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Our guest speaker for this meeting will be Jim Koerner, Director of Player Development for USA Baseball. He is responsible for developing on-field programming for USA Baseball’s six national teams and three national team development programs.

Koerner runs the 13U/14U Athlete Development Program (ADP) and 16U/17U National Team Development Program (NTDP), a role he assumed in January 2023. The ADP and NTDP both serve as identification events for national team programming, while also providing the nation’s top athletes an opportunity to connect with USA Baseball coaches, task force and national team staff to better prepare for a future national team experience.

Koerner was the head coach at North Carolina Central University from 2011-21. As just the second head coach in the program’s modern-day history, Koerner took NCCU baseball to new heights in his 10 years at the helm, culminating with a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Southern Division Championship, and MEAC Coach of the Year recognition during the 2021 season. He coached seven MLB draft picks or free agent signees while at NCCU.

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6/5/24 – Scholar-Athlete Awards Luncheon
6/19/24 – Peter Fox, ESPN’s Founding Executive Director
7/3/24 – NO MEETING

Our guest speaker for this meeting will be Marissa Young, Head Softball Coach at Duke. After being named the first head softball coach at Duke University on July 29, 2015, Marissa Young has put together a 213-97 record in her six years at the helm of the Duke softball program. In just 4 seasons, Duke claimed the ACC Championship under Young’s leadership.

Prior to being tabbed to build the Duke softball program, Young spent the prior two seasons at UNC, where her primary responsibilities included coaching the pitchers and catchers. In the spring of 2015, Young helped the Tar Heels to a 37-16 overall record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Young’s pitchers posted a 3.30 earned run average with 234 strikeouts in 335.1 innings pitched.

As a player, Young was a three-time All-America selection as a pitcher at the University of Michigan and was named the 2002 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and 2003 Big Ten Player of the Year. Young graduated from Michigan in 2003 as the all-time strikeout leader (927) and her 88 career wins became the second highest in program history. She also matched the then-program single-season home run record with 13 in 2003.

As of April 14, Duke softball is ranked 3rd in the nation!

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5/15/24 – Special Guest Speaker
6/5/24 – Scholar-Athlete Awards Luncheon
6/19/24 – Another Special Guest Speaker

Our guest speaker for this meeting will be Bobby Cremins, Former Head Basketball Coach at Appalachian State (100-70 in 6 seasons), Georgia Tech (354-237 in 19 seasons), and the College of Charleston (125-68 in 6 seasons). His greatest success came with the Yellow Jackets where Tech made 10 NCAA tournament appearances, including 9 in a row, as well as reaching the Final Four in 1990 before losing in the national semifinal to Nevada-Las Vegas.

Cremins was voted the ACC “Coach of the Year” three times (1983, 1985, 1996). He would guide some talented guards as well, from Mark Price to fellow New Yorkers, Kenny Anderson and Stephon Marbury, leading to Georgia Tech being called “Point Guard University.” Cremins took over the cellar-dwelling Tech program in 1981 and leading it to the ACC Championship just 4 years later. He retired as Georgia Tech’s coach after the 2000 season with more victories as an ACC Coach than anyone except Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski.

In college, Cremins played Guard under Frank McGuire at University of South Carolina, finishing in 1970, a year before the Gamecocks left the ACC.

Cremins and his wife, Carolyn, live in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

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5/1/24 – Special Guest Speaker
5/15/24 – Special Guest Speaker
6/5/24 – Scholar-Athlete Awards Luncheon

Our guest speaker for this meeting will be Dave Odom, Former Head Basketball Coach at Wake Forest, University of South Carolina and others. After graduating from East Carolina in 1969, Odom took a job at Durham High School, coaching there for seven years (1969–1976),where he was voted his league’s coach of the year five times.

Odom began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Wake Forest University in 1976 under head coach Carl Tacy. After three years at Wake Forest (1976–1979), Odom became the head coach at East Carolina University, where his squad compiled a 16-11 record, the university’s best since 1965. In his 12 seasons as Head Coach at Wake Forest, Odom compiled a record of 240-132, making him the second-highest winning coach in Wake Forest history, as well as the second highest winning percentage in school history. During this time, Wake Forest earned 7 straight NCAA Tournament appearances and one NIT championship. Odom was named ACC coach of the year in 1991, 1994 and 1995.

Odom left Wake Forest to accept the job as head coach of the University of South Carolina in 2001. During his tenure at South Carolina, his team earned one NCAA tournament bid, and made three appearances in the NIT, winning the championship in 2005 and 2006. He was named SEC Coach of the Year in 2004. On January 2, 2008, Odom coached his 400th collegiate victory as a head coach. Later that month, on January 18, he announced that he would retire at the end of the 2007-2008 basketball season, his seventh at South Carolina. He coached his final game for USC on March 14, 2008, in the SEC tournament.

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4/17/24 – Bobby Cremins, Retired College Basketball Coach
5/1/24 – Special Guest Speaker
5/15/24 – Special Guest Speaker

Our guest speaker for this meeting will be Bob Bender, former Professional and College Basketball Coach. Robert Michael Bender (born April 28, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach, who last served an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association. Born in Quantico, Virginia, he attended Bloomington High School in Bloomington, Illinois, where he was an All-American in basketball. Bender has the distinction of being the only individual to play on two teams in two NCAA Championship games. He was a freshman on Bob Knight’s undefeated 1976 Indiana team and played point guard at Duke from 1977 to 1980, including an appearance in the title game against Kentucky. Bender was drafted by the San Diego Clippers in the sixth round before his senior year.

Bender began his coaching career at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski. He later served as head coach at Illinois State University and the University of Washington, and was an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers. On June 17, 2013, Bender was hired as an assistant coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, under Larry Drew, of whom he was an assistant to at the Atlanta Hawks.

Bender is married to his wife, Alice, and they have two children: Mary and Robert Bender III.
(thanks, Wikipedia)

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4/3/24 – Dave Odom, Retired College Basketball Coach
4/17/24 – Special Guest Speaker
5/1/24 – Special Guest Speaker

Our guest speaker for this meeting will be Durham Sports Club Member Kevin Kelly. Kevin will be speaking to us about the North Carolina Senior Games, of which he has participated in since 2009. Since then, he has established a Senior Games Basketball team that has qualified for SIX National Senior Games competitions, winning the gold medal for his team’s division in their age group at the 2022 National Senior Games in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Kelly had worked in numerous basketball camps in the 1970s, working for notable coaches such as Lefty Driesell (Go Maryland), Bill Foster, Tom Young, and others.

For the 1975-76 season. Kelly coached England’s Wilmslow Grammar School, which was culminated by winning the 1976 England National High School Championship.

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3/20/24 – Bob Bender, Retired College and Pro Basketball Coach
4/3/24 – Dave Odom, Retired College Basketball Coach
4/17/24 – Special Guest Speaker

Our guest speaker for this meeting will be Steve Vacendak, former Duke and ABA Basketball player, and 2017 inductee into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. After graduating from Duke University, he was drafted by the San Francisco Warriors in the fourth round of the 1966 NBA draft, but he never played for them. Instead, he played professional basketball for the American Basketball Association and later joined the sales staff at Converse Rubber Company.

In 1980, he went back to work at Duke as an associate athletic director for five years. Perhaps his most significant contribution to his alma mater came during this period when he strongly recommended an unknown young coach at Army – Mike Krzyzewski or Coach K – for the Duke head coaching job. Ironically, Vacendak also played a big role in recommending that NC State consider Jim Valvano for their open head coaching job and State hired Jimmy V just nine days after Duke hired Coach K. After working at Duke, he became the director of athletics and head basketball coach at Winthrop College in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

You can learn more about Vacendak at https://www.ncshof.org/stevevacendak

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3/6/24 – Kevin Kelly, Club Member and Senior Games Leader
3/20/24 – Bob Bender, Retired College and Pro Basketball Coach
4/3/24 – Special Guest Speaker

The Speaker for our next meeting will be Tyler Parsons, General Manager of the Durham Bulls.  Parsons joined the Bulls in December 2022 after serving as the General Manager of the Lansing Lugnuts for the previous five seasons.  During his tenure in Lansing, he helped usher in a new affiliation with the Oakland Athletics in 2021, as well as league-promotion to the High-A Central League.  He was named the High-A Central League’s Executive of the Year in 2021.  Prior to Lansing, he was the General Manager of the Johnson City Cardinals and Martinsville Mustangs.  He began his career in baseball with the Forest City Owls as the Director of Fun, and has previous sports experience with Central Michigan Athletics, Mid-Michigan Community College, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart Academy and Rivals.com.  Tyler is a graduate of Central Michigan University, where he received both his Bachelors and Masters degrees.

Tyler is an avid Detroit Lions fan, enjoys hiking in his spare time, and has visited 19 National Parks in the United States.  He is joined in Durham by his wife, Kelsea, his daughter, Sawyer, and their dog, Knox.
Thanks for the info, https://www.milb.com/durham/ballpark/front-office-staff)

MARK YOUR CALENDAR
2/21/24 – Steve Vacendak, former Duke Basketball Star
3/6/24 –Kevin Kelly, Club Member and Senior Games Leader
3/20/24 – Bob Bender, Retired College and Pro Basketball Coach

The Speaker for our next meeting will be Elliott Avent, Head Baseball Coach at NC State. Avent, who is NC State’s all-time winningest coach with 998 victories (1,222 in his 35-year head coaching career), has taken the Wolfpack to the NCAA Tournament in 20 of the last 27 seasons and 15 of the last 19. Avent captured both ACC and National Coach of the Year honors in 2003 and was named USA Baseball’s College Coach of the Year in 2021.

In 2023, Avent reached another impressive milestone, notching his 1,200th career victory with a resounding 14-4 win at Miami on March 12. Avent became the 29th Division I coach to ever reach 1,200 career victories and concludes the 2023 season as one of just six active head coaches with more than 1,200 career wins. The 27th-year skipper led the Wolfpack back to the NCAA Tournament in 2023, finishing the season with a 36-21 record. Avent enters the 2024 campaign in Raleigh just two wins shy of 1,000 coaching victories at NC State.

Under Avent’s tutelage, the Wolfpack landed a league-best three players on the ACC All-Freshman Team (Dominic Fritton, Eli Serrano III and Cannon Peebles). Fritton and Peebles both also earned multiple Freshman All-American honors following their 2023 campaigns. Wolfpack catcher Jacob Cozart and NC State third baseman LuJames Groover III earned Second Team All-ACC and Third Team All-ACC accolades, respectively.
(Thanks for the info, www.GoPack.com)

Mark Your Calendar
All Meetings at Croasdaile Country Club
2/7/24 – Tyler Parsons, General Manager, Durham Bulls
2/21/24 –Special Guest Speaker
3/6/24 – Guest Speaker

The Speaker for our next meeting will be Braden Holloway, Head Swimming and Diving Coach at NC State. Since being named to the position, Holloway’s tenure has been full of success. After capturing the 2013 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Men’s Coach of the Year honor, he has gone on to win that award nine times (2013, 2015-2020, 2022, 2023). Holloway was also the 2017 ACC Women’s Coach of the Year.

Holloway most recently guided his squads to the best combined national finish of any men’s and women’s programs across the country as the men placed fourth at the NCAA Championships and the women finished fifth. He directly coached Katharine Berkoff and Kacper Stokowski both to 100-yard backstroke national titles as the Pack swept the event. He also led NC State’s men back to the top of the podium at the 2022 ACC Championships.

Holloway has led the Wolfpack to 361 All-ACC performances, 454 All-America performances, 78 ACC individual titles, and 46 ACC relay gold medals.
In addition to his accomplishments at the collegiate level of coaching, Holloway has mentored 12 Olympians during his career. That number is highlighted by program alumnus Ryan Held, who claimed a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics as the third leg of Team USA’s winning 4×100 meter freestyle relay team. Holloway recently served as the men’s head coach for USA Swimming’s squad at the 2019 World University Games in Naples, Italy. There, he helped lead Team USA to a total of 40 medals at the meet, marking the most overall podium finishes and most first-place finishes for the United States in World University Games history.
(Thanks for the info, gopack.com)

Mark Your Calendar
All Meetings at Croasdaile Country Club
12/20/23 – Christmas Luncheon featuring N&O’s Luke DeCock’s “Year in Sports” wrap-up
1/3/24 – NO MEETING
1/17/24 – WE’RE BACK!