Georgia Southern University (GSU) Head Baseball Coach Rodney Hennon was introduced by Rotarian and GSU fan Hugh McCullough at the club’s July 31, 2024, meeting. He commented that in Hennon’s 23-year career at GSU, 855 of the 936 games he had won were at GSU at the Jack Stallings Field.
Hennon said that classes for GSU start August 14, and the baseball team’s first meet will be August 12.
“A new season is always challenging but very exciting as we see new faces and these guys who are coming together for a common goal,” said Hennon.
“During the 2024 season, I had a great team to coach along with superb leadership in the locker room. We saw two of our players go on to play professional baseball,” he added, and these were Thomas Higgins selected for the Mariners in the 15th round, and Ben Johnson selected by the Cubs in the 17th round.
Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Staff member Brad Lane was in attendance, and Hennon commented on the Bible studies since 2008 that Lane has led for the coaches on the GSU campus, both at practices and games.
“We had an up and down season, but they showed up ready to play as a team and soon they started to gel,” he said. Last year, their win-loss record was 33-26, and 17-13 in the Sunbelt Conference, establishing themselves as one the top five baseball conferences in the country.
“We appeared the last eight seasons in a title game in the Sunbelt Championship, and our season RPI’s (Rating Percentage Index) was 56. We were a strong team in other ways, too, last year, with a team GPA (grade point average) of 3.4. Also, two of our players were selected for elite honors for their leadership, Sam Blancato and Jarrett Brown.
He shared that after a season ends, the emphasis is on recruiting camps at the J.I. Clements Field, and the foundation of the program continues to come from high school players, but also players are junior college transfers and are taken from out of the portal.
“We really concentrate finding the players with the right fit and talent for the team and who will come to work every day with their teammates,” said Hennon.
He referred to the renovations ongoing to the J.I. Clements Stadium, and these ten million dollar renovations include a new clubhouse, which is a new facility over two and a half times the size of the former clubhouse. The current Wiggins Building that has been there 27 years will be demolished, and an attempt is made to keep the famed oak tree there.
The facility will include new coaches’ offices, new team room, batting cages, indoor pitching mound, which he sees as factors in the attractiveness of the program for recruiting.
“We have seen about 2500 fans a game the past two years, and in 2023, the Yellowwood Deck was added. The tailgate suites and party deck off the top are other amenities,” said Hennon.
One of the proposals pending is the addition of scholarships. Right now, GSU has a maximum of 11.7 scholarships for the whole team, according to the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) rule, but a maximum of 34 is being proposed, although this is not finalized yet. However, he said the school may not always be able to fund this many, if the 34 number is approved. The roster, if approved, will probably be capped at that number of 34.
“This will impact baseball and will do more for student athletes. It won’t happen overnight for us to 34, but it will allow more good players to be recruited. We will adapt to be creative,” said Hennon.
“The NIL (name, image, and likeness) allows us to have flexibility to help those in our program off and on the field. This money can be used to recruit student athletes,” said Hennon.
“We have a blue collar attitude and mentality about the players recruited, but the main factor is the education part, getting a degree in the process,” he said.
