King Inducted into College Baseball Hall of Fame
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Former Razorback three-time All-American and MLB No. 1 overall draft selection Jeff King is one of 11 standouts who will be inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the 2024 class.
Announced by the College Baseball Foundation Friday evening, the class is comprised of seven players, three coaches and an umpire – all who have contributed to college baseball history at the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA levels.
King starred for the Razorbacks from 1984-86 and helped catapult the Arkansas baseball program back to the national stage, including a trip to the College World Series in 1985. The Marion, Ind., native was an All-America selection in all three of his seasons as a Hog. He still holds the third-highest batting average over an Arkansas career, hitting .372.
King was an All-Southwest Conference selection in 1985 and 1986. He made the SWC All-Tournament Team as both a freshman (1984) and a sophomore (1985). He was a key part of Arkansas’ run to the 1985 College World Series, in a season where he tallied 93 hits, 26 doubles, 17 home runs and 82 runs batted in. The RBI total still stands as the single-season school record. King went on to be named to the 1985 College World Series All-Tournament Team, as Arkansas reached the semifinals for the second time in program history after wins over South Carolina and Stanford.
Following his junior year, King entered the 1986 MLB Draft and was selected as the No. 1 overall pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates. King played 11 seasons at the MLB level from 1989-99, spending eight years in Pittsburgh and three in Kansas City. He reached the playoffs with the Pirates in 1990 and 1992, playing in the National League Championship Series both times and 100 or more games in a season seven times. King finished his career with 1,091 hits and 154 home runs.
His best season came in his final year in Pittsburgh (1996), where he hit .271 with 30 homers and 111 runs batted in. That led to his signing with Kansas City in 1997, where he drove in 112 RBI and hit 28 home runs. King was inducted into the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor in 2000 and selected to the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame in 2019.
King, the first Razorback to be inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame, and the 17th induction class will be honored at the Night of Champions on Feb. 13, 2025, in Overland Park, Kan., the home of the College Baseball Hall of Fame. The event will serve as the ceremonial start to the 2025 college baseball season, which begins on Feb. 14.
To be eligible for the College Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, players must be out of college for 15 years and have completed one year of competition at a two-year institution in the CCCAA, NJCAA or a four-year NCAA (Division I, II or III) or NAIA institution. Ballot-eligible coaches must be retired for two years or be active and no less than 75 years old.
Along with the Hall of Fame inductees, the Night of Champions will celebrate the winners of the 2024 College Baseball Foundation awards, including Virginia’s Griff O’Ferrall (Brooks Wallace Award), Arkansas’ Hagen Smith (National Pitcher of the Year), Florida’s Jac Caglianone (John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year) and LSU-Eunice’s Jeff Willis (Skip Bertman National Coach of the Year).
2024 College Baseball Hall of Fame Class
Mike Schmidt, Shortstop, Ohio University, 1969-71
Roger Clemens, Pitcher, San Jacinto JC, 1981/University of Texas, 1982-83
Mark Teixeira, Third Base, Georgia Tech University, 1999-2001
Bill Thom, Pitcher, University of Southern California, 1957-59
Jeff King, Third Base, University of Arkansas, 1984-86
Woody Hunt, Coach, Cumberland University, 1982-2021
*Murray Wall, Pitcher, University of Texas, 1947-50
Wilbert Ellis, Coach, Grambling State University, 1977-2003
Randy Ross, Shortstop, North Park University, 1981-84
*Jim Paronto, Umpire/Administrator, 1973-2023
Mike Fox, Coach, North Carolina Wesleyan, 1983-1998/University of North Carolina, 1999-2020
* Will be inducted posthumously
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