TAHLEQUAH – Sunny Golloway, a veteran head coach with 15 NCAA D-I postseason appearances, has been named Northeastern State's next head baseball coach, Director of Athletics John Sisemore announced Thursday.
"It's a great day for NSU, it's a great day for NSU Athletics, and it's a great day for our student-athletes and our entire student body," said Sisemore. "Coach Golloway wants to invest in student-athletes lives and wants to do great things. He has already done many great things, he is a fighter and a hard worker. We are excited to have him as our head baseball coach at Northeastern State."
A proven winner at each of his head coaching stops. Golloway has amassed a record of 743-387-1 (.657), including 12 seasons with at least 40 wins. He recorded a mark of 346-181-1 (.656) in eight-plus seasons as Oklahoma's head coach, an average of more than 40 wins per season. Prior to the 2013 season, Golloway's winning percentage ranked No. 15 nationally among active head coaches.
Golloway has 26 years of experience as a collegiate coach with 18 full seasons as a Division I head coach, two seasons at Auburn, and eight seasons each at Oklahoma and Oral Roberts.
He served as an assistant coach at Oklahoma from 1992-95, helping lead the Sooners to three trips to the College World Series in those four years and a national title in 1994. He took over as head coach at Oral Roberts in 1996, and the Golden Eagles won the Mid-Continent Conference title and advanced to an NCAA Regional in each of his final six seasons at ORU.
Golloway was responsible for turning the ORU into one of the nation's winningest programs. The Golden Eagles flourished under Golloway's guidance and tallied 277 wins in that time, an average of more than 46 victories per season, and a .731 winning percentage. Golloway and the ORU dominated the Mid-Continent Conference after joining the league in 1998, winning six consecutive regular season and tournament titles, and advancing to six consecutive NCAA Regionals. ORU was 85-5 in conference play over his last four seasons.
At ORU, Golloway posted a mark of 335-156 (.682). He coached 16 All-Americans, three Freshman All-Americans, and 26 of his ORU players were drafted or signed professional contracts. He was honored four times as Mid-Continent Conference Coach of the Year by his peers (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002).
He returned to Oklahoma as associate head coach in 2004 and was elevated to interim head coach on May 1, 2005. Two months later, he was named Oklahoma's eighth head baseball coach. In his nine seasons, he garnered a 346-181-1 overall record and a 116-97-1 mark in the Big 12. The Sooners claimed the 2013 Big 12 Tournament Championships and advanced to the post-season NCAA tournament all but one season, including three trips to the NCAA Super Regional and one to the College World Series.
Three of OU's recruiting classes under Golloway ranked in the top 10 in Collegiate Baseball's national rankings, including the 2007 group of newcomers that was tabbed the fourth best in the country, the highest ranking since 1987, and tied for the second best in program history.
Golloway spent two seasons at Auburn University, where he compiled a 62-50 overall mark and guided the Tigers to an NCAA appearance in 2015.
Following a few years away from coaching, Golloway returned to the diamond in 2020 at Moore High School and spent the 2023 season at East Central University as head coach.
Golloway has produced 80 MLB draft picks in his 18-year tenure as a collegiate head coach, and a total of 118 players have been draft selections in his 26 years in college baseball. He has also coached 94 all-conference selections between his four head coaching stops, including 61 All-Big 12 selections at Oklahoma.
Golloway is a former Team USA assistant coach and former head coach of several collegiate summer teams. In the summer of 2002, he was selected to serve as pitching coach for the USA Baseball National Team. Under his direction, the team recorded the lowest ERA in its history. Golloway also helped Team USA to a silver medal that season.
Born in Springfield, Missouri, Golloway grew up in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and graduated from Stillwater High School in 1979. He attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Junior College in Miami, Oklahoma, for one year before transferring to Oklahoma Christian where he received his bachelor's degree in business in 1984. He has also done graduate work at the University of Central Oklahoma and the University of Oklahoma.
Golloway and his late wife, Charlotte, have three children: Sunni Kate, Taylor, and Callen.
