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Loren Hibbs is entering his 17th season as the head coach at Charlotte, and the seventh alongside assistant coaches Bo Durkac and Brandon Hall. In 2008, Charlotte won both the regular season and tournament championships for the first time in back-to-back seasons, earning the program's fourth NCAA Tournament bid. For the second straight year, Charlotte was ranked in the Top 25 in at least one poll, something not done before 2007. In his 16 seasons at Charlotte, Hibbs has helped lead the 49ers to four regular-season conference titles, three conference tournament titles and four NCAA Tournament appearances.
SUCCESS AT CHARLOTTE
Hibbs was hired as head coach of the Charlotte baseball program on February 26, 1992, and his appointment paid immediate dividends. In his first season, 1993, Hibbs took the 49ers to their first NCAA Tournament and guided them to their first-ever conference tournament championship with the 1993 Metro Conference Tournament title.
He led the 49ers to back-to-back conference regular-season titles with the 1994 and 1995 Metro regular season crowns. And in 1995 he coached the 49ers to what was then a school-record 36 wins, the program's first-ever win over a top 10 team and the program's first-ever votes in a national poll.
The 49ers first-place league finish in 1994 earned him Metro Conference Coach of the Year honors. During the 1998 season, the 49ers won a then- school-record 43 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time. That season, he garnered Conference USA Coach of the Year honors.
In 2007, Charlotte again set the school record for wins with 49, and won its first NCAA Tournament games, a pair of victories against N.C. State, advancing to the regional final. The team earned national rankings in numerous polls and put two more athletes on the All-American roster (Adam Mills and Brad McElroy). Charlotte led the nation in ERA, with Adam Mills leading the country in ERA (with a 1.01 mark) and wins (14). Mills broke season and career marks in numerous categories on his way to being named A-10 Pitcher of the Year and a finalist for the Roger Clemens Award, given to the top pitcher in the country. Charlotte also set the school and Atlantic 10 record by winning 23 conference games. Hibbs was named A-10 Coach of the Year.
2008 continued the record-breaking ways, setting the school record with a .333 team batting average, while winning more than 40 games for a school-record second straight season. Charlotte also set marks with 30-plus wins in four-straight years and 35-plus wins in three consecutive campaigns. Charlotte winning back-to-back tournament titles and NCAA Regional appearances were also firsts for the program. Not only have the teams under Hibbs excelled, but several individuals have gone on to receive national acclaim. Seven of the school's eight All-Americans have played under Hibbs. In 1995, Tim Collie was named the Metro Conference Player of the Year and became just the second 49er baseball All-American. Joey Anderson earned All-America honors in 1996, giving the 49ers their third All-American and second in four years under Hibbs. In 1998, Bo Robinson and James Matan became the fourth and fifth Charlotte All-Americans. Matan was named the 1998 Conference USA Player of the Year. In 2001, John Maine was named the Conference USA Pitcher of the Year. Maine pitches for the N. Y. Mets and grabbed a win in the National League Championship Series in 2006. Teammates Brad McElroy and Adam Mills were put on the All-America team in 2007. Mills was the A-10 Pitcher of the Year, while McElroy led the conference in five offensive categories. Chris Taylor was the 2008 Co-Player of the Year in the Atlantic 10, and earned Third-Team All-American Honors.
Hibbs has also shown a knack for bringing along freshmen. In 2008, Corey Shaylor was named A-10 Rookie of the Year and put on the Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger 2008 Freshman All-America Team, the third time for each for a Niner in team history (Aaron Bray was the A-10 Rookie of the Year and Freshman All-America in 2006, Mike Taylor was C-USA Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-America in 2000). Freshman Joe Yermal was named as a pitcher to the Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger 2008 Freshman All-America Team. Six other freshmen under Hibbs have been named freshman honorable mention All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball: Joey Anderson (1993), Bo Robinson (1995), Brion Treadway (1998), Brad Erwin (2000), Brad Lamm (2000), and Adam Willard (2002). Nine different players garnered Conference USA All-Freshman team honors during Hibbs' tenure with Aaron Bray and Kyle Pfirrman earning All-Freshman honors in the Atlantic 10 in 2006, Bryan Hamilton garnering such honors in 2007 with Shaylor and Yermal making the A-10 list in 2008.
Not only have his teams excelled on the field but they also have excelled in the classroom. This past fall, 14 players were named to an academic honor list, including nine who earned Dean's List distinction or better. Academic All-American and all-league selection Matt McWilliams and former all-conference selection Cam Browder received NCAA Post Graduate scholarships to finish their degrees after professional baseball. In 2006, Mike Ambrose was the program's first-ever First-Team Academic All-American. Ambrose was also Male Student-Athlete of the Year in the Atlantic 10, another first for Charlotte.
The 49ers have also done a lot of community service in his 16 seasons. Projects include working with Habitat for Humanity, the Metrolina Food Bank, the Epilepsy Foundation's Walk, area shelters and making visits to Hemby's Children's Hospital. Hibbs and his team have also taken part in several local youth clinics and he has worked with several clinics regionally.
AN IMPRESSIVE BACKGROUND
Hibbs arrived in Charlotte after serving as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Wichita State. Over his career, Hibbs has piled up an impressive resume of accomplishments. As a player he was involved in two regular-season conference titles, one conference tournament championship, two NCAA regionals and a second place finish at the College World Series. As an assistant coach, he was involved in seven regular-season conference titles, five tournament titles, seven regional appearances, four College World Series visits and one national championship. He was associated with some form of conference championship in every season for nine straight years from 1987-1995. As an assistant to Shockers head coach Gene Stephenson, Hibbs made trips to the NCAA Tournament in six of his seven years and to the College World Series in four of his last five years.
Over the course of his coaching career, both at Charlotte and Wichita State, Hibbs has mentored 14 major league players, including Eric Wedge, Pat Meares, Darren Dreifort, Doug Mirabelli and the 49ers' own Jason Stanford (Cleveland/Washington) and John Maine (Baltimore/New York Mets). Hibbs has worked with 129 All-Conference, 30 All-Region and 24 All-American selections, in addition to four players who went on to play for Team USA.
As a player with Wichita State, he was a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference selection and a member of the 1982 College World Series all-tournament team. He still ranks high in several of the Shockers all-time categories, and the 125 runs he scored in the 1982 season are not only a school-record, but an NCAA record as well. Hibbs, a three-time professional draft pick, had a brief professional stint with the San Francisco Giants.
Hibbs has three children, Tyson (21), Erin (19) and Lanie Rae (9), and is married to the former Lisa Helms.
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NOTES • One of few people in baseball to have coached and played in a College World Series Championship game. • Under Hibbs, the 49ers have won four regular-season conference championships, three conference tournament titles and made four NCAA tournament appearances, including one regional final in 2007. • The 49ers have made all four of their NCAA Tournament appearances under Hibbs. • Charlotte has played in five league championship games, the semifinals on two other occasions, and won at least one game in the conference tournament ten times. • During his 16 years as head coach, 90 percent of the seniors have graduated. • The 49ers are one of only three schools in Conference USA history to have had a coach of the year and a player named pitcher, player and freshman of the year. • Seven of Charlotte's eight All-Americans played for Hibbs. • 71 of 86 players that have earned all-conference honors played for Hibbs. • Hibbs became the program's all-time winningest coach during the 2002 season. • In his 17th season, has the longest tenure of any current coach in the 49ers athletic dept. |
