Dave Bingham was an all-state baseball player at Palo Verde High School in the late 1960s who went on to a Hall of Fame career in Kansas, of all places.
Last week, Bingham was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. Not the KU or KSU Hall of Fame, but the state of Kansas. Talk about a big honor. It’s the same Hall of Fame that includes James Naismith, Billy Mills, Gale Sayers, Tom Watson and George Brett. The ceremony was held in Topeka.
(Courtesy Emporia State athletics)
Bingham coached NAIA Emporia State’s baseball team to the 1978 national championship, part of seven NAIA World Series clubs, both as a player and a coach. Later, as the Kansas Jayhawks head coach, 1988-95, he led KU to the 1993 College World Series.
This entry is part of longtime Star columnist Greg Hansen's weekly notebook. Looking for more? Find updates and Greg's archive at Tucson.com/Hansen.
Bingham was 557-270 at Emporia, where he often stocked his club with elite talent from Tucson high schools. He was named NAIA national coach of the year in 1976, 1984 and 1986. He did so well that he was selected to be a coach on the 1984 USA silver medal Olympic team and the 1988 gold medal-winning Seoul Olympics team.
In total, Bingham coached 806 college baseball victories. In his last coaching job, he was an assistant coach for his old Tucson high school rival, Rich Alday, at New Mexico. Bingham returned to Tucson and retired about five years ago.
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