It isn’t official yet, but according to a report from College Baseball Daily, Appalachian State will name former Oklahoma State Assistant Coach Billy Jones as the next head baseball coach.

According to his official profile, he’s an Oregon State alum but played baseball at Lower Columbia Community College before transferring to Southwest Texas State.

His coaching career started as head coach of Green River (Wash.) Community College where he won a regional championship. After that he was an assistant for 2 years at Oregon State, followed by 2 years at Arizona State.

The highlight of his career so far might have been his 3 year stint as an assistant coach at NC State where he was an assistant coach of the year finalist. He’s spent the last 8 years at Oklahoma State where he has helped turn them into an offensive powerhouse and also served as recruiting coordinator. However, his boss got the axe which has left him looking for a job.

I like the fact that he’s been a recruiting coordinator in North Carolina before so it’s not like he’s unfamiliar with the area. Additionally, he’s coached at big time programs from major conferences.

I don’t like that he has no real ties to App State, but that’s not a deal breaker. All in all, for the money we were likely offering (still TBD) he seems like a solid pick and in 2 or 3 years we should be competing for conference championships. IF this report is true. With all the bogus reports we’ve seen lately I won’t believe it until I hear it out of Charlie Cobb’s mouth. But for now, I’m cautiously optimistic.

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UPDATE: Confirmed by GoASU