Missouri Southern Director of Athletics Sallie Beard has announced the hiring of Bill Gray as the new Lions softball coach. Gray is the seventh softball coach in Southern history.
Gray, a 1993 graduate of Pittsburg State, has spent the past six years as an assistant and later associate head coach at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia where he was the chief hitting instructor and recruiting coordinator. While an assistant, Gray helped move the team from Division II to Division I status in 2006.
Gray’s first head coaching position came at Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas where he started the softball program in 1994 and amassed a 62-45 record over two seasons. In two years, Gray coached two All-Americans, and six All-Conference players and finished fifth in the Region VI tournament in 1996 with a record of 38-15.
Gray started his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater Pittsburg State from 1990-1994 while he finished his undergraduate degree. He helped turn a team that went 23-27 in his first season to 36-8 in season two, including a trip to the Division II regionals. Gray has a 195-131 overall NCAA coaching mark and a 62-45 mark as a junior college head coach.