Rayner Noble

Last updated
Rayner Noble
Rayner Noble.jpg
Rayner Noble at Cougar Field
Biographical details
Born (1961-08-07) August 7, 1961 (age 62)
Crowell, Texas, U.S.
Playing career
1980–1983 Houston [1]
1983–1984 Daytona Beach Astros
1985–1986 Columbus Astros
1986–1987 Tucson Toros
Position(s) Pitcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1987–1990 Houston (assistant)
1991–1994 Rice (assistant) [2]
1995–2010Houston [3]
Head coaching record
Overall551–420 (.567)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Awards
  • 2x C-USA Coach of the Year (1999, [5] 2000 [6] [7] )
  • ABCA South Central Region Coach of the Year (2002) [8]

James Rayner Noble (born August 7, 1961) is an American former baseball coach and player. He last served as NCAA Division I college baseball head coach at the University of Houston. In 13 years of coaching Houston Cougars baseball, he is the winningest coach in Cougars history. Noble's coaching career record is 526-388. (.581).

Contents

A native of Houston, Texas, Noble attended Spring Woods High School and holds both a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Houston.

From 1983 to 1987, Noble played Minor League Baseball in the Houston Astros organization. [9]

Noble wore one of the highest numbers in college baseball (#85, as opposed to his playing #9), which he said he wore to remind himself of becoming a Christian in 1985. [10]

He became the fifth head coach in the university's history on May 26, 1994. [11] [12]

In 1998 he ran two baseball summer camp training sessions. The first was for players aged 7 to 12, the second for ages 10 to high schoolers expecting to graduate in 1999. The camps ran for one week each in July. [13]

After suffering the first consecutive losing seasons of his career, UH parted ways with Noble on June 4, 2010. [14]

He was hired on as coach at Second Baptist in 2019, replacing another former Astros player, Lance Berkman. [15]

Accolades

Noble was voted the team MVP when playing for the Houston Cougars in 1983. [16] He was also named the Conference Player of the Year that year. [6]

Noble received the Coach of the Year award in 1999 from Conference USA. [5] He received the honor again in 2000. [6] [7]

In 2002, Noble was named ABCA South Central Region Coach of the Year. [8]

On September 17, 2021, Noble was inducted into the University of Houston Hall of Honor. [17]

Head coaching record

Noble in 2008 Rayner Noble, Houston Cougars back.jpg
Noble in 2008
Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Houston Cougars (Southwest Conference)(1995–1996)
1995 Houston 26–296–187th
1996 Houston 29–289–15T–6th
Houston Cougars (Conference USA)(1997–2010)
1997 Houston 40–2319–82nd NCAA Regional
1998 Houston 34–2521–62nd
1999 Houston 40–2420–71st NCAA Regional
2000 Houston 48–1821–41st NCAA Super Regional
2001 Houston 29–3020–72nd NCAA Regional
2002 Houston 48–1722–71st NCAA Super Regional
2003 Houston 37–3018–124th NCAA Super Regional
2004 Houston 30–2919–11T–4th
2005 Houston 29–3016–135th
2006 Houston 39–2218–62nd NCAA Regional
2007 Houston 28–2812–12T–4th
2008 Houston 42–2414–104th NCAA Regional
2009 Houston 27–3113–11T–3rd
2010 Houston 25–3211–13T–5th
Houston:551–420 (.567)259–162 (.615)
Total:551–420 (.567)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

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References

  1. McClain, Allison; Conrad, Jeff; McGrory, Michael; Fazendin, Derrick; Bassity, David, eds. (2014). "Individual Records". Official University of Houston Baseball Media Almanac: 53 via issuu.
  2. "Scoreboard" . Messenger-Inquirer. 1991-05-22. p. 20. Retrieved 2024-02-12 via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Prather names assistant and Rice" . Bryan-College Station Eagle. 1994-06-16. p. 24. Retrieved 2024-02-12 via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Houston Cougars Baseball History" (PDF). University of Houston Baseball Records 2008. 2008. p. 115. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  5. 1 2 "C-USA Awards". Tampa Bay Times . 1999-05-19. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  6. 1 2 3 "Houston Cougars Baseball History" (PDF). University of Houston Baseball Records 2008. 2008. p. 116. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  7. 1 2 "Scorecard" . Courier Journal . 2000-05-17. p. 12. Retrieved 2024-02-12 via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 McClain, Allison; Conrad, Jeff; McGrory, Michael; Fazendin, Derrick; Bassity, David, eds. (2014). "ABCA South Central Regional Coach of the Year". Official University of Houston Baseball Media Almanac: 44 via issuu.
  9. "Rayner Noble". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2013-05-01. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  10. "Why Noble Wears #85". 2004 Houston Cougars Baseball Newsletter. 2004-05-26. p. 11 via Texas Tech.
  11. "Houston Cougars Baseball History" (PDF). University of Houston Baseball Records 2008. 2008. p. 107. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  12. "Transactions" . The Winchester Sun. 1994-05-27. p. 13. Retrieved 2024-02-12 via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Area Briefs" . Clute, Texas: The Facts. 1998-07-04. p. 12. Retrieved 2024-02-12 via Newspapers.com.
  14. Berman, Mark (2010-06-04). "Noble No Longer UH Baseball Coach". KRIV . Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  15. Vedia, Arianna (2019-06-06). "Former UH baseball coach Rayner Noble to take over at Second Baptist". Houston Chronicle . Hearst Newspapers, LLC . Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  16. McClain, Allison; Conrad, Jeff; McGrory, Michael; Fazendin, Derrick; Bassity, David, eds. (2014). "Team Most Valuable Player". Official University of Houston Baseball Media Almanac: 48 via issuu.
  17. Koch, Joshua (2021-09-21). "Second Baptist Baseball Coach Noble Inducted into University of Houston Athletics Hall of Honor". Vype Magazine. Retrieved 2024-02-12.