RELEASE: Avent Named USA Baseball College Coach of the Year

DURHAM, N.C. – NC State baseball head coach Elliott Avent was named the 2021 USA Baseball College Coach of the Year on Thursday.

This is the second national honor in his coaching career (the first coming in 2003), and the second award he has received after the Wolfpack's historic 2021 season, as he was named the ABCA/ATEC Atlantic Regional Coach of the Year honor back in July.

Avent led the Pack to a 37-19 record this past season and the program's third trip to the College World Series. After a slow start to the season, NC State was one of the hottest teams in college baseball over the last two months of the season. The Pack won 18 of its final 24 ACC contests and advanced to the championship game of the ACC Tournament.

In postseason play, NC State swept the Ruston Regional to advance to a Super Regional for the first time since 2013. After dropping the first game of the three-game series against top-seed Arkansas, NC State won the next two to knock out the No. 1 ranked Razorbacks from the tournament and go to Omaha the second time in Avent's tenure.

Three of his players, Jonny Butler, Evan Justice and Tyler McDonough, racked up a combined seven All-America honors over the summer, while first baseman Austin Murr became the second Gold Glove Award winner in program history. Additionally, a total of eight players were selected in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft to mark the second-most ever drafted in a single season.

After the conclusion of the 2021 season, Avent served as manager for USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team over the summer. It was his third time working with the organization as he was an assistant coach in 2004 and 2015.

The 2022 season will mark Avent's 26th season at the helm of the program as he is NC State's all-time winningest coach with 926 victories. Starting with his hiring in 1996, Avent has taken the Wolfpack to the NCAA Tournament in 19 of 25 seasons, including 16 of the last 18 that the tournament has been held.