons at Albany State in the roles as recruiting coordinator, hitting coach, and infield instructor with former head coach Daniel Stockdale. Barbour was the Golden Rams pitching coach when they made their 2015 run through the SIAC conference championship making its second ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Regional.
Barbour has spent twenty seasons coaching collegiate baseball as an assistant coach while recruiting at both the NCAA Division II and NAIA levels. The Kentucky State University graduate has proven to be one of the top recruiters through the years and widely hailed as one of the top college baseball pitching coaches.
Note:
Michael Coker spoke to former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher Dallas Braden regarding the possibility of coaching the Mississippi Valley State baseball program. Braden, a left-handed pitcher from 2007 to 2011 as a member of the Oakland Athletics pitched the 19th perfect game in Major League Baseball history on May 9, 2010.
Braden stated “It was a pleasure meeting you and discussing the success of your efforts behind the Black College World Series. I was extremely humble to hear your interest in my desire to one day be back on the field. As of right now I currently serve as the color commentator for the Oakland A’s. My contract with the team runs through next season at which point I would be in a position to reevaluate what the future looks like for my family and I.”
FMU coach Andre Payne, Dallas Braden, FMU Head Coach Tino Burgos, and Black College Nines’ Michael Coker at the Miami Marlins game honoring Black College World Series Champion Florida Memorial University at LoanDepot Park.