Wayne King, Jr. completed his 33rd and final season as the head baseball coach at Joliet Junior College in Illinois in 2019. The three-time ABCA/Diamond Sports NJCAA Div. III National Coach of the Year racked up more than 1,100 career wins and his teams captured three NJCAA Div. III national titles, each coming in a different decade.
Averaging over 34 wins per season, the Wolves’ longtime head coach capped off his career with the most wins in the history of Joliet Junior College and an overall record of 1,127-738-2 (.604).
In addition to his head coaching duties, King also served as the school’s Director of Athletics from 1996-2019.
During King’s tenure at Joliet, he guided his teams to three NJCAA Div. III national championships in 1994, 2008 and 2012. His 1994 team won 42 of their final 47 games to cap off a 46-11 season that saw the Wolves average an impressive 9.6 runs a game white batting a robust .355 as a team.
In total, the Wolves made 12 total NJCAA World Series appearances under King’s leadership, including three national runner-up finishes (1995, 2007, 2015), and two third place finishes (1997, 2006) in addition to the three national championships. The Wolves also earned 16 Region IV Division III tournament championships and claimed seven North Central Community College Conference (N4C) titles during King’s tenure.
Following the Wolves success in 1994, 2008, and 2012, King was named ABCA/Diamond Sports NJCAA Division III National Coach of the Year, Coach of the Year for the Division III World Series and District B Coach of the Year. He also took home Coach of the Year honors in the competitive N4C seven times.
King was inducted into the Region IV Hall of Fame by his fellow Region IV Athletic Directors as an administrator/coach in 2004. In 2009, King was inducted into the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame. During that same year, the Joliet baseball field was officially named Wayne L. King, Jr. Field. In 2015, King was inducted into the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
A graduate of Ohio University, King earned four varsity letters in baseball playing for the Bobcats. While earning his bachelor's and master's degrees from Ohio, King spent six years as the Bobcats assistant baseball coach for then-head coach Jerry France.
King attended Beaver Local High School in East Liverpool, Ohio, where he earned 10 varsity letters in football, basketball, and baseball. He was inducted into the Beaver Local High School Hall of Fame in August of 2008.
