Mercer Adds Glant, Promotes Simmons on Full-Time Staff
8/13/2021 3:06:00 PM | Baseball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana University head baseball coach Jeff Mercer announced on Friday (August 13) the promotion of Derek Simmons to recruiting coordinator and the addition of assistant coach/pitching coach Dustin Glant to the Hoosier coaching staff.
"We are extremely excited about elevating Derek to recruiting coordinator and adding Dustin to complete our full-time coaching staff," said Mercer. "We feel like this is group brings a great feel for coaching the game, recruiting and competing nationally and developing great people on and off the field. I am excited to get them in place and get started."
The duo carries 19 years of collegiate or professional coaching experience, has combined to tutor 11 All-America selections and 33 MLB Draft picks.
Derek Simmons | Recruiting Coordinator/Infielders | Click Here for Full Bio
Simmons enters his third season at Indiana and will continue to work with the hitters and coach the infielders, moving from the volunteer role into the assistant coach spot. The recruiting coordinator title will also be added to his title, a role he has seen success in during his career.
"Derek is a guy that has already left his imprint on our program and, personally, I am excited for him to move into the recruiting coordinator role," said Mercer. "He has recruited on a high level at each of his previous stops, has experience with USA Baseball and won championships at almost every stop on his coaching journey. His relationships with our current roster, as well as with our incoming recruiting class, are big reasons for him earning this position. There is no doubt that he will be terrific in his new role."
The 12-year coaching veteran returns to the recruiting trail, where he has thrived in previous stops, with two top 25 recruiting class to go along with three other "top classes" per Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. The Duluth, Georgia, native was also named to Baseball America's Coaches to Watch list in 2018 and 2019.
His time in Bloomington has seen a shortened 2020 season and a program-record 26 Big Ten victories during the conference-only schedule in 2021.
During the 2021 season, Indiana's 44-game Big Ten-only schedule led to just the second season in program history with 20-plus conference wins. The 26 victories topped the 21 victories by the 2014 team in the conference's customary 24-game slate.
Offensively, Grant Richardson was among the Big Ten leaders in hits (No. 4; 58), total bases (No. 8; 93) and batting average (No. 13; .322). Cole Barr ranked No. 10 among conference hitters with 36 RBIs and Paul Toetz led all B1G hitters with 18 doubles during the year.
Barr started the final 119 games of his career at shortstop and was a 15th round pick by the Seattle Mariners in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft. Richardson followed as a17th round selection by the New York Yankees.
The Hoosiers finished the 2020 campaign 9-6 overall with road wins over No. 11 LSU, No. 30 South Alabama, and No. 17 East Carolina. IU also defeated in-state rival Purdue, 17-2, in seven innings, before the 2020 season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Simmons spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Kent State (2018-19), where helped land the second-highest recruiting class in program history during the 2018-19 cycle. He served as the recruiting coordinator for the Golden Flashes and worked with the position players and hitters.
Dustin Glant | Pitching Coach | Click Here for Full Bio
A native of Fort Wayne ,Indiana, Glant has experience in professional baseball, as a Division I assistant coach and has spent time as a collegiate head coach. Most recently, he spent the last two years with the Triple A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) RailRiders.
"Dustin is an Indiana guy. He was born and raised in this state and is very familiar with our university," said Mercer. "One of the big things for me in talking to him was that his philosophy on player development falls in line with what we are doing at IU. He has a track record as one of the top pitching coaches in the country and for developing and caring for college arms. We are excited to have Dustin join our program and continuing the growth and development of our program on a national scale."
Glant's experience in professional baseball expands an already wide-ranging nine-year coaching career. After being selected in the seventh round of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft, the right-handed pitcher spent six years in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and three years in independent ball, before taking his first coaching job n 2013.
With the RailRiders, Glant – a former closer at Purdue – has tutored the International League leader in saves, Luis Garcia. The right-hander is 11-for-11 in save opportunities this season in 18 appearances with a 1-2 record and 19 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings of work and is now in a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
As a staff, SWB ranks No. 2 in the International League in batting average against (.228), No. 3 in wins (49) and strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (10.14), and No. 4 in ERA (3.94) in 2021. His first season in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During his second stint at Ball State (2017-19), Glant's pitching staff set a then-NCAA record with 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings during the 2019 season. The Cardinals also set the single-season school record for strikeouts (489) in 2019 and own three of the top four marks in BSU history. Drey Jameson set single-season school records for strikeouts (146) and strikeouts per nine innings (14.33) during the 2019 campaign and John Baker finished his career No. 2 in career punchouts (270).
The 2019 Mid-American Conference pitcher of the year, Jameson left Ball State as one of the most decorated pitchers in program history. The 34th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, Baker was a second-team All-American in 2019, a Freshman All-American in 2018 and became the 11th Cardinal in program history to earn first-team All-MAC honors multiple times in a career.
