7 February 2006

Putman to be inducted in NJCAA Baseball Hall of Fame

Headshot of Wallace State Head Baseball Coach Randy Putman

HANCEVILLE, AL-- As if the start of the baseball season weren’t enough, Coach Randy Putman of Wallace State Community College in Hanceville has something else to be excited about this spring.

   Putman recently received word that he will be inducted in the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.

   With 23 years of coaching experience and more than 600 collegiate wins to his credit, Putman has built a career that sets him apart as one of the nation’s winningest college baseball coaches.

   This year marks Putman’s 17th season as the head baseball coach at Wallace State, where he has posted an overall record of 614-225. His teams have won six Conference Championships, five Southeastern Regional Championships and made five trips to the Division I JUCO World Series.

   He was selected ACCC Baseball Coach of the Year in 1992, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2005 by Louisville Slugger, Diamond Baseball and the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association. Last year he was presented Alabama House of Representatives Resolution HR 543 commending his outstanding professional accomplishments. In 1991, Putman was elected into the Alabama Junior College Hall of Fame.

Putman shown coaching third base during a game at home last season.

   “The 2006 class of inductees will add a very deserving group to this already prestigious gathering,” Wayne Baker, executive director of the NJCAA, wrote in his letter of congratulations. “It is with great pride that the NJCAA grants recognition to hard working and successful individuals that have dedicated their career to student athletes.”

   The induction ceremony will take place at the opening ceremonies for the 2006 JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colo. at the end of May. The Wallace State Lions were at the ceremony last year as participants in the World Series. If the team reaches its goal this year, they’ll be back again for Putman’s induction.

   “It is a tremendous honor to be in the Hall of Fame—the greatest honor I’ve ever received on an individual basis,” said Putman. “A lot of great players, coaches and assistant coaches over the years have helped me get here.”

   Before becoming a coach, Putman began his career as a player. He played baseball at Calhoun Community College, Jacksonville State University and for three years with the Kansas City Royals and San Diego Padres organization. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education from the University of Alabama and a master’s degree from UAB.

   Once his playing years were behind him, Putman turned his attention to coaching. His talents as a coach were clear from the start.

   Prior to his arrival at Wallace State, Putman spent six years as the head baseball coach at Tate High School in Pensacola, Fla. There, his teams had a record of 152-28 and won two state championships and one national championship.

Randy Putman is presented the ACCC Coach of the Year award, his eighth, by ACCC Commissioner Al Cox.

   In 1988, he assumed the head coaching position at Wallace State.

   The positive impact he has had on players throughout the years is evident in the number who return to campus each year to assist him with baseball clinics for area youth and to cheer on the most recent Wallace State team.

   More than 30 of his players have gone on to play college and professional baseball. Two former players were members of Australia’s Olympic most recent baseball team. And 18 are now coaches themselves.

   “To play for him takes heart, desire, a passion for the game, and a willingness to represent Wallace State-Hanceville well,” said Kennard Jones, a former Wallace State Lion who now plays professionally with the San Diego Padres.

   “His program is tough and rigorous and he constantly strives to bring the best out of ballplayers, which will always carry him to the top as a coach. I learned a lot about myself and my capabilities while I was at Wallace State. There I became a strong young man spiritually and mentally as well as physically,” Jones said.

Putman counsels Steve Soper (sophomore catcher on last year’s team) during the 2005 JUCO World Series.

   Randy Putman is a coach’s coach. He demands discipline and a desire to win. He knows how to be tough yet caring, and his players love and respect him for it.

   Not only does Putman concentrate on his players’ on-field performance, he puts forth great effort to ensure they are well-rounded individuals. He believes in the total development of the student athlete and prepares his players to continue their careers at four-year colleges and beyond.

   “If our players are not graduating or excelling in the classroom, I feel we are failing them,” said Putman. “We want to challenge them in every area of their lives—mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally—to help them to excel in the real world,” Putman said.

   Community service is an important part of that lesson and Putman leads by example. Each year he takes his players to visit patients at the nursing home, and he shares his knowledge of the game and its fundaments at youth clinics and by serving as a member of Wallace State’s speaker’s bureau.

   “The excellent reputation Coach Putman has established for our program has made it known not only across the nation, but around the world,” said Wallace State President Vicki Hawsey. “We are very proud of him and glad to see him receive this prestigious honor, which he so richly deserves.

   Putman and wife Danna have two daughters, Shelby and Cassidy. They reside in Cullman.

   Putman’s 17th season gets started on Feb. 7, when the Wallace State Lions open at home against Columbia State.

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  Kristen Holmes
  Director, Communications and Marketing
  Wallace State Community College
  P.O. Box 2000
  Hanceville, AL 35077
  256/352-8118
  E-mail: Kristen.Holmes@WallaceState.edu