Gene Stephenson enters College Baseball Hall with well-developed coaching tree

[1979Shocker]

When P.J. Forbes, perhaps weighing 140 pounds, came to Wichita State in 1986, reality hit with an assessment from coach Gene Stephenson.

“He told me I’m not big enough, not fast enough and not strong enough,” Forbes said. “That kind of punched me in the eye. He flat-out told me I was going to have to play smart to beat the game.”

So much for Forbes’ dreams of starting as a freshman. Forbes listened to Stephenson, worked on his skills and started as a sophomore on his way to a career that briefly carried him to the major leagues.

He is one of numerous Stephenson players now coaching in the professional or college ranks, part of a legacy that will be celebrated on Saturday. Stephenson, WSU’s coach from 1978 to 2013, will be inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in Lubbock, Texas.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2014/06/21/351...#storylink=cpy

[Veritas]

Kudos to the Eagle on running these wonderful articles celebrating WSU's 25th anniversary on the National Championship.

[BostonWu]

Interesting ending in that article....

[Veritas]

Interesting ending in that article....

Benedict Brent was caught between a rock and a hard place. A short term gain that could haunt him the rest of his life with regret.
No easy answer, but a test of his character was clearly on the line.
He chose poorly.
One day, I hope he is afforded the opportunity to right a wrong and make it up to his mentor and former boss.
Go Shox!

[1972Shocker]

Congratulations to Gene on his well-deserved induction into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

BTW, how was Lubbock, Texas able to secure this Hall of Fame? It has not been in existence that long. It's first class of inductees was selected in 2006. It appears someone in Lubbock decided to form a charitable foundation that was created to become the founder of the National College Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame. Not sure if their is even a physical site to visit at this point. It appears the Museum is in the design development phase. Architectural renderings look very nice. But, with all due respect to Lubbock, I can think of a bunch of locations where I would rather see this located (even though right now it is mostly an online HOF).

Shockers inducted in the National College Baseball Hall of Fame include:
2007: Phil Stephenson
2009: Joe Carter
2009: Darren Driefort
2010: Don Heinkel
2014: Gene Stephenson

You can listen to the induction speeches by clicking on the link on their Induction thumb nails. Also there is a link to some great video of Phil's playing days which is must see for Shocker fans especially the games at what is now Eck Stadium/Tyler Field.

They are a little inconsistent on the inclusion of statistical arrays for the players. I don't know if that is on the Hall of Fame or on Wichita State. Certainly WSU has that information available.

[Kung Wu]

“I tried to reach Gene several times last June and never heard back,” Kemnitz said.

This says a lot about Gene.

[SB Shock]

Interesting ending in that article....

someone is holding a grudge...

[SB Shock]

Congratulations to Gene on his well-deserved induction into the College Baseball Hall of Fame. Probably was overdue.

generally, you go into the hall-of-fame after your career is over, so I don't know how it would be considered "overdue" after him being inducted while he been only out as a coach less than a year. Well deserved though, I suppose this also means his coaching career is now over right?

[1972Shocker]

generally, you go into the hall-of-fame after your career is over, so I don't know how it would be considered "overdue" after him being inducted while he been only out as a coach less than a year. Well deserved though, I suppose this also means his coaching career is now over right?

True. Maybe it's premature.

[Veritas]

This says a lot about Gene.

That's a different and interesting way to look at it.
Sad turn of events that apparently has damaged decades of friendship and cooperation.
Maybe some day, we'll truly know what happened.

[1972Shocker]

That's a different and interesting way to look at it.
Sad turn of events that apparently has damaged decades of friendship and cooperation.
Maybe some day, we'll truly know what happened.

I agree that it is a sad turn of events. I certainly don't know enough of what really happened to be able to say how this may reflect on any of the individuals involved. Again without knowing enough to point any fingers, I am fearful that the relationship between Gene and the University may have been damaged to the point that Gene may not receive the recognition he deserves and would otherwise unquestionably receive. I'm not betting that we will ever find out the full truth about what transpired at the end of Gene's tenure.

[SB Shock]

That's a different and interesting way to look at it.
Sad turn of events that apparently has damaged decades of friendship and cooperation.
Maybe some day, we'll truly know what happened.

It well known what happen - kemnitz distanced himself from gene and company and negotiated keeping his job. Gene was taken by suprise - he was expecting to just take the whole crew to another location school. But without kemnitz the crew is not much in demand. It was a kemnitz -coup-de-tat

[1972Shocker]

In his farewell news conference, Stephenson called the decision by athletic director Eric Sexton to keep Kemnitz on staff a plus (at that time Stephenson said Kemnitz would remain one year) and a move he requested.

Those feelings soon changed for reasons Stephenson will not discuss. Kemnitz also declined to comment on their relationship.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2014/06/21/351...#storylink=cpy

So @SB Shock are you saying Gene's plan was that he would sit out a year to re-charge and collect his final salary and then he and Brent (and perhaps JT) would move on as a group to another school and that Brent had made a commitment to move on with Gene after one more year as WSU pitching coach. But for whatever reason Brent decided that move wasn't in his best interest and negotiated a longer extension with WSU, although I assume he is still free to leave if he so desires.

Is that what caused Gene's feelings to change or did something else happen between Gene and Brent to precipitate Gene's change in feelings or Brent making the decision to accept a longer-term extension of his contract with WSU?

[shockmonster]

It well known what happen - kemnitz distanced himself from gene and company and negotiated keeping his job. Gene was taken by suprise - he was expecting to just take the whole crew to another location school. But without kemnitz the crew is not much in demand. It was a kemnitz -coup-de-tat

It was well known? You make it sound like kemnitz was the grand master of a plot to negotiate with Sexton to get rid of Gene and Thomas, and getting a job extension.

[shox1989]

It well known what happen - kemnitz distanced himself from gene and company and negotiated keeping his job. Gene was taken by suprise - he was expecting to just take the whole crew to another location school. But without kemnitz the crew is not much in demand. It was a kemnitz -coup-de-tat

I agree with SB.