10 things to know about USC baseball coach Mark Kingston

1. Rising coach

At his first job as a head coach, Kingston was twice named a “Rising College Coach” during a five-year tenure at Illinois State (2010-14) in which he earned MVC Coach of the Year honors in 2010 and 2013.

2. Bullish on baseball

At his next job, he compiled a 100-78-1 record at South Florida in Tampa, helping the Bulls to a pair of NCAA Regional appearances. He guided USF to a 42-19 mark in 2017, the first time since 1996 the team reached the 40-win mark.

3. Fellow Tar Heels

Like his predecessor Chad Holbrook, Kingston played college baseball at North Carolina. He was a part of the 1989 Tar Heels team that won the ACC Championship and advanced to the College World Series.

4. Omaha or bust

Kingston was an assistant coach at Miami in 2001 when the Hurricanes won the national title. He also was an assistant at Tulane when the Green Wave made the College World Series in 2005.

5. They said it

ESPN college baseball analyst Mike Rooney said: “Mark is phenomenal. When he was hired by USF, everyone across the country just basically said, ‘OK, there you go, look out.’ ”

6. Beating the bushes

Kendall Rogers of D1baseball said Kingston is known as a great recruiter. “He’s going to be one of the few head coaches that is out at these 15- and 16-under tournaments. … He’s going to recruit well.”

7. Family man

Kingston and his wife, the former Letitia Kelly, have three children, Kailyn Grace, Cameron James and Kathryn Patricia.

8. Prep career

Kingston attended Potomac High School (Virginia), where he developed into a Collegiate Baseball Top-50 Prospect and was drafted by the New York Yankees after leading his team to the 1988 state championship.

9. Pro career

Drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers out of North Carolina in 1992, he played professionally for five seasons with Milwaukee and the Chicago Cubs organizations.

10. Video for hitting

He wrote and produced two instructional videos: “Keys to Consistent Hitting” and “Catching Drills and Fundamentals.” He also was the only assistant coach chosen to write a chapter in “The Baseball Drill Book,” produced by the American Baseball Coaches Association.

From Staff Reports

This story was originally published July 1, 2017 at 3:43 PM.