July 10, 2007
ATLANTA – Bryan Prince, a two-time semifinalist for the prestigious Johnny Bench Award and two-time all-ACC catcher at Georgia Tech, has joined the Yellow Jacket baseball staff as an assistant coach, head coach Danny Hall announced Tuesday.
Prince, who spent last season as an assistant coach at Indiana where he directed the Hoosiers’ hitters and catchers, will serve in the same capacity at Georgia Tech.
“We are excited to have Bryan join the staff,” said Hall. “He was a great player on a lot of great teams for us at Georgia Tech, and I think that he will be a huge asset for us as a coach because he is a Tech graduate who also played professional baseball.
“Another bonus for us is that Bryan’s wife also graduated from Georgia Tech, so I think that he can definitely sell our student-athletes on the value of not only being a baseball player at Georgia Tech, but also going to school at Georgia Tech.
Under Prince’s tutelage, sophomore center fielder Andrew Means earned all-Big Ten honors while finishing third in the league in stolen bases (27-30) 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 RBI (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 the program’s history. The Yellow Jackets closed out the season ranked in the top-10 in the nation with a 50-18 final record.
“Our current players that were a part of the team when he served as the volunteer coach two years ago are excited to get him back because they really liked and respected him when he was with us,” said Hall.
While at Tech, Prince worked with Yellow Jacket All-American catcher Matt Wieters, who finished his sophomore season hitting .355 with team highs in home runs (15), RBI (71), hits (92), doubles (20) and on base percentage (.480).
“I’m also pleased to have someone on the staff with his vast knowledge of catching,” added Hall. “With a new catcher coming into the program, along with the development of Jason Haniger and the expected loss of Matt Wieters, we felt it would be vital to have someone with catching experience on the staff, and his background speaks for itself.”
Prince joined the Georgia Tech coaching staff 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 Atlantic Coast Conference 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 ranks seventh in school history in hits (278), fifth in RBI (216), eighth in at bats (788), ninth in doubles (53) and 16th in total bases (403). Prince ranks 17th in ACC history in career RBI.
Prince was a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference 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 RBI as a junior in 2000 and batted .349 with 63 RBI 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 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, and the couple resides in Atlanta.
