Rayner Noble

Rayner Noble
Noble at Cougar Field in 2008
Biographical details
Born (1961-08-07) August 7, 1961 (age 63)
Crowell, Texas, U.S.
Playing career
1980–1983Houston[1]
1983–1984Daytona Beach Astros
1985–1986Columbus Astros
1986–1987Tucson Toros
Position(s)Pitcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1987–1990Houston (assistant)
1991–1994Rice (assistant)[2]
1995–2010Houston[3]
Head coaching record
Overall551–420 (.567)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Awards
  • 2x C-USA Coach of the Year (1999, 2000)[5][6][7]
  • ABCA South Central Region Coach of the Year (2002)[8]

James Rayner Noble (born August 7, 1961) is an American former baseball coach and player. He last served as head coach at the University of Houston. In his 16 years coaching Houston, he is the winningest coach in program history. Noble's career coaching record is 551–420 (.567).

A native of Houston, Texas, Noble attended Spring Woods High School and holds both a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Houston.

From 1983 to 1987, Noble played Minor League Baseball in the Houston Astros organization.[9]

Noble wore one of the highest numbers in college baseball (#85, as opposed to his playing #9), which he said he wore to remind himself of becoming a Christian in 1985.[10]

He became the fifth head coach in the university's history on May 26, 1994.[11][12]

In 1998 he ran two baseball summer camp training sessions. The first was for players aged 7 to 12, the second for ages 10 to high schoolers expecting to graduate in 1999. The camps ran for one week each in July.[13]

After suffering the first consecutive losing seasons of his career, UH parted ways with Noble on June 4, 2010.[14]

He was hired on as coach at Second Baptist in 2019, replacing another former Astros player, Lance Berkman.[15]

Accolades

Noble was voted the team MVP when playing for the Houston Cougars in 1983.[16] He was also named the Conference Player of the Year that year.[6]

Noble received the Coach of the Year award in 1999 from Conference USA.[5] He received the honor again in 2000.[6][7]

In 2002, Noble was named ABCA South Central Region Coach of the Year.[8]

On September 17, 2021, Noble was inducted into the University of Houston Hall of Honor.[17]

Head coaching record

Noble in 2008
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Houston Cougars (Southwest Conference) (1995–1996)
1995 Houston 26–29 6–18 7th
1996 Houston 29–28 9–15 T–6th
Houston Cougars (Conference USA) (1997–2010)
1997 Houston 40–23 19–8 2nd NCAA Regional
1998 Houston 34–25 21–6 2nd
1999 Houston 40–24 20–7 1st NCAA Regional
2000 Houston 48–18 21–4 1st NCAA Super Regional
2001 Houston 29–30 20–7 2nd NCAA Regional
2002 Houston 48–17 22–7 1st NCAA Super Regional
2003 Houston 37–30 18–12 4th NCAA Super Regional
2004 Houston 30–29 19–11 T–4th
2005 Houston 29–30 16–13 5th
2006 Houston 39–22 18–6 2nd NCAA Regional
2007 Houston 28–28 12–12 T–4th
2008 Houston 42–24 14–10 4th NCAA Regional
2009 Houston 27–31 13–11 T–3rd
2010 Houston 25–32 11–13 T–5th
Houston: 551–420 (.567) 259–162 (.615)
Total: 551–420 (.567)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ McClain, Allison; Conrad, Jeff; McGrory, Michael; Fazendin, Derrick; Bassity, David, eds. (2014). "Individual Records". Official University of Houston Baseball Media Almanac: 53 – via issuu.
  2. ^ "Scoreboard". Messenger-Inquirer. 1991-05-22. p. 20. Retrieved 2024-02-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Prather names assistant and Rice". Bryan-College Station Eagle. 1994-06-16. p. 24. Retrieved 2024-02-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Houston Cougars Baseball History" (PDF). University of Houston Baseball Records 2008. 2008. p. 115. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  5. ^ a b "C-USA Awards". Tampa Bay Times. 1999-05-19. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  6. ^ a b c "Houston Cougars Baseball History" (PDF). University of Houston Baseball Records 2008. 2008. p. 116. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  7. ^ a b "Scorecard". Courier Journal. 2000-05-17. p. 12. Retrieved 2024-02-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b McClain, Allison; Conrad, Jeff; McGrory, Michael; Fazendin, Derrick; Bassity, David, eds. (2014). "ABCA South Central Regional Coach of the Year". Official University of Houston Baseball Media Almanac: 44 – via issuu.
  9. ^ "Rayner Noble". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2013-05-01. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  10. ^ "Why Noble Wears #85". 2004 Houston Cougars Baseball Newsletter. 2004-05-26. p. 11 – via Texas Tech.
  11. ^ "Houston Cougars Baseball History" (PDF). University of Houston Baseball Records 2008. 2008. p. 107. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  12. ^ "Transactions". The Winchester Sun. 1994-05-27. p. 13. Retrieved 2024-02-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Area Briefs". Clute, Texas: The Facts. 1998-07-04. p. 12. Retrieved 2024-02-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Berman, Mark (2010-06-04). "Noble No Longer UH Baseball Coach". KRIV. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  15. ^ Vedia, Arianna (2019-06-06). "Former UH baseball coach Rayner Noble to take over at Second Baptist". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers, LLC. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  16. ^ McClain, Allison; Conrad, Jeff; McGrory, Michael; Fazendin, Derrick; Bassity, David, eds. (2014). "Team Most Valuable Player". Official University of Houston Baseball Media Almanac: 48 – via issuu.
  17. ^ Koch, Joshua (2021-09-21). "Second Baptist Baseball Coach Noble Inducted into University of Houston Athletics Hall of Honor". Vype Magazine. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
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