The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Brian Shoop Named Head Baseball Coach At UAB
6/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 12, 2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- Brian Shoop, who has guided the Birmingham-Southern baseball program to national prominence during a highly-successful tenure with the Panthers, has been named the head coach at UAB, according to an announcement Monday by Interim Director of Athletics Richard Margison.
Shoop, BSC's all-time winningest coach with 692 victories in 17 years, will become the fourth coach in UAB's 28-year program history.
"When we called other head coaches to get input on prospective candidates, almost to a person they said `you've got the best person right there in Birmingham' in Brian Shoop," Margison said. "He graduates players, he coaches a very competitive winning program, and he's involved in the community. We are very excited about the future of our baseball program under his leadership."
In his 17 seasons at Birmingham-Southern, Shoop compiled a .693 winning percentage, including nine seasons with more than 40 wins. He finished with at least 32 wins a season in 16 of his 17 years, and had a remarkable 209 victories in conference play. Under Shoop, the Panthers captured the Big South regular season championship in two of the past three years (2004 and 2006). The 2004 squad earned a berth in the NCAA Athens Regional. He was the recipient of the 2004 Big South Conference Coach of the Year award and also the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year.
Under Shoop's guidance, Birmingham-Southern averaged 41 wins a season and captured nine regular season conference titles and eight conference tournament championships. He led his BSC squads to 10 regional appearances and finished no worse than third with three runner-up finishes and four regional championships. BSC was ranked in the final NAIA poll in 10 of Shoop's first 12 years, including eight top-10 rankings and four top-five finishes. This past year marked the 16th consecutive winning season for Birmingham Southern.
In 2001, BSC's final year of NAIA competition, Shoop led the Panthers to a school-record 55 wins en route to claming the NAIA national championship, the program's first national title.
The Columbus, Ohio, native was twice named TransSouth Conference Coach of the Year and was honored as the ABCA Mid-South Region of the Year three times. Shoop has been named conference or district coach of the year seven out of the past 10 years and has served as the NAIA Southeast Region Baseball Chairman for four years.
A proponent of high academic standard, Shoop has produced countless Dean's List students and has had several of his players named to the Big South Conference Presidential Honor Roll.
"I'm honored to be the new baseball coach at UAB," said Shoop. "I want to say I don't view this as a rebuilding project. It's exciting to be a part of that and we want to build off concepts that I have used in the past.
"This is a great opportunity. I know this is a great institution academically, and I know this can be a great institution athletically and it is. I'm the baseball coach here but what I want it to be is a family. I can't wait to get out to the football games in the fall and support coach, and have my players there supporting too."
Prior to joining the BSC staff, he served as an assistant at Mississippi State University under Ron Polk. Over a seven-year span, he helped the Bulldogs win three SEC championships and earn six regional appearances, including a trip to Omaha, Nebraska and the College World Series in 1985. During his tenure in Starkville, Shoop coached Major League standouts Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro, Jeff Brantley and Bobby Thigpen and was instrumental in recruiting some of the top players in America."
Shoop's appointment at UAB is "subject to the approval of his contract by the Board of Trustees."
A graduate of Malone (Ohio) College in 1980, Shoop received B.S. degrees in Physical Education and Business/Economics. He then went on to receive his Master's in Sports Administration at Kent State in 1982. He was inducted to the Malone Hall of Fame in 1986.
Shoop and his wife Brenda have five children. Scott (19), Emily (17), Hannah (14), and twins Sarah and Jessie (10).
