Mike Hurst: Georgia State University
Hurst was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2014.
Mike Hurst may be more known for rebuilding the Georgia State baseball program after a period of dormancy and steering it through some challenging times.
Hurst was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2014. He coached the Panthers from 1993 to 2006 and finished with 293 victories, then the most in school history. He passed away on February 19, 2021.
Greg Frady, who served as Hurst’s associate head coach before succeeding him as head coach, said, “We are all excited to see Coach Hurst honored for his outstanding contributions to Georgia State baseball and baseball in the state of Georgia. Any time a member of our Panther baseball family is recognized, it is a proud moment for all of us.”
Hurst spent most of his life involved with baseball in the Atlanta area. He graduated from Cross Keys High School and then played collegiately at Mercer University-Atlanta where he was an NAIA all-region selection. After a stint as a high school coach in Maryland, he returned to his native state in 1990 as an assistant coach at DeKalb Community College (now part of Georgia State) before joining the GSU staff.
"I played Little League baseball, high school baseball and college baseball right here in Atlanta, Georgia," Hurst said. "College baseball in Georgia has absolutely exploded, from the junior college level to Division I and everything in between."
Hurst came to Georgia State as an assistant coach under Kurt Seibert in 1992 when the university reinstated a baseball program that had been dormant for five years. He served as interim head coach for the final 12 games of the 1993 season and then was elevated to full-time head coach for the 1994 campaign.
Hurst grew the fledgling Panther program and coached All-America players Mark Mortimer and Jason Glover, freshman All-Americans Garrett Greer, Rusty Bennett and Brett Strickland and numerous all-conference and all-region standouts.
Hurst's No. 30 jersey was retired by Georgia State in 2008. He was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2016.
Some information in this article was used from georgiastatesports.com