Gum retires from UCA baseball, Harlan promoted

CONWAY, Arkansas — The winningest coach in University of Central Arkansas baseball history went out with one final win Saturday.

With the 2021 season coming to a close with a "Senior Day" victory over McNeese State, UCA announced Sunday the retirement of head baseball coach Allen Gum and the promotion of associate head coach Nick Harlan.

Fittingly, Gum won his final game at UCA with a gritty 5-4 victory over McNeese at Bear Stadium, and retires with a school record 310 victories. Over a collegiate coaching career that spans just 16 years, Gum amassed 536 victories between UCA and his alma mater Southern Arkansas University, an average of 33.5 wins per year.

"We owe much gratitude to Coach Gum for his dedication and elevation of our baseball program,' said UCA director of athletics Dr. Brad Teague. "The success he achieved on the field and in the classroom is remarkable. From the major leaguers to the educators, lawyers, doctors, and leaders, he has recruited great men to this incredible campus and turned out even better ones. We wish Allen and Shenna the very best in their new chapter.'

Gum came to UCA in 2011 and promptly brought success to the program. His third team at UCA, the 2013 squad, won the Southland Conference Tournament in dramatic fashion and made the school's first appearance in an NCAA Regional. The Bears, the seventh seed in the SLC Tournament, won five consecutive elimination games to take the title. The Bears then beat all three teams at the Starkville Regional before falling in the championship game to the host Mississippi State Bulldogs, a team UCA had beaten two out of three in a regular-season series. MSU went on to finish as national runnerup to UCLA at the College World Series.

Gum, a native of Bentonville, Ark., who coached in the high school ranks at Sheridan and Batesville before returning to his alma mater SAU in 2006. leaves the Southland Conference with the eighth-most victories in the history of the league. He led the Bears to eight consecutive SLC Tournaments from 2012-19 and reached the championship game four times, including consecutive seasons in 2013 and 2014. The Bears finished as runnerup in the most recent SLC Tournament held after the 2019 season.

"I've been thinking about it for a couple of years and I just wanted to make sure the program was in a great place when I left, and it is,' said Gum. "I feel like the foundation is solid and I feel like the future is going to be really bright for UCA baseball. Nick, being here eight years, just knowing how we do things, he'll keep that going. He'll do a great job.

"Most importantly, I'm grateful for Dr. Teague for giving me an opportunity to coach Division I baseball, coming from (Division II) Southern Arkansas, and taking a chance on me. And always being there for whatever we needed. And I'm thankful for everybody, Darrell (Walsh), Natalie (Shock), Steve (East) and Matt (Whiting) and all the administration. It takes a lot of people to have a solid program, and I'm grateful for that here at UCA. And Geoff (Thiers) and Scott (Brezee) from the academic side of things. They've done wonders for us, also.

"I'm just grateful for the opportunity. This is a family decision, a life decision. Don't know exactly what I'm going to do, but I'm just going to see what happens, take a break and go from here. I'm excited for our future, but I'm also excited for the future of UCA baseball. no question about that.'

Under Gum's guidance, UCA had 26 All-SLC selections, 17 All-SLC Tournament selections and had 11 players selected in the Major League Baseball draft since 2011.

"I remember my first couple of years how hard it was to finally get in the tournament our second year here,' said Gum. "And then that third year, what an incredible, magical season that was. Finishing 25th in the nation, one game away from a Super Regional. And being in the conference championship game four times was great.

"But what supersedes all that success on the field is all the relationships that have been built, with the players and the coaches and the administrators that have come through the program. Those are the things we'll remember. Wins and losses, those will fade, nobody will remember stats, wins, stuff like that. But what you are going to remember are each other, how we treated each other, how we came together as a team... that's what we're big on, the relationships.

"I'm just so grateful for the players, all the blood, sweat and tears they put into our program over the last 11 years. The fight it took to get it where people knew who we were, where we're in the tournament and we were a threat. The fight to get it there, and then the fight to keep it there. Even this season, they fought and fought and we come down and lose out on a covid point. But what I'm proud of the most is they kept fighting. The University of Central Arkansas means something to them, their teammates and our program mean a lot to them.

"And I hope we've established that here. I hope we haven't just built a foundation, but we've built some rooms onto that foundation. We're still a young Division I program, but I just see it getting better and better and better. There have been a lot of people involved in it and I was a small part of it. And I was just thankful to be a part of it.'

Harlan came to UCA as associate head coach and pitching coach in 2013. He joined the Bears after nine seasons as the head coach of York College in York, Neb. His first pitching staff helped the Bears win the SLC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Regional.

"We also thank Coach Gum for bringing Nick Harlan to our coaching staff back in 2013,' said Teague. "Coach Harlan is the perfect person to take over this program. He embodies the character and integrity we want our programs to model for our students. I am excited for what Coach Harlan will continue to provide for our baseball team. Nick is a great person and will be a great head coach.

"I am happy for Nick and Lindsay and their family to continue a great relationship with this institution. This program will continue its great tradition of success under Coach Harlan.'

During Harlan's time as UCA pitching coach, the Bears have had four pitchers taken in the MLB Draft and several others sign professional contracts as free agents.

"I'm just so grateful for this opportunity,' said Harlan. "And I'm just so thankful that God put the Gums in our life, they mean so much to us. They are a huge part of our family. I just feel like this program is in a great place, and I feel honored to have the opportunity to build on such a solid foundation.

"Lindsey and I absolutely love this school, we love this community, we love this state. So we just feel like it's a great privilege to be a part of this.'

During his tenure at York College, the Panthers won five conference championships, and earned five regional berths. During that time the Panthers were ranked as high as No. 8 in the country and in the Top 25 for four consecutive years. Harlan was a two time MCAC Coach of the Year and in 2013 was named the York College Young Alumnus of the Year.

"I was fortunate to get invited into a great situation back in 2013, working for a great man in Coach Gum, and one of the best baseball minds that I've ever been around,' said Harlan. "So to be able to coach with him was a great opportunity for me, because I knew from the first time we met that he cared about the players. And he wanted what was best for the players. So the last eight years have been some of the most significant years of my life.

"We've had really good kids, and we've had an opportunity to watch them develop and go on and be very successful. And not just in baseball. We've had a lot of guys go on and play pro ball, that's been wonderful. But also guys go on and be really good in their community, great fathers, great husbands, just leaders in their communities.

My passion is to develop men. If that means they go out and have success in pro ball, that's great. But the most important thing is they're high character men and they're good members of their community. That's why we do what we do. I look at is as a mission. There's a great purpose for what we do. As a coach, you wake up and remind yourself what you're fighting for, and you fight for that every single day.'

Harlan was born in Oroville, California where he graduated from Oroville High School. He earned his Bachelor's Degree from York College.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ALLEN GUM ERA:
• Won the 2013 Southland Conference Tournament championship
• Played in the 2013 NCAA Starkville Regional, a first for the program
• won a school record 42 games in 2013
• won a school-best 19 Southland Conference games in 2019
• had 11 players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft since 2011
• had 26 players named to the All-Southland Conference teams, including an SLC Pitcher of the Year (Tyler Gray 2018) and SLC Freshman of the Year (Jonathan Davis 2011)
• had 17 players named to the SLC All-Tournament Team