A Freshman All-American in 2017, Baker was also taken in the 2019 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins in the 29th round. With Baker's selection by the Marlins, Glant tutored five pitchers – six total selections – that were selected in the MLB Draft during his tenure in Muncie.
"We are extremely excited about elevating Derek to recruiting coordinator and adding Dustin to complete our full-time coaching staff," said Mercer. "We feel like this is group brings a great feel for coaching the game, recruiting and competing nationally and developing great people on and off the field. I am excited to get them in place and get started."
The duo carries 19 years of collegiate or professional coaching experience, has combined to tutor 11 All-America selections and 33 MLB Draft picks.
Derek Simmons | Recruiting Coordinator/Infielders | Click Here for Full Bio
Simmons enters his third season at Indiana and will continue to work with the hitters and coach the infielders, moving from the volunteer role into the assistant coach spot. The recruiting coordinator title will also be added to his title, a role he has seen success in during his career.
"Derek is a guy that has already left his imprint on our program and, personally, I am excited for him to move into the recruiting coordinator role," said Mercer. "He has recruited on a high level at each of his previous stops, has experience with USA Baseball and won championships at almost every stop on his coaching journey. His relationships with our current roster, as well as with our incoming recruiting class, are big reasons for him earning this position. There is no doubt that he will be terrific in his new role."
The 12-year coaching veteran returns to the recruiting trail, where he has thrived in previous stops, with two top 25 recruiting class to go along with three other "top classes" per Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. The Duluth, Georgia, native was also named to Baseball America's Coaches to Watch list in 2018 and 2019.
His time in Bloomington has seen a shortened 2020 season and a program-record 26 Big Ten victories during the conference-only schedule in 2021.
During the 2021 season, Indiana's 44-game Big Ten-only schedule led to just the second season in program history with 20-plus conference wins. The 26 victories topped the 21 victories by the 2014 team in the conference's customary 24-game slate.
Offensively, Grant Richardson was among the Big Ten leaders in hits (No. 4; 58), total bases (No. 8; 93) and batting average (No. 13; .322). Cole Barr ranked No. 10 among conference hitters with 36 RBIs and Paul Toetz led all B1G hitters with 18 doubles during the year.
Barr started the final 119 games of his career at shortstop and was a 15th round pick by the Seattle Mariners in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft. Richardson followed as a17th round selection by the New York Yankees.
The Hoosiers finished the 2020 campaign 9-6 overall with road wins over No. 11 LSU, No. 30 South Alabama, and No. 17 East Carolina. IU also defeated in-state rival Purdue, 17-2, in seven innings, before the 2020 season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Simmons spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Kent State (2018-19), where helped land the second-highest recruiting class in program history during the 2018-19 cycle. He served as the recruiting coordinator for the Golden Flashes and worked with the position players and hitters.
Dustin Glant | Pitching Coach | Click Here for Full Bio
A native of Fort Wayne ,Indiana, Glant has experience in professional baseball, as a Division I assistant coach and has spent time as a collegiate head coach. Most recently, he spent the last two years with the Triple A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) RailRiders.
"Dustin is an Indiana guy. He was born and raised in this state and is very familiar with our university," said Mercer. "One of the big things for me in talking to him was that his philosophy on player development falls in line with what we are doing at IU. He has a track record as one of the top pitching coaches in the country and for developing and caring for college arms. We are excited to have Dustin join our program and continuing the growth and development of our program on a national scale."
Glant's experience in professional baseball expands an already wide-ranging nine-year coaching career. After being selected in the seventh round of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft, the right-handed pitcher spent six years in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and three years in independent ball, before taking his first coaching job n 2013.
With the RailRiders, Glant – a former closer at Purdue – has tutored the International League leader in saves, Luis Garcia. The right-hander is 11-for-11 in save opportunities this season in 18 appearances with a 1-2 record and 19 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings of work and is now in a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
As a staff, SWB ranks No. 2 in the International League in batting average against (.228), No. 3 in wins (49) and strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (10.14), and No. 4 in ERA (3.94) in 2021. His first season in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During his second stint at Ball State (2017-19), Glant's pitching staff set a then-NCAA record with 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings during the 2019 season. The Cardinals also set the single-season school record for strikeouts (489) in 2019 and own three of the top four marks in BSU history. Drey Jameson set single-season school records for strikeouts (146) and strikeouts per nine innings (14.33) during the 2019 campaign and John Baker finished his career No. 2 in career punchouts (270).
The 2019 Mid-American Conference pitcher of the year, Jameson left Ball State as one of the most decorated pitchers in program history. The 34th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, Baker was a second-team All-American in 2019, a Freshman All-American in 2018 and became the 11th Cardinal in program history to earn first-team All-MAC honors multiple times in a career.
A Freshman All-American in 2017, Baker was also taken in the 2019 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins in the 29th round. With Baker's selection by the Marlins, Glant tutored five pitchers – six total selections – that were selected in the MLB Draft during his tenure in Muncie.
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