Baseball | 8/11/2022 12:00:00 PM

.ITTA BENA, Miss. – The Mississippi Valley State University baseball program has found its new coach as Milton Barney Jr. becomes the seventh head coach in the 66-year history of the program.

"What we are going to do here is change the program, the culture," said Barney. "We want to compete, and we want to get kids in here that really want to be here."

The Gulfport, Mississippi native's coaching career has played a part in many championships, winning a SWAC Championship as an Assistant at Alcorn in 2011, bringing Harrison Central High School softball to the Mississippi State High School Finals, and overseeing his 8–10-year-old youth organization that he runs win five World Series' during his tenure.

Barney Jr. has a rich bloodline of success except most of it was on the gridiron as his father, Milton "Slick" Barney Sr., starred at Alcorn before spending a season with the Atlanta Falcons as a wide receiver in 1987 before reappearing in the Arena Football League in 1991 where he was named AFL Ironman of the Year and First Team All-Arena for the New Orleans Night.

His grandfather is HBCU legend and NFL Hall of Famer Lem Barney, who spent ten seasons with the Detroit Lions en route to seven pro bowls, 56 interceptions and ten defensive touchdowns after spending his collegiate years at JSU.

Coach Barney did not play football but played three years (2008-2010) on the diamond for Grambling, producing a .310 batting average with 114 hits, 96 runs, 61 walks, 55 RBIs, 30 doubles, 27 steals, and five homers over 108 ballgames while capping off his senior season with Grambling State's first baseball championship in 25 seasons (2010). He also played on the 2005 state finalist Gulfport High school baseball team.

The introductory press conference will take place in the President's Suite of the R.W. Harrison HPER Complex on Friday, August 19 at 11 a.m.

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