Furman Promotes Harker To Head Coach

Brett Harker, Furman’s pitching coach the past two season, has been named head coach, replacing Ron Smith, who last month resigned after 23 years.

Harker, who’s from Greenville, S.C., where Furman is located, was also the Paladins’ recruiting coordinator. He’s just the fourth head coach Furman’s had in the past 50 years.

“After an exhilarating three week search, we are proud to announce Brett Harker as our new head baseball coach,” director of athletics Mike Buddie, the former major league pitcher, said in a statement. “The deeper into the search I moved, the more clarity I gained that Brett had all of the intangibles I believe will make him the perfect fit for Furman Baseball. His background as a collegiate All-American and professional player, coupled with his great passion for Furman, gave him a leg up on the competition. I have supreme confidence we will see great things from this rising star in the collegiate baseball world.”

Harker was hired at Furman in 2014 after serving as pitching coach at Newberry (S.C.) College. Prior to Newberry, Harker, who turns 32 on Saturday, was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at North Greenville (S.C.) University in 2013.

“This is an exciting time for my family and for me, and I am very thankful for the opportunity to lead the Furman University baseball program,” Harker said in a news release. “We often tell recruits, ‘There is no better time to be a Paladin,’ and I am thrilled to experience that first-hand today. I am excited to make this transition and build on the foundation left by our amazing alumni and the strong nucleus of returning players. I look forward to continuing the tradition of helping produce and recruit some of the top student-athletes in the country and am ready to lead Furman Baseball to new heights.”

Harker pitched for the College of Charleston from 2003-05, compiling a 14-6, 4.08 mark with 29 saves, a program record. He was drafted by the Phillies in fifth round in 2005 and was the Phillies’ No. 24 prospect after that season. He spent four years in the Phillies organization before he was taken in the Rule 5 Draft by the Marlins and got to Triple-A. He played independent ball in 2010 before retiring.

“Brett Harker is a man of high character and possesses leadership that you want in a head coach,” said Clemson coach Monte Lee, who played at CofC and was the head coach there from 2009-15. “I have known him for many years and believe he is a rising star in the coaching profession. I am extremely excited to see him accomplish great things at Furman University.”

2016 COACHING CHANGES
School	Departures	Arrivals
Alabama	Mitch Gaspard	Greg Goff
Alabama State	Mervyl Melendez
Appalachian State	Billy Jones
Army	Matt Reid	Jim Foster
Butler	Steve Farley	Dave Schrage
Central Florida	Terry Rooney
Florida International	Turtle Thomas	Mervyl Melendez
Furman	Ron Smith	Brett Harker
Jacksonville	Tim Montez	Chris Hayes
Kentucky	Gary Henderson	Nick Mingione
Lamar	Jim Gilligan (ret.)	Will Davis
Liberty	Jim Toman
Louisiana Tech	Greg Goff	Lane Burroughs
Missouri	Tim Jamieson	Steve Bieser
Northwestern State	Lane Burroughs	Bobby Barbier
Purdue	Doug Schreiber	Mark Wasikowski
San Jose State	Dave Nakama
SIU-Edwardsville	Tony Stoecklin	Sean Lyons
Texas	Augie Garrido	David Pierce
Tulane	David Pierce
Villanova	Joe Godri
Youngstown State	Steve Gillispie	Dan Bertolini