The 2024 Night of Champions
Feb. 15, 2024 - Marriott Kansas City Overland Park
Class of 2023 Induction Celebration
Since 2006, The College Baseball Night of Champions has honored top college coaches, players & national championship teams, as well as the annual inductions into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. For the first time in the College Baseball Foundation’s (CBF) history, its annual recognition of college baseball’s top athletes - the Night of Champions - in Overland Park, Kansas, presented by Prairiefire and hosted by Visit Overland Park.
The evening featured the induction of the 2023 College Baseball Hall of Fame class. This 16th induction class is comprised of players, coaches, umpires and administrators – all who have contributed to college baseball history at the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA levels.
The 2023 College Baseball
Hall of Fame Class
Chris Bando
Arizona State University: 1975-1978 (Catcher)
Chris Bando was an ABCA first team All-American catcher in 1978. He was named to the 1978 All-CWS team and to the 1970s Men’s College World Series All-Decade team. At the conference level, he was a two-time All-Western Athletic Conference catcher (1977 and 1978). Bando played key defensive and offensive roles on the 1977 national champion Sun Devils, hitting a 7th-inning home run to provide the winning margin in the CWS finale.
Pat Casey
George Fox College/Oregon State: 1988-2018 (Coach)
As head coach, Pat Casey’s teams went 1,071-572-7 (.651). He went 171-114-1 (.600) in seven seasons at Division III George Fox and 900-458-6 in his 24 seasons at Oregon State (.662). Casey won 900 games at Oregon State as the Beavers’ head coach from 1995-2018, guiding the program to National Championships in 2006, 2007 and 2018, and five Pac-10/12 titles. Casey’s 900 wins at Oregon State ranks sixth all-time in Pac-12 Conference history.
Jack Coffey
Fordham University: 1906-1909 (Shortstop); 1923-1958 (Coach)
Jack Coffey, starting shortstop led Fordham to Catholic College Championships in 1906 and again as team captain in 1909. Coffey became a full-time coach in 1923. He is the first college coach to win 1,000 games, and led his teams to five Eastern titles, 14 Metropolitan titles and coached 18 future Major Leaguers. Coffey was elected to the Helms Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame in 1954. He is a charter member of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame in 1966.
Ron Darling
Yale University: 1979-1981 (Pitcher/Outfield)
Ron Darling competed as a two-way player with a .384 batting average and a .589 slugging percentage as a sophomore. In 1980, his 11-2 record with two saves and 1.31 ERA was the fifth best in the nation. The following season was highlighted by an 11 no-hit innings against St. John’s University in an NCAA regional game, only to lose 1-0 in the 12th inning. Darling’s collegiate career concluded with 25 consecutive complete games, 23 wins, 236 strikeouts and a career 2.18 ERA. He was drafted in the first round by the Rangers in June 1981.
Mike Fuentes
Florida State University: 1978-1981 (Outfield)
Mike Fuentes was named to the All-America team in 1980. He became the fourth Seminole to hit .400 in a season when he hit .408 as a junior while leading Florida State into the 1980 College World Series. His senior season included 27 home runs, 81 RBIs and a .360 average. Fuentes also hit .377 and drove in 182 runs over his four-year career. He was the 1981 Golden Spikes Award winner and one of Florida State’s top student-athletes. Fuentes was a second-round draft choice of the Montreal Expos in 1981.
Alex Gordon
University of Nebraska: 2004-06 (Third Base)
In Alex Gordon’s final season at Nebraska, he led the Huskers to a sweep of the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles, hitting .372 with 19 homers, 66 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. He became the first player since Baylor’s Jason Jennings to repeat as Big 12 Player of the Year. This is the second recognition from the College Baseball Foundation, in 2005, he was the named the Brooks Wallace Award Winner. Also in 2005, he won the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.
Steve Kemp
University of Southern California: 1973-1975 (Outfield)
One of the greatest hitters in USC history, Steve Kemp batted .435 in the 1975 season while leading the Trojans to the final of five consecutive College World Series appearances. He received First-team All-American honors in 1975 from both the ABCA and Sporting News. He batted .351 with five home runs for the 1974 national champion Trojans. He finished with a school record career mark of .397. Kemp was drafted No. 1 overall by the Detroit Tigers in the 1976 draft and proceeded to play over a decade in the Majors with five teams.
