Hart comes to Blinn with more than 20 seasons of collegiate coaching experience, including the previous 16 seasons in which he served as head coach at Grayson College (Denison, Texas). During his head coaching career, Hart has compiled an impressive 623-280 record, which includes the 2008 NJCAA Junior College World Series championship. In 2008, Hart was named the NJCAA National Coach of the Year, American Baseball Coaches Association Junior College Coach of the Year, and Diamond Baseball Coach of the Year, as well as the JUCO World Series Coach of the Tournament. Hart is a seven-time Region V North Coach of the Year and a two-time Southwest District Coach of the Year.
“When you have an opportunity to hire someone who has won a national championship, seven conference championships and coach of the year awards, has more than 600 wins and has averaged almost 40 wins a year, to go along with being an extremely humble and quality person, it’s exciting,” Athletic Director Scott Schumacher said.
This past spring, Hart led Grayson to a 38-18 overall record and a second-place finish in the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference with a 24-8 mark. Grayson also qualified for the Region V Tournament.
“I’m very excited to get started,” Hart said. “It’s obvious that Blinn wants to put together a program that is going to be successful each season, and that’s what really attracted me to this opportunity. Brenham is a baseball mecca in the state of Texas, so as a former player and a coach, you really couldn’t ask to be anywhere else.”
Hart is a graduate of Lubbock Monterey High School, where he played for legendary high school baseball coach Bobby Moegle. Hart was the starting shortstop during Lubbock Monterey’s successful run to the 1996 Texas 5A state championship. He attended Grayson College and was a two-year starter at shortstop during the 1997 and 1998 seasons before moving on to the University of Texas-Pan American. Hart played two seasons at shortstop for UTPA and graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology.
Hart spent one season as an undergraduate assistant for UTPA and served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Grayson from 2001-05 before being named Grayson’s head coach.
Hart has sent dozens of players to Division I universities and 25 of his student-athletes have been drafted by Major League Baseball organizations.
“The goal is going to be to win a national championship from the start,” Hart said. “It’s all about where you set the bar and where you set the expectations in practice. I expect to win a national championship every single year. I expect to go to Grand Junction (Colorado) every single year and that’s something we’re going to work hard to bring to Blinn College.”
Blinn made its first trip to the NJCAA Baseball World Series in 1962 under the guidance of legendary hall of fame head coach Leroy Dreyer. The Buccaneers have reached the NJCAA Division I Baseball World Series six total times, including their most recent appearance in 2014.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
