Brad L. Hill (born May 2, 1962) is an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

coach and former player, who is the head baseball coach of the Emporia State Hornets. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

at Emporia State from 1982 to 1985. He then served as the head coach of the Hutchinson Blue Dragons (1988–1990), Central Missouri State Mules (1995–2003) and the

Kansas State Wildcats The Kansas State Wildcats (variously "Kansas State", "K-State", or "KSU") are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Kansas State University. The School colors, official color of the teams is Royal Purple; white and silver are gener ...

(

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

–2018). Under him, the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

have appeared in six consecutive Big 12 baseball tournaments (2007–2012). His teams have also qualified for three

NCAA Division I Baseball Championship The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the eight-team College World Series, Men's College World Series (MCWS) at Charles Schwa ...

s. Hill was the coach at Central Missouri State from 1995 to 2003. He won a Division II National Championship there in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, and was National Runner-up in 2001.

Playing career

Hill played collegiately at

Emporia State University Emporia State University (Emporia State or ESU) is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States. Established in March 1863 as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third-oldest public university in the state of Kansas. E ...

. He capped off his four-year career by helping Emporia State to the 1984 NAIA College World Series. Hill still owns a majority of the Hornets' offensive marks, including the career marks for games played (244), at-bats (809), hits (302), runs scored (241), RBIs (264), doubles (71) and home runs (47). He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the

1984 Major League Baseball Draft The 1984 Major League Baseball draft took place in June 1984. The draft saw the New York Mets select Shawn Abner first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1984 Major League Baseball draft. Other n ...

in the 35th round (778th overall). He advanced as high as

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League B ...

Coaching career

Hill was the head coach at

Hutchinson Community College Hutchinson Community College (HutchCC or HCC) is a Public college, public community college in Hutchinson, Kansas. It serves nearly 5,000 credit students every semester. History The college was established in the spring of 1928 as Hutchinson Ju ...

Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson is the largest city in and the county seat of Reno County, Kansas, Reno County, Kansas, United States. The city is located on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887 (thus its nickname of "Salt City") but locals ...

, for three seasons from 1988–90, compiling an 83–50 overall record. His 1989 squad posted a school-record 34 wins, while in 1990 the Dragons registered the highest winning percentage in school history with a 32–9 mark. Hill was an assistant coach at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

for 4 seasons under his college coach, Dave Bingham. As the Jayhawks' hitting coach and recruiting coordinator from 1991–94, he helped Kansas to a 144–92 overall record and a pair of NCAA tournament appearances, including the school's first and only trip to the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

. The 1993 team broke school records for most hits, doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases in a single-season. The Jayhawks posted a 10–7 record against the

during Hill's tenure in Lawrence. Hill was hired by Central Missouri State in 1995. He led the Mules to a National Championship in

, with a record of 51–7, including 27–2 in conference play. In the summer of 2003, Hill was hired by

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

as the head baseball coach. He replaced Mike Clark, who coached the team for 17 years. In 2004, Hill lead the Wildcats to their first-ever national ranking at No. 30 during that pan, which included an 11-game winning streak. Then, in 2005, the Wildcats took the next step as they won 30 games in a season for just the 10th time ever, doubled their conference wins from the previous season, swept a season series from in-state rival Wichita State for the first time in 50 years and knocked off a No. 1-ranked team for the first time in school history, eventual national champion

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. In 2006, the Wildcats won a school-record 16 straight games and also ended the season on a 5-game winning streak, wrapping up the season with a sweep of # 22 Baylor at

Tointon Family Stadium Frank Myers Field at Tointon Family Stadium is a baseball stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. It is the home field of the Kansas State University Wildcats college baseball team. The stadium's official capacity is 2,331 and opened for baseball in 196 ...

. Statistically, K-State finished the season in the top half of the league in both hitting (.314) and ERA (3.94). The 3.94 team ERA was the lowest since the 1975 season and the best since the addition of aluminum bats in college baseball. His teams have won 40 or more games eight times and 50-plus games on four occasions. On April 29, 2009, Hill won his 600th career game, beating

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

, 10–2. He also earned 2009

Big 12 Conference Baseball Coach of the Year Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big'', a 2023 Taiwanese children's film starring Van Fan and Chie Tanaka * '' Big!'', a Discover ...

honors. The 2009 season proved to be the most storied in the program's 109-year history. Predicted to finish ninth in the Big 12 Baseball Preseason Poll, Hill guided K-State to a school-record 43-win season, including a program-best 14 conference victories to finish fourth in the Big 12 regular season standings, the school's best finish since placing second in the Big 8 in 1990. The Cats earned their first top 10 ranking during the season and finished the 2009 campaign in the national polls for the first time in school history when Baseball America ranked K-State No. 19 in its final poll. The Wildcats earned their first ever trip to the NCAA tournament. They won their first two games, beating

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

and the

Rice Owls The Rice Owls are the sports teams representing Houston's Rice University in college sports. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of the American Athletic Conference, Rice sponsors ...

before losing two straight to the

resulting in their elimination. As of the

2009 Major League Baseball Draft The 2009 Major League Baseball draft was held June 9 to June 11 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. The drafting order is as follows: First-round selections Key Supplemental first-round selections From Baseball Americ ...

, 18 Wildcats have been drafted under the tutelage of Brad Hill. On May 8, 2018, Brad Hill announced his resignation as head coach of Kansas State at the conclusion of the 2018 season.

Head coaching record

Below is a table of Hill's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach. It does not include his seasons as a junior college head coach.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Brad 1962 births Living people Central Missouri Mules baseball coaches Emporia State Hornets baseball players Kansas Jayhawks baseball coaches Kansas State Wildcats baseball coaches Northwestern Wildcats baseball coaches Emporia State Hornets baseball coaches Tulsa Drillers players Tri-Cities Triplets players Salem Redbirds players Burlington Rangers players