THE BRYAN PRINCE FILE
Full Name:
Bryan Nathan Prince
Birthdate:
November 4, 1978
Education:
Bachelor’s degree in management from Georgia Tech, 2005
Playing Experience:
Four-year letterwinner as a catcher at Georgia Tech (1998-2001);
All-Atlantic Coast Conference first team (2000-01);
Team Co-Captain (2000);
Led Georgia Tech to NCAA Regional Tournaments in 1998, 2000-01;
10th round draft choice by Cincinnati Reds (2001);
Cincinnati Reds minor leaguer (2001-04)
Coaching Experience:
Volunteer Assistant Coach at Georgia Tech, 2006;
Assistant Coach at Indiana, 2007;
Assistant Coach at Georgia Tech, 2008-17
Joined Georgia Tech Staff:
July 3, 2007 (First stint: August 1, 2005)
Bryan Prince wrapped up his 10th year on The Flats as an assistant baseball coach in 2017 having returned to Tech as a full-time assistant coach in the summer of 2007. Prince is no stranger to Tech having played for head coach Danny Hall from 1998-2001 and then beginning his coaching career as Tech’s volunteer assistant in 2006.
A two-time semifinalist for the prestigious Johnny Bench Award, two-time all-Atlantic Coast Conference catcher at Georgia Tech from 1998-2001 and a Georgia Tech Hall of Fame inductee in 2014, Prince works with the Yellow Jackets’ hitters and catchers.
Prince also serves as the recruiting coordinator for the Jackets, having locked up eight classes that ranked among the top 40 in the nation, including a 2011 class that ranked as high as sixth and Tech’s 2014 freshman class that checked in No. 9. Several standouts have been drafted out of high school but chose to enroll at Tech.
While posting record-breaking offensive numbers under Prince’s guidance, six Yellow Jackets have earned all-America honors (Luke Murton – 2009, Tony Plagman – 2010, Derek Dietrich – 2010, Daniel Palka – 2013, Zane Evans – 2013, Wade Bailey – 2017), nine have been named freshman all-Americans (Dietrich – 2008, Matt Skole – 2009, Kyle Wren – 2011, Evans – 2011, Matt Gonzalez – 2013, Kel Johnson – 2015, Joey Bart – 2016, Tristan English – 2016, Austin Wilhite – 2017) and 28 players have been drafted.
In 2009 and 2010 — his second and third seasons as hitting coach — the Yellow Jackets bashed 233 home runs, a school-record 122 in 2010 (second-most nationally) and 111 in 2009 (third-most nationally).
Although offensive numbers dipped nationwide in 2011 with the adjustment to the new bats, Georgia Tech remained near the top of the ACC in offense and had three players finish in the ACC’s top 10 in hitting — Matt Skole (.348), Jake Davies (.347) and Kyle Wren (.340), while Jacob Esch was second in the league in doubles (23) and Daniel Palka belted the ACC’s fourth-most home runs (12).
Tech’s offense was again humming in 2012 as the Jackets led the ACC in home runs (53), finished third in hitting (.294), third in doubles (127) and fourth in RBIs (379). It was a late-season offensive surge that propelled Tech to the ACC title, behind ACC Tournament MVP Jake Davies. The Jackets hit .329 as a team during the four-game sweep in Greensboro, collected 46 hits, outscored the opposition 35-15 and belted seven home runs. Davies’ 73 RBIs for the season led the ACC and were fourth nationally, while Palka launched 12 homers for the second-straight year.
Tech’s 2013 team bashed its way to a 14-2 mark over the first 16 games, setting a school record by scoring double-digit runs in nine consecutive games. The Jackets finished the season leading the ACC in home runs (58) and were second in batting average (.304) and slugging percentage (.455). All-ACC selections Evans (.361), Wren (.360) and Palka (.342) were each ranked in the top 13 in hitting, while Palka’s 17 homers led the league, Evans’ 14 homers were second and Wren’s 98 hits were second.
In 2014, en route to another ACC title, Daniel Spingola led the league in both hits (82) and triples (8) and the Yellow Jackets’ .276 average was third-best in the league. The team led the conference in triples (21) and was second in doubles (110). Spingola (.319) and Matt Gonzalez (.314) each finished among the ACC’s top 20 in hitting.
In his eighth year back on the coaching staff in 2015, the Yellow Jackets hit .270 overall as a team, which ranked sixth in the ACC. Catcher A.J. Murray led Tech and was tied for second in the league with 15 home runs on the year, and also ranked sixth with a .579 slugging percentage. Again the Jackets posted a winning record, tallying 32 wins overall before falling in the ACC Tournament by the eventual 2015 NCAA College Baseball National Champions in the Virginia Cavaliers.
The Yellow Jackets swarmed out of the gates to start the 2016 season with 12 straight wins, in which Tech outscored their opponents 90-29 and averaged 7.5 runs per contest. On their way to a 38-25 overall record and their 31st overall NCAA Regional appearance in 2016, Tech once again finished among the league leaders in a number of offensive categories in the ACC. The Jackets finished the season second overall with a team batting average of .307, second in slugging percentage at .462, second in hits with 694 and fifth in runs scored with 429. The Yellow Jackets also ranked second in the ACC in home runs (65) and third in doubles (139) on the season. Matt Gonzalez (.378) and Trevor Craport (.352) both ranked in the top 15 in the ACC in hitting on the season, while Gonzalez also ranked second in the league overall with 93 hits on the year. Tristin English was tied for third in the ACC in doubles with 21 in his first year on The Flats and Connor Justice was tied for third as well among the league leaders in runs scored with 62.
In 2017, Tech’s offense ranked fourth in the ACC with a .286 batting average and a .466 slugging percentage for the season. The Jackets totaled 71 home runs and 119 doubles on the year, while Wade Bailey was tied for the conference lead with 21 doubles. Baily also ranked fourth in the ACC in runs scored with 63, and eighth in both hits with 82 and batting average at .347 on the year. Junior Trevor Craport hit .336 with ranked 17th overall in the ACC, while freshman Austin Wilhite hit .338 in his first year on The Flats, which ranked 15th overall in the ACC.
A catcher in college, Prince also aided in the development of all-American catcher Zane Evans, who during his freshman all-American season in 2011, became the first freshman catcher at Tech to serve as the everyday starter since Jason Varitek in 1991. As a junior, Evans hit a team-best .361, tied for the team lead with 66 RBIs and with 14 home runs, he finished three homers shy of winning the team’s Triple Crown. Evans was selected as one of three national finalists for the Johnny Bench Award.
In 2014, Tech catchers led the ACC in caught-stealing percentage (40.3) and freshman Arden Pabst finished second in the ACC in caught stealings (16) and percentage (41.0), while in 2015 Pabst threw out a total of 25 would be base stealers to lead the league.
In 2016, both Pabst and freshman Joey Bart threw out over 54 percent of would be base stealers on the season from behind the plate, picking off 24-of-44 would be stealers.
He was also responsible for the development of catcher Jason Haniger, who spent his first two years playing behind all-American Matt Wieters before having two outstanding seasons as a starter where he hit .318 with 45 extra-base hits.
Prince returned to Georgia Tech in 2008 after spending one year as the assistant coach at Indiana. Under his tutelage, sophomore center fielder Andrew Means earned all-Big Ten honors while finishing third in the league in stolen bases (27-of-30) and sixth with a .369 batting average. Means led the Hoosiers in average, steals, slugging percentage (.467) and on base percentage (.397) and finished second on the team in both runs (32) and RBIs (30).
Prior to his appointment at Indiana, Prince spent one season as the Yellow Jackets’ volunteer assistant coach, where he worked with Tech’s hitters and catchers and helped guide the team to the third College World Series appearance in program history in 2006. The Yellow Jackets closed out the season ranked in the top 10 in the nation with a 50-18 overall record while leading the ACC in runs scored, runs per game, doubles, home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage and walks.
Prince worked with Wieters, who finished his sophomore season in 2006 hitting .355 with team highs in home runs (15), RBIs (71), hits (92), doubles (20) and on base percentage (.480).
Prince originally joined the Georgia Tech coaching staff as a volunteer assistant in 2006 after a four-year career in professional baseball, playing in the Cincinnati Reds organization.
One of the most popular players in Yellow Jacket baseball history, Prince was a four-year letterwinner for head coach Danny Hall from 1998-2001. The Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga., native helped Georgia Tech win the 2000 ACC regular season and tournament championships, as well as the NCAA Atlanta Regional Title.
A four-year starter behind the plate, Prince’s name can be found throughout the Yellow Jackets’ record book. He finished his career in 2001 ranked seventh in school history in hits (278), fifth in RBIs (216), eighth in at bats (788), ninth in doubles (53) and 16th in total bases (403). He also ranked 17th in ACC history in career RBIs after his time at Tech.
Prince was a first-team all-ACC selection in 2000 and 2001, joining Jason Varitek as the only catchers in Georgia Tech history to earn first-team all-ACC honors in consecutive seasons. He was named MVP of the 2000 NCAA Atlanta Regional and elected as Tech’s team MVP following that season. He was a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award as the nation’s top catcher in both 2000 and 2001.
Prince posted a career batting average of .353, and still ranks among Tech’s all-time top 20 in batting. He hit .387 with 77 RBIs as a junior in 2000 and batted .349 with 63 RBIs as a senior in 2001, helping the Yellow Jackets establish the two best team batting averages in school history (.347 in 2001; .342 in 2000).
A 10th-round selection of the Cincinnati Reds in the 2001 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft, Prince played with Class-A Billings of the Pioneer League in the summer of 2001, where he was voted to the league’s All-Star Game. He played with Class-A Dayton in 2002 and was elected to the Midwest League All-Star Game. Prince played with Class-A Potomac of the Carolina League in 2003 and 2004 before retiring from professional baseball.
Prince earned his degree in management from Georgia Tech in 2005. He is married to the former Tracy Carter, also a Georgia Tech graduate, and the couple resides in Atlanta.
