CHICAGO- Longtime McNeese baseball coach Jimmy Ricklefsen will be inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association as a lifetime member in a ceremony at the 78th annual ABCA Convention on January 7th in Chicago. Ricklefsen will be recognized for his 35-year membership to the association and impact on amateur baseball. He will be honored as one of only 450 lifetime members.
In his second-stint with McNeese, Ricklefsen will enter his seventh season as an assistant coach this spring and his 16th year overall in the blue and gold as a player, assistant coach, and head coach. He has been a baseball coach in the Southland Conference for 35 years, the most years in conference history.
Ricklefsen started his baseball career at San Jacinto Junior College where he played for for College Baseball Hall of Fame member and former Rice University head baseball coach Wayne Graham before transferring to McNeese.
A 1986 McNeese graduate, "The Rabbit" started three seasons ('84 -'86) for the Cowboys playing both the infield and outfield. He hit .333 his senior season and had 11 career home runs. Ricklefsen also led the Cowboys in stolen bases for two seasons.
Following his playing career, he was a graduate assistant for a year (1987) and then was an assistant coach under the legendary late Tony Robichaux from (1988-94) helping the Cowboys to their first-ever Southland Conference championship in 1988 and two NCAA Regionals appearances (1988, 1993).
Ricklefsen was named McNeese's head coach prior to the 1995 season. He posted a 83-79-1 record including tying the school record for wins in a season with 41 during the 1995 campaign. The Cowboys' 41-16 record and .719 winning percentage in one year still stands as a school record.
McNeese head coach Justin Hill brought him back to Lake Charles in 2016 after 19 years on the staff at Lamar, including six as an associate head coach. He helped guide the Cardinals to two conference championships, two league tournament titles, and six NCAA Regionals appearances.
Since returning, the Cowboy's have won the 2017 Southland Conference Champions and SLC Tournament Champions in 2019 and 2021 which led to appearances in the Nashville and Fort Worth regional, respectively.
Ricklefsen has been a part of every single McNeese championship-winning team with the exceptions being 2000 and 2006.
In his time at McNeese and Lamar, he recruited and coached 106 players who were selected in the MLB Amateur Draft, 10 Major League Baseball Players, 21 NCAA All-Americans, 166 SLC All-Conference players, Seven SLC Hitters of the Year, Six SLC Pitchers of the Year, Six SLC Newcomers of the Year, Nine players on the 90's SLC All-Decade Team, and 11 players on the '00 team.
As a head coach, assistant coach, graduate assistant, and player, Ricklefsen has contributed to nearly 600 McNeese victories.
The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), founded in 1945, is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level. It's nearly 13,000 members represent all 50 states and 33 countries. Since its initial meeting of 27 college baseball coaches in June 1945, Association membership has broadened to include eight divisions: NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA, Pacific Association Division, High School and Youth.
ABCA Lifetime Members
