KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two of the greatest figures in Atlantic Coast Conference baseball history are headed to the College Baseball Hall of Fame. Georgia Tech’s Mark Teixeira and North Carolina’s Mike Fox were announced as members of the 2024 College Baseball Hall of Fame class by the College Baseball Foundation at Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals, on Friday evening.
The 17th induction class will be honored at the Night of Champions presented by Prairiefire 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 Feb. 14, 2025.
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.
Mark Teixeira, Georgia Tech: 1999-2001 (Third Base)
2000 National Player of the Year/Freshman of the Year 1999/.409 career Batting Avg.
One of the top performers in Yellow Jacket history, Teixeira earned a long list of honors, including the 2000 Dick Howser Trophy (National Player of the Year), 2000 ACC Player of the Year, 2000 consensus first-team All-American, 1999 National Freshman of the Year, 1999 ACC Rookie of the Year and 1999 second-team All-American. He was also named to the All-ACC first team twice (1999, 2000). The third baseman from Baltimore, Md., batted .409 during his three-year college career while slugging 36 home runs and 165 RBI. He ranks fourth in school history in career batting average (.409) and second in slugging percentage (.712), and holds the school record for most runs scored in a season with 104. As a sophomore in 2000, Teixeira batted .427 with 18 home runs and 80 RBI, posting the seventh-best batting average for a single-season in school history. That performance helped Georgia Tech win the 2000 ACC regular season and tournament championships as well as the NCAA Atlanta Regional title.
Teixeira was drafted in the first round (5th overall) by the Texas Rangers in 2001. He played 14 MLB seasons for the Rangers, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles of Anaheim and New York Yankees. Teixeira won a World Championship with the Yankees in 2009. He was a three-time MLB All-Star selection, three-time Silver Slugger Award winner and a five-time Gold Glove winner. In his MLB tenure, Teixeira hit 409 home runs and collected 1,298 RBI.
Mike Fox, North Carolina Wesleyan/University of North Carolina: 1983-2020 (Coach)
1,487 wins, ’89 D3 national champs, 8 D3 CWS appearances and 7 DI CWS appearances
By the time Mike Fox retired from college baseball in 2020, he had already secured his place among the most successful coaches in the game. Fox concluded his 37-year head coaching career with a 1,487-547-5 record, a winning percentage of .731. Fox spent 15 seasons as the head coach at N.C. Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, where he led the Battling Bishops to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, eight trips to the Division III College World Series and the 1989 national championship. His teams posted 15 consecutive top-20 finishes and won 11 Dixie Conference championships. His record of 539-141-4 at Wesleyan ranked second in winning percentage (.791) among all active Division III head coaches.
Fox became the head coach at North Carolina, his alma mater, prior to the 1999 season. His Tar Heel teams went 948-406-1, won ACC championships in 2007, 2013 and 2018, and advanced to the College World Series seven times (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2018). The 2006 and 2007 teams reached the championship round in Omaha. He is the winningest coach in Carolina Baseball history and led UNC to seven of its 11 CWS appearances. Carolina averaged almost 45 wins per season (prior to the Covid-19 shortened season of 2020) and posted five 50-win seasons under Fox, setting a school-record 59 wins in 2013. Major League Baseball teams drafted 111 of his Tar Heel players, including 15 first-round or supplemental round picks. A total of 51 of his players who signed professional contracts prior to graduating returned to UNC to earn their degrees. Twenty-seven Tar Heels under his tutelage have played in the Major Leagues. He coached 37 first-team All-ACC selections and his players earned 32 All-America honors. Andrew Miller (2006) and Dustin Ackley (2009) won National Player of the Year honors. Three players – Ackley (2006), Colin Moran (2011) and Aaron Sabato (2019) – were named National Freshman of the Year. His players also won two ACC Player of the Year awards, four ACC Pitcher of the Year honors and six ACC Freshman of the Year awards. Baseball America's 2008 National Coach of the Year, Fox was ACC Coach of the Year in 2018 and his peers selected him Atlantic Region Coach of the Year three times. The North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame inducted him as a member in 2017.
College Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2024
- Mike Schmidt, Shortstop, Ohio, 1969-71
- Roger Clemens, Pitcher, San Jacinto JC, 1981/ Texas, 1982-83
- Mark Teixeira, Third Base, Georgia Tech, 1999-2001
- Bill Thom, Pitcher, Southern California, 1957-59
- Jeff King, Third Base, Arkansas, 1984-86
- Woody Hunt, Coach, Cumberland University, 1982-2021
- *Murray Wall, Pitcher, Texas, 1947-50
- Wilbert Ellis, Coach, Grambling State, 1977-2003
- Randy Ross, Shortstop, North Park University, 1981-84
- *Jim Paronto, Umpire/Administrator, 1973-2023
- Mike Fox, Coach, North Carolina Wesleyan, 1983-1998/North Carolina, 1999-2020
* Will be inducted posthumously