Former Jayhawk Coach Bingham Elected to State Baseball Hall of Fame

Jan. 2, 2012

WICHITA, Kan. – Former KU baseball head coach Dave Bingham has been elected to the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in Wichita. Bingham along with former Wichita State pitcher Darren Dreifort, former college umpire Bob Homolka, former major leaguers Lee Stevens and the late Joseph Vaughan and 14 Negro League players will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame on Feb. 4.

The ceremony will take place at the Hillside Christian Church, which is located at 8330 East Douglas in Wichita. The Hall of Fame takes nominations for people who influenced the game from or in the state of Kansas. Nominees are then voted on by the Board of Directors of the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame. To be elected, a nominee must receive 50 percent, or a majority, of the votes of the Board of Directors present at voting meeting.

Bingham coached at KU from 1988 to 1995 and led the Jayhawks to the first NCAA Tournament and College World Series appearances in school history in 1993. His 1993 team shattered a host of program records, including the school record for wins in a season with 45. The Jayhawks finished second in the Big Eight that season, but won the Knoxville Regional with a 3-2, 10-inning triumph over Fresno State.

Bingham had a knack for recruiting and developing talent on the mound as pitchers Curtis Shaw (1990), Jimmy Walker (1993) and Jamie Splittorff (1994) were all named All-Americans during his tenure.

He posted a 249-225 record in eight seasons at Kansas, reaching the NCAA Tournament in 1993 and 1994. Bingham’s run was quite remarkable, considering that KU had not posted a winning season in the seven years before Bingham took over.

Bingham took the Kansas job after coaching for 14 years at his alma mater, Emporia State. He led the Hornets to a 558-270-2 record and an NAIA National Championship in 1978.

After leaving Kansas in 1995, Bingham developed his own baseball academy in Lawrence, Kan., which he served as the owner and director of for nine years. He got back into coaching in 2004 as an assistant with the University of New Mexico and then served as an assistant coach at Nebraska from 2005-11.