Russel Martin
Southwestern University: 1982-1985 (Pitcher)
Russell Martin amassed outstanding statistics as a baseball pitcher during his career with the Southwestern Pirates which included setting the national record for wins in the NAIA (46 wins). He helped lead the Pirate baseball team to two consecutive trips to the NAIA World Series. In their second trip to nationals, Martin was chosen to the World Series All-Tournament Team. He also earned NAIA First Team All-America honors twice, as a sophomore in 1983 and again as a senior in 1985.
Mike Metheny
Southeastern Oklahoma State University: 1981-2017 (Coach)
Mike Metheny transitioned the SE baseball program from NAIA to NCAA Division II. In the second season as Division II level, he led the team to the 2000 NCAA Division II World Series, winning its first National Championship. His team’s claimed 15 conference championships, he was conference coach of the year nine times, and regional coach of the year seven times. With a record of 1,324-679 (.661), Metheny remains the winningnest coach in NCAA Division II history.
Marty Miller
Norfolk State University: 1973-2005 (Coach)
Marty Miller began a 33-year coaching career at his alma mater, Norfolk State University in 1973. Miller accumulated a record of 718-543-3 for a .569 winning percentage. In 24 seasons his Norfolk State squads won 17 conference championships. Miller led his teams to 12 post- season appearances and was named the CIAA Coach of the Year 15 times. He produced six All-Americans and 22 of his former players signed pro contracts.
C.J. Mitchell
Fordham University: 1906-1909 (Shortstop); 1923-1958 (Coach)
.J. Mitchell become the first black college umpire in the Pacific 8 Conference (the Pac-12 Conference). Mitchell’s experience as a baseball umpire includes 35 years as a conference umpire, a six-time NCAA Regional umpire, a 10-time NAIA World Series umpire and a four-time NCAA Division I World Series umpire, as well as a six-time American Legion World Series baseball umpire. Mitchell umpired during the 1976, 1977, 1980 and 1981 College World Series. Records indicate that C.J. Mitchell was one of the first three black umpires to work the College World Series.
Tony Thompson
1978-2018 (Umpire)
Tony Thompson has umpired at Division I level the Men’s College World Series and 11 Regionals as well as 15 Southeastern Conference, 10 Atlantic Coast Conference and one Sun Belt Conference tournaments. He has also umpired at the Division II Baseball Championships. He hosted the first umpire super clinic which eventually became the NCAA Umpire clinics, participated in the implementation of the :20 pitch clock and implemented the first conference use of four-man umpire crews during regular season (SEC).
“Inducting the newest Hall of Fame members and celebrating top performers from this past year will officially close out the achievements of the 2023 season. Then we will eagerly turn the page to the start of the 2024 college baseball season the very next day.”
– Craig Ramsey, Chair of the College Baseball Foundation Board of Trustees
The College Baseball Foundation Awards
Caden Grice
Clemson University
Caden Grice’s Junior Year at Clemson University was a phenomenal season, seeing the first baseman (1B) and left-handed pitcher (LHP) hit in the middle of the lineup and serve as the mound ace for a team that finished 44-19 and 20-10 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Grice hit .307 with a team-high 18 home runs and 68 RBIs, and on the mound went 8-1 in 14 starts with a 3.35 ERA. A second-round pick in the 2023 Amateur Draft, Grice signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Matt Shaw
University of Maryland
Matt Shaw, a Junior at the University of Maryland, and the Big Ten Player of the Year in 2023, leading the Terrapins to the Big Ten title. He finished the year hitting. 341 with 24 home runs and 69 RBIs in 62 games, compiling a .697 slugging percentage and .445 on-base percentage for an incredible 1.142 OPS. Just as importantly, his defense was solid with just eight errors in 295 chances for a .974 fielding percentage. First round pick in the 2023 Amateur Draft, Shaw signed with the Chicago Cubs.
Paul Skenes
Louisiana State University
A year after winning the John Olerud Award Two-Way Player of the Year Award in 2022 as a Sophomore pitcher and catcher at the United States Air Force Academy, Paul Skenes Junior year resulted in the 2023 Pitcher of Year Award after transferring to Louisiana State University. Skenes, who focused solely on pitching in 2023, compiled a 13-2 record in helping lead the Tigers to the College World Series Championship. Skenes was the top overall pick in the Major League Baseball Draft before signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Kevin Brooks
Angelo State University
Kevin Brooks, who led the 2005 inaugural year of the Angelo State University baseball program and every season since. Under Brooks’ leadership, the Rams finished the 2023 season with a 56-9 overall record, setting the program and Lone Star Conference record for wins in a season on their way to a Division II National Championship title.