Former University of Arkansas baseball player hired to take over Oklahoma high school program

Buck Ringgold

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Former University of Arkansas baseball player hired to take over Oklahoma high school program image

Brian Walker, who played college baseball at the University of Arkansas, was named as the new baseball coach at Jenks (Oklahoma) High School.

Walker’s hiring was announced by the school on Wednesday. He had been the coach at Rogers (Arkansas) Heritage High School since 2019, compiling a record of 110-53 and five consecutive state tournament appearances.

“We’ve hit a grand slam with Brian’s decision to be the next leader of our baseball program,” said Jenks athletic director Clay Martin in a statement. “Our student athletes will benefit greatly from the experiences of his playing career and his multi-level coaching career. More importantly, our students will grow as young men from his proven ability to build, develop, connect, effectively communicate and create a culture of trust, humility and belief.”

Walker is familiar with Jenks, having played his high school ball at Tulsa Union, one of the Trojans’ chief rivals. He graduated from Union in 2003.

Then, Walker went to Arkansas and played catcher, while for two seasons, he was a team captain. But Walker may also be best known during his time as a Razorback for an incident during a 2006 game against Ole Miss.

Walker thought he was hit by a pitch and writhed in pain for a while, apparently favoring his right elbow. But he was not given first base and was told to return to the batter’s box. Walker struck out on the next pitch and, upset about the strikeout and not being awarded first base, voiced his displeasure with the home-plate umpire and was ejected, throwing his batting helmet and bat to the ground on his way back to the dugout.

After playing at Arkansas, Walker was drafted by the then-Anaheim Angels, and spent four seasons in their organization, getting as high as Triple-A.

Walker then went into coaching, and served as an assistant at Arkansas and Wichita State before taking over the program at Rogers Heritage.

He is now tasked with getting the Jenks program back on track. The Trojans have won four state titles, the last coming in 2021, but have not reached the state tournament since 2022 and finished 20-20 this past season.

Walker’s hiring continues a trend of new head coaches recently taking over other programs at Jenks, located just south of Tulsa.

In December, Keith Riggs stepped down after spending seven seasons as the Trojans’ football coach to become an assistant athletic director at the school, and defensive coordinator Adam Gaylor was promoted to take over. Then in April, the school hired Jamie Combs as head girls basketball coach after a successful three-year run at Tuttle.

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Buck Ringgold

Buck Ringgold has been covering high school sports for more than 25 years. He has a BA in Journalism from the University of Arkansas and is a die-hard Texas Rangers fan.