Temple excited about direction of Hinds Community College baseball|[6/29/05]
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 29, 2005
RAYMOND – The past two-and-a-half weeks have been a blur for new Hinds Community College head baseball coach Sam Temple.
The former Warren Central and Clinton High coach said Tuesday he is having to combine duties at both Mississippi College and Hinds.
“July 1st is my offical start date here at Hinds and I’ve still got some duties at Mississippi College until then,” Temple said. “I go to MC (where he was an assistant) in the morning and to Hinds in the afternoon. It’s been go-go-go.”
Temple held tryouts on the Raymond campus Tuesday, trying to build a roster for next season.
“What was very important was that 16 players had been signed when I took the job,” he said. “With all junior colleges in Mississippi now at Division II, a program can offer 24 tuition-based scholarships. We’ve got 16 of the 24 filled.”
That leaves eight scholarships and six walk-on spots available for a roster of 30. Temple, who led WC to the Class 5A championship in 2001, said he is not the guy to give out special favors.
“If you got to have a scholarship, I’m not your guy,” he said bluntly. “We’ve got 24 tuition-based scholarships and we’re not going to give them out on a whim. I want good people. I’m going to research character.”
On Tuesday, Temple had his first tryout at the Raymond campus.
“It’s my first good look at some people. I know it was publicized in Vicksburg, but a lot of the guys here were by invitation, personally.
“We’re looking to fill our 24 but I need guys able to be a walk-on. I was a walk-on here.”
Four of Tuesday’s show-ups were from Vicksburg.
“We have Justin Boler from Vicksburg High, Junior Allen’s little brother, Mark Different, who I coached when he was a younger kid at Warren Central, and Andrew Embry from Porters Chapel,” Temple said.
Of the 16 players signed, eight are returnees.
One critical thing Temple wants to stop is seeing talented players from Vicksburg having to go across the state to play at Meridian. One of his former Viking players, Joey Lieberman, played two seasons at MCC and former Vicksburg High pitcher James Jackson is expected back there for his sophomore season.
“Without a doubt, I want us to be the only recruiting choice (at our level) for the future. We’re making a fresh start,” Temple said. “Kids will know they will be coached here. And we have just as nice things here as anywhere,” Temple said. “Trust me, it’s going to make me cringe if we miss a good recruit.”
Temple will have one of the most fertile baseball areas in the state to mine talent. His district includes Warren, Hinds, Rankin and Claiborne counties.
“It really makes this a great job because of the strong programs in these counties. You take two feeders like Warren Central and Clinton where I both coached at. And then there’s Northwest Rankin where Jeff McClasky was my coach,” Temple said. “There are a lot of coaches in this area who I’m not only friends with, but very good friends with.”