Daytona Beach, Florida -- Longtime Bethune-Cookman Baseball Coach Mervyl Melendez has resigned to accept the head coaching position at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama, B-CU Director of Athletics Lynn W. Thompson announced late Thursday afternoon.
"Mervyl is pound-for-pound one of the best coaches I have ever been around," said Thompson, "but he is a far greater husband, father, and teacher than that. It has truly been an honor to watch him bloom into a legend, and I wish him well in his search for life's next challenge. We truly hate to see him leave the campus, but he can never leave our family."
Melendez has been part of the Bethune-Cookman program for 19 years, first playing for the Wildcats and earning Black College All-American honors then serving as an assistant for three seasons and finally as head coach for the last 12 seasons, during which time he has taken the B-CU program to legendary heights.
Regarding Hornets new $3.9 million baseball complex: Stacy Danley, Athletic Director, says “It gives us a chance to be our best, to recruit the best and to compete at the highest level so I’m excited about where this program is headed. This is just one of many new projects going on. I hope the people out there understand that Alabama State is trying to raise the bar.”
B-CU's baseball coach leaving
DAYTONA BEACH -- The most successful baseball coach in Bethune-Cookman history is departing. And he's taking his coaching staff with him. Mervyl Melendez resigned from B-CU on Thursday to take the head coach position at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Ala.
The 37-year-old, who guided the Wildcats to 11 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships over 12 seasons, is leaving his alma mater for a struggling program in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. "They really wanted me and my staff to take on the challenge," Melendez said. "It's a program that needs a little TLC, and we're going to give it that TLC."
Jose Vazquez, who had been Melendez's associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at B-CU, assistant coach Drew Clark and pitching coach Matt Crane are going to the Hornets, too. "When somebody wants to buy your whole coaching staff, what a compliment that is to Mervyl and your whole program," said B-CU Athletic Director Lynn Thompson. "Mervyl and I have talked often in the past about how this day would come."
Melendez said Alabama State's five-year contract offer "was too good to refuse'.
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