Hall of Fame Series: Baseball’s Cary McConnell

BOSTON – Over the next few weeks, GoSuffolkRams.com will look at the student-athletes, coach and team to be inducted into the Suffolk University Athletics Hall of Fame that has its next induction ceremony this October. The third installment features the winningest coach in the University’s history, current Director of Athletics Cary McConnell.

McConnell’s tenure at the University spans nearly three decades. He joined the University in 1996 as Associate Director of Athletics and head baseball coach, where he cemented himself in the Rams’ history. 

Coach McConnell’s induction is the culmination of an illustrious 19-year head-coaching career at Suffolk, during which he established himself as one of the most respected and successful figures in NCAA Division III baseball. Some even say he guided the Rams to “the University’s most successful intercollegiate sport program.”

McConnell ended his tenure as the Rams skipper in 2014 leaving behind a storied legacy that includes 479 victories with a .635 winning percentage, with at least 20-wins in a year for 17 consecutive campaigns. He is the second-winningest coach at Suffolk University across any sport and holds the 46th-most wins among NCAA DIII baseball coaches all-time.

Under McConnell’s leadership, the Rams became a powerhouse in NCAA DIII baseball, appearing in four NCAA Tournaments, capturing four Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) titles and fighting for the conference crown in eight straight seasons. Regionally, his squads earned 10 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament trips, including championships in 2000 and 2014.

Suffolk baseball flourished under McConnell’s direction, producing five American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Americans, including Suffolk Hall of Famers Mike Maguire, BSBA ’05 (2015) and Darwin Hernandez, BS ’98, MSCJ ’02 (2022). In the McConnell era, 28 Rams were selected to all-region squads, three were named GNAC Player of the Year and GNAC Pitcher of the Year, respectively, four took home GNAC Rookie of the Year, and 94 were tabbed All-GNAC honorees (52 first-team, 37 second-team and five third-team). 

McConnell’s individual accolades are equally impressive. Over his career, he garnered six GNAC Coach of the Year honors. In 2013, he received the Jack Butterfield Award from the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA), which is presented to an active New England coach who demonstrates integrity and dedicate to the game of college baseball.

This October will be the second time McConnell will take the stage as a Suffolk University Hall of Famer as the 2000 Baseball Team was inducted in 2013. That squad set a school record with 38 wins in a season, while the pitching staff led all NCAA DIII programs in ERA (2.69) and strikeouts (401). Led by McConnell, that group made the program’s first NCAA appearance, while winning both the GNAC and ECAC Tournaments. The 2000 Mutts were also enshrined into the GNAC’s inaugural Hall of Fame Class in 2010. 

Since being relieved of his coaching duties, McConnell has taken over the University’s Athletic Department as the Director of Athletics. In the last decade, he has guided the blue-and-gold to new heights. The department size grew from 13 sports to 20, while the student-athlete population more than doubled from 150 to 350-plus and the full-time staff tripled in size from six to 19. He helped secure home field advantage for every outdoor sports team, a new state-of-the-art fitness center for the University’s community, and switched conferences for a more competitive field of play athletically and academically. 

With McConnell at the reigns of the Department, the Rams have earned bids to the NCAA Tournament six times as teams and sent 10 individual student-athletes to the Big Dance. Seven Rams collected All-America status in their respective sports, while four earned Academic All-American distinction. 

McConnell is the fifth head coach to be enshrined into the Hall of Fame, first since Joe Walsh in 2009. 

The 2024 Suffolk University Hall of Fame Class features four men, three women and one team representing six different athletic programs.

On October 18, the Suffolk University Athletics Hall of Fame, which held its first induction ceremony in 2007, will increase in size to 79 members broken down by 59 student-athletes, five head coaches, 11 teams and four special honorees. 

The 2024 Suffolk University Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held on Friday, Oct. 18 at Suffolk University’s Sargent Hall’s Keches Room, 120 Tremont Street, Boston, at 6:00 p.m. Tickets to the event can be purchased here. 

THE SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
The Suffolk University Athletics Hall of Fame will recognize the outstanding achievements of former athletes, coaches and others who have played a most significant role in the history of athletics at our University.  

For a more insider’s look at the 2024 Suffolk University Athletics Hall of Fame Class be on the lookout for the Hall of Fame series, which will be published on GoSuffolkRams.com leading up to the event. Specific publication dates on inductees are below:

• Tuesday, Sept. 10 – Winston Daley, BSBA ’02 – Men’s Basketball
• Thursday, Sept. 19 – Erin McAndrews, BS ’14 – Softball
• Tuesday, Sept. 24 – Cary McConnell – Baseball
• Thursday, Sept. 26 - Jennifer Nelson, BSBA '08 - Women's Tennis
• Tuesday, Oct. 1 – Ben Rollins, BSE ’13 – Men’s Soccer
• Thursday, Oct. 3 - Jennifer (Ruys) Baker, BS ’14 – Women’s Basketball
• Tuesday, Oct. 8 – Jake Stahl, BSBA ’53 – Men’s Basketball
• Thursday, Oct. 10 – 1947 Baseball Team