Golloway gives the perfect answer to the question why

May 28—Why, Sunny, why?

That's the question on a number of folks' minds when it started leaking out that East Central University was about to name Sunny Golloway — one of the most recognizable names in Oklahoma college baseball — as the next skipper of ECU's struggling program.

Numerous VIPs — including alums, former ECU employees, local school personnel and others — crowded into the Bill S. Cole University Center Wednesday afternoon for a press conference introducing Golloway as ECU's sixth head baseball coach since the 1960s.

It wasn't long into his long speech (it was great, but even he admitted he can be a bit long-winded) that he answered the big question — why would a coach who had made four trips to the College World Series and is very well-known in the Division I circles come to Ada to try and revive ECU's baseball program.

"It's about people. I wasn't sure I was going to get back into college baseball," he said.

Eight months ago Golloway lost his wife of 33 years — Charlotte — to cancer. And many months before she passed away it was almost a full-time job taking care of her.

The loss of his "unicorn" sent him reeling.

After the East Central job opened up, Justin Graham — who just recently himself returned to ECU as the new assistant athletic director for resource development — made a phone call to Golloway at the urging of some friends and Tiger alums to feel him out about it.

As it turns out, Graham must have been quite the salesman.

Shortly thereafter, Golloway threw his hat in the ring and met with the ECU baseball search committee. It was meeting those East Central employees that made the veteran coach fall in love with the idea of becoming a Tiger.

"I'm not afraid to say I'm broken and I'm healing. I told the committee 'hey guys, I think you can do more for me than I can for you. And I can do a lot for you.' Every person I met has helped me," Golloway said.

Some of the committee members Golloway mentioned that impacted his decision to come to Ada included ECU head softball coach Destini Anderson, assistant women's basketball coach Jeff McGaha, interim athletic director Matt Cole, head football coach Kris McCullough and interim president Dr. Jeff Gibson.

"It's been a tough healing process. But I have healed more in the last two weeks getting to know the people here at East Central than I have in the last seven months — beyond a shadow of a doubt," he said. "The more I got to know about the people here at East Central, to be honest with you I was blown away. There are some really, unique and beautiful people we've met here."

Golloway takes over a program that has compiled a 26-135 in the last four seasons. But he isn't scared. His life has been full of challenges, especially lately.

"We have a long way to go. We understand that. It won't be easy," he said. "But I'm not the kind of guy that I want to be in a helicopter and you drop me halfway up the mountain. I'm starting at the bottom and we'll work our way up. I'm excited about that."

Golloway is familiar with the high school baseball talent in the Ada area and said he wants to see top players from Pontotoc County schools and beyond in Tiger uniforms.

Golloway said he got the opportunity to visit with one of his former players, Chad Colbert, who coached at Byng High School before returning to his hometown of Allen, where he is currently the baseball coach and athletic director, about the prospect of getting local players to stick around after high school.

"I picked his brain a little bit about what some of their top players are thinking. He said sometimes young players want to go away to school. I understand that too," Golloway explained. "We would like for them to be able to stay right here. They still get a college experience and they're still not going home every day. We're in a hotbed (of baseball talent)."

Even if recent graduates have high expectations for their careers, Golloway said they could benefit from playing at East Central for a year or two.

"Even if they have pro aspirations, you have the ability to develop that skill to send them into professional baseball — which I can do," he said. "But that's got to start with our youth camps and being great ambassadors and being at their games. We have to make sure they understand that we care about what they're doing at their high school program."

Golloway said the landscape of college baseball at all levels has also changed thanks to players being able to enter the NCAA's transfer portal.

"There are some really good players out there. The thing about Division II baseball is that it's different than it ever has before because of the transfer portal. Every student-athlete now is a free agent.

"If you're a great player out of high school and you think you're a D-1 guy and they're not recruiting you, come play for us. If you get good enough where Clemson wants you after a couple of years, there's an open portal," he said. "You don't have to go to junior college. You don't have to sit and wait on D-1s. Go where there is a coach that can develop you. And I'm going to tell you right now, we can develop you."

Golloway said he intends to target the same recruits as Division I schools such as the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and Tulsa do.

"OU can go in and sit down in their living room give them their recruiting spill and then we're going to go second and then we'll let OSU or whoever come right in behind us," he said, only half-joking. "We'll be right there step by step with the high-steppers. We're not going to take a back seat at any level to anybody."

Golloway admitted there are things about D-2 baseball that he will have to adjust to, but he's ready to get started. In fact, he plans on being in attendance at the Division II World Series in Enid this weekend. He also said the connections he's made all across the nation during his storied coaching career will benefit him on the recruiting trail.

"It will be a little bit of a different journey and there will be a learning curve for me and I understand that, but at the end of the day, we want to have good-character, skilled athletes. If we can get that, we're going to win a lot of ballgames," he said. "When you have the coaching tree I have, it's so vast. I have guys all over. With the transfer portal ... it's wide open as to who we might be able to recruit."

Golloway met with players on the current ECU baseball roster and hopes to see the young squad return for his first spring season in 2023.

"I let them know that I'm here for them. We would love for everybody to return. ECU had a young club this spring and we're going to bring in some extra players to enhance our skillset and our talent pool and continue to move forward," he said. "Clearly, it's going to be about the GAC (Great American Conference) and trying to get back into conference contention."

Another one of his first priorities is getting his coaching staff together.

"The ECU administration made it very clear to me that they're going to make a commitment to the sport of baseball and I think that starts first and foremost with me coming in and having a full-time assistant and a volunteer assistant or a graduate assistant," he said.

Golloway referenced the much-used saying by famous East Central University alum former Governor George Nigh "You can get there from here (meaning Ada or ECU)" when talking about his decision to pursue the East Central job.

"I never would have thought I would have gotten from there to here. But here I am today," Golloway said. "I'm very humbled to be the next baseball coach at ECU."

Why not?