DJ King Author

Since becoming the head coach of the University of South Carolina Aiken baseball program in 2000, Kenny Thomas has re-established the Pacers as a force in the Peach Belt Conference and a perennial top 25 team in NCAA Division II.

As of the start of the 2017 season, Thomas has 1,139 career wins, including 619 at the USC Aiken helm. His record is currently 1,139-562 in 29 seasons as a college head coach. He ranks in the top 40 among active NCAA Division II coaches for wins. His .643 winning percentage as the Pacer skipper places him in the top 30 among active NCAA Division II head coaches. Thomas has led the Pacers to eight NCAA Tournament appearances (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, and 2016) in the past 11 seasons.

Thomas has coached 67 players who have been drafted and signed in the Major League Baseball free agent draft. He’s coached 102 All-Conference players, 17 All-Americans, six conference Players of the Year, one Southeast Region Player of the Year, and one National Player of the Year. Under Thomas’s direction, USC Aiken has had five straight years (2012-2016) with a player selected within the first 15 rounds of the MLB draft.

As a player at Trevecca University in Nashville, Tennessee, Thomas was named All-Conference three times, All-District two times, team captain three times, and an NAIA All-American catcher his senior year.

DJ King spent three seasons as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Andrew College in Georgia. He also spent three seasons at Kennesaw State University as the volunteer assistant coach. He spent three seasons at the University of South Carolina Aiken, where he was the pitching coach for two years as well as a recruiter, strength and conditioning coach, alumni coordinator, and stadium supervisor.

King was the head coach of the Dubuque Waves in the River Valley League in Iowa for one summer, where he was selected to manage the league’s all-star team. For two summers he was also the head coach of the Waynesboro Generals in the Valley Baseball League in Virginia; the team won the Valley League Championship in 2014 and fell just short in 2015, losing in the semifinal round.

Before his coaching career, King won back-to-back state championships at Parkview High School, where he played for legendary coach Hugh Buchanan. He played collegiate ball at Chattahoochee Valley, where he was an All-Conference pitcher. He concluded his playing career at Shorter College.