The SEC announced on Monday that Nick Mingione, the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats, has been selected as the 2024 Coach of the Year.
After winning SEC and National Coach of the Year in 2017, this is the second time in his eight seasons as head coach that he has received the distinction.
After spending 83 seasons facing SEC opponents, Mingione led a Kentucky team that was picked to finish at the bottom of the SEC Eastern Division to a conference championship—just the second in school history. Additionally, Mingione served as an assistant coach for the SEC champion squad in 2006.
UK had a fantastic regular season in 2024, setting numerous school and SEC records in the process. With 22 SEC wins and 11 SEC road wins, the Wildcats established a school record. UK became the first team in thirty-two years to achieve that accomplishment by virtue of a 9-1 start for the second consecutive league slate. The UK has its best-ever start to conference play—a 15-1 record.
Part of Kentucky’s ascent to the top of the SEC standings can be ascribed to the Wildcats’ statistical explosion in conference play. Kentucky finished first in the conference in batting average (SEC alone), third in fielding % (SEC only), and fifth in ERA (SEC only). This season, Texas A&M was the only other university to rank in the top five in each of the three main league competition categories.
In terms of OBP, hits, runs scored, RBI, doubles, sac bunts, sac flies, and stolen bases, the Cats also dominated the league. In SEC play, Ryan Waldschmidt was among the conference leaders in runs scored, hits, on-base percentage, batting average, and stolen bases. He also led the league in doubles. In SEC play, Ryan Nicholson gave the Cats a lot of power and ranked in the top five for slugging.
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