Wes Thigpen enters his fifth season at the helm of the Jones College baseball program.
Thigpen is 167-92 overall as a head coach in the MACCC and grabbed his 100th career win Feb. 9, 2024 in Jones' sweep of 19th-ranked Shelton State.
Thigpen spent two seasons as the head coach at Mississippi Gulf Coast before coming back to Jones to manage the Bobcats in 2022.
The Bobcats finished 35-15 overall last season and 20-8 in MACCC play to finish as conference runners-up. A year prior, Jones was 41-16, region runner-up and ranked No. 8 in the final NJCAA poll. Jones fell to LSU Eunice in the region championship, with the Bengals going on to win the national title.
Thigpen guided the Bobcats to a 32-17 record and region tournament semifinal appearance in his return to Ellisville in 2022 and went 33-17 in 2023. Jones was ranked as high as No. 7 in the NJCAA in late-April 2023.
The Luling, Louisiana, native has an impressive track record as a pitching coach and recruiter following a playing career that reached the professional level.
In his first stint in 2017-19 as the Bobcats' pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, Jones was 127-21 (.818) with an MACCC title and two regular-season runner-up finishes. His staff finished all three seasons in the Top 10 in ERA in NJCAA Division II, including the 2017 squad which finished second with an eye-popping 2.74 ERA.
In seven combined seasons at Jones, 57 players have gone on to sign with four-year programs, including two pitchers who earