Mark Kingston (born May 16, 1970) is an American college baseball coach. He is currently the head coach at the University of South Carolina. He was previously the head coach at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

and

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

Playing career

Kingston played high school baseball at Potomac High School in

Dumfries, Virginia Dumfries, officially the Town of Dumfries, is a town in Prince William County, Virginia. The population was 4,961 at the 2010 United States Census. Geography Dumfries is located at (38.567853, −77.324591). According to the United States ...

where he was a

Collegiate Baseball ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') is an American publication based in Arizona that considers itself the "voice of amateur baseball" which has been published for over 40 ...

Top 50 recruit, and was drafted out of high school by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in the 35th round of the 1988 MLB Draft. Choosing instead to play college ball at

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, he played four seasons, helping the team to an

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

regular season title and berth in the 1989 College World Series in his freshman year. He was drafted in the 45th round of the

1992 MLB Draft The 1992 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 1, 1992, through a conference call involving all 28 MLB teams of the time. Phil Nevin of Cal State Fullerton was the first overall selection, chosen by the Houston Astros. Derek Jeter, selec ...

by the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

. After playing rookie ball in the Brewers organization, he played four additional seasons in the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

organization, reaching Class-AA, and one season with the independent league Grays Harbor Gulls.

Coaching career

After his playing days were over, Kingston earned a position as an assistant coach at

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

. He earned the top assistant position after two seasons, and then served one year at Illinois State. He then served two seasons at

Miami (FL) Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, where he helped guide the team to the

2001 College World Series The 2001 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 2001 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series ...

title, produced two All-Americans, and saw 18 players sign professional contracts. He then moved to

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

as recruiting coordinator, where six of his seven classes were ranked in the Top 25 nationally by Collegiate Baseball. The Green Wave reached the

2005 College World Series The 2005 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was held from May 30 through June 26, . Sixty-four NCAA Division I college baseball teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and for some, a conference tournament, to play in t ...

as the top seed, and earned academic honors in Omaha. In 2009, Kingston served as associate head coach at Illinois State before being elevated to the top job the following season. Kingston was named the head coach at

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

ahead of the 2015 season. Kingston coached at USF from 2015 to 2017 and led the Bulls to a pair of NCAA Regional appearances. On June 30, 2017, Kingston was named the head baseball coach at

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, becoming the 30th head coach in program history. Despite inheriting a team that failed to reach the postseason the year before, Kingston led the Gamecocks to an NCAA Regional crown and an NCAA Super Regional appearance in his first year at the helm.

Head coaching record

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingston, Mark Living people 1970 births Daytona Cubs players Geneva Cubs players Grays Harbor Gulls players Helena Brewers players Illinois State Redbirds baseball coaches North Carolina Tar Heels baseball players Orlando Cubs players Peoria Chiefs players Purdue Boilermakers baseball coaches South Florida Bulls baseball coaches Tulane Green Wave baseball coaches Baseball players from Buffalo, New York Baseball coaches from New York (state)

Playing career

Coaching career

Head coaching record

See also

References

External links