NORMAL, Ill. -- Bo Durkac was named the Illinois State head baseball coach Thursday, as announced by Director of Athletics Larry Lyons. Durkac has 12 years of coaching experience, including five seasons with the Redbirds, serving as an associate head coach for the past two seasons, and is widely respected throughout the sport.
As the associate head coach, Durkac’s responsibilities included spearheading recruiting, as well as working with ISU hitters and infielders. Not only does his experience include 12 years of coaching, but it also includes seven years of playing professionally spanning the globe.
“I am pleased to announce that Bo Durkac has accepted the position of head coach for our baseball program,” Lyons said. “We had significant interest from head coaches of very successful programs, as well as assistant coaches from high level programs from across the country. We trusted our search process to lead us to our next head coach. Bo’s passion for baseball and Illinois State was evident from the beginning. He has a keen baseball mind and the ability to transfer that knowledge to bring out the best in our young men. He has a passion for those players off the field and believes in the Illinois State commitment to academics and individual personal development. We have no doubt that he will continue the high level of excellence that we saw under Coach Kingston. Illinois State baseball is in very good hands, and we are excited about the future under Bo’s leadership.”
At the end of the 2014 season, six Redbirds were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, which set a program record for players picked in a single draft. Offensively, ISU was second in the conference in on-base percentage (.378), triples (16) and walks (262). The team finished third in batting average (.272), runs scored (313) and runs batted in (287). During the 2014 season, Durkac helped lead the Redbirds to their second consecutive Valley Tournament championship game, as ISU finished the regular season in fifth place.
