Born: March 15, 1954
Hometown: Hattiesburg, MS
Year of Induction: 2011
High School
Hattiesburg High School, Hattiesburg, MS (1970-1972)
• Earned three letters as baseball catcher
College Career
University of Southern Mississippi (1973-1977)
• Starting catcher and letterman all four years
• Team captain (’77)
• Career .274 batting average
Coaching Career
Assistant Coach, Newton High School, Newton, MS (1978-1979)
Head baseball coach, Lee High School, Columbus, MS (1979-1982)
• Three consecutive Little 10 Conference titles (1980-1982)
• School record with 21-7 mark
• Shared district title (1980)
Head baseball coach, Columbia High School, Columbia, MS (1983-1984)
• MHSAA South State Champions (’83)
• Overall coaching record in high school: 102-52
Assistant Coach, University of Southern Mississippi (1985-1986)
Head Coach, Meridian Community College, Meridian, MS (1987-1996)
• JUCO coaching record of 409-160
• Six of 10 teams won 40 or more games
• Three appearances in JUCO World Series (’93, ‘94, & ’96)
• Five Miss-Lou Conference titles (’90, ‘91, ’92, ‘94, ’95)
• Three Region 23 tournament appearances (’93, ‘94, & ’96)
• National NJCAA baseball tournament runner-ups (’96)
• National NJCAA baseball tournament third place (’94)
• First Mississippi JUCO to win consecutive Region 23 basebal tournaments (’92, ‘93)
1988 team was ranked 5th in the nation; 1989 squad was ranked 3rd in the nation — highest rankings in school history
• Region 23 Coach of the Year (’92, ‘93, ’94, ‘96)
Head Baseball Coach, University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (1998-2009)
• USM career record 458-281; second best win total in school history
• First USM College World Series appearance (’09)
• No. 8 Final Ranking highest in school history (’09)
• Eight NCAA tournament appearnces including 7 straight berths
• Coached the squad to 8 of the school’s ten NCAA overall appearances
• Six 40-win; eleven 30-win seasons; twelve 20-win seasons
• Coached 11 All-Americans; 10 Freshman All-Americans; and 4 Academic All-Americans
• 19 players were drafted and played progessional baseball
• Coached four Conference USA Scholar-Athletes of the Year
• Conference USA Coach of the Year (’03)
• Assisted in improving Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field
Special Recognition and Honors
• Coaching staff American JUCA All-Stars vs. Japan in Tokyo (’96)
• University of Southern Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame (’98)
• University of Southern Mississippi Alumni Assoc. Hall of Fame (’06)
Did You Know?
Corky Palmer’s association with Southern MIss spanned four decades as a player, assistant coach, and head baseball coach. His overall career coaching record in high school, community college, and Division1 college was 946-493.
