Gamecock baseball makes new assistant coach hire official

Per Gamecock Athletics

The University of South Carolina baseball program and head coach Mark Kingston have announced the hiring of Joey Holcomb as an assistant coach for the Gamecocks.

“Joey is an exciting addition to our team,” Kingston said. “He has an outstanding reputation in our business as a recruiter and for developing nationally elite offenses. He has worked for outstanding mentors and is known as a class act with high integrity. His positive impact will be felt in many areas of our program. We welcome Joey, his wife Brittany and three boys Graham, Reed and Parker to South Carolina.“

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“First I have to say that I am grateful to Coach Kingston for this amazing opportunity,” Holcomb said. “It has always been a dream of mine to join a program with a winning tradition and fan base like USC’s. The Lord has had his hand in my career from the beginning and I can’t wait to see how he will use me in Columbia.”

Holcomb comes to Columbia after two seasons as an assistant coach at Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C. Campbell is coming off a Big South regular-season and tournament championship and a championship game appearance in the NCAA Columbia Regional, going 46-15 overall and 22-5 in conference play

He guided a Camel offense in 2023 that hit .318 as a team, which was ninth in the country. Campbell led the nation in on-base percentage (.439) and hit-by-pitches (146), was second in slugging percentage (.561), third in runs scored (587) and seventh in home runs (123). Holcomb coached Lawson Harrill and Bryce Arnold, who were NCBWA All-Americans. Harrill hit .371 with 22 home runs and 69 RBI while Arnold hit .321 with 17 RBI and also had 65 RBI. Jarrod Belbin had 21 home runs and 25 stolen bases while Tyler Halstead hit .376 with 32 stolen bases.

In his first year in The Creek, Holcomb helped guide an offense to some record-setting numbers. The Campbell offense blasted 118 home runs, setting a new program record and topping the previous mark that had stood since 1985. Campbell was the only team in the nation to hit 100+ HR, steal 100+ bases, and get hit by 100+ pitches. As a team, Campbell slashed .299/.410/.548.

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The lineup could hit top to bottom, with the 118 HRs coming from a combined 14 different players leaving the yard, six with double-digit blasts and 11 batters with four or more homers.

A program-record eleven different Camels were named all-conference in 2022, with seven of the 11 being hitters. He also coached Zach Neto, the Big South Player of the Year, first-team all-American shortstop and current Los Angeles Angel.

Holcomb came to Buies Creek after a two-year stint at NC State, where he helped them reach the College World Series semifinals in 2021. During his time in Raleigh, he served as the assistant offensive coach and worked with the catchers and outfielders. While there, he worked with eight MLB draft picks and the 2020 Johnny Bench Award winner for the nation’s top catcher. He helped guide the Wolfpack offense to sixth in the nation in home runs in 2021 while leading the ACC in team batting average, slugging percentage and home runs.

Of his eight position players drafted at NC State, six were selected in 2021 with three of those going in the top 10 rounds.

Prior to his tenure at NC State, he spent seven seasons with the UNC Greensboro staff as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. In Greensboro he helped coach 16 MLB draft picks, eight all-Americans and 38 all-conference players. He guided the Spartans to leading the nation in triples in 2017 and ‘18, and to batting over .320 for three straight seasons from 2016-18.

Holcomb hails from Locust Fork, Ala. and is a 2006 graduate of Huntingdon College, where he also coached for four years following his graduation. He lives with his wife Brittany and three sons, Graham, Reed, and Parker.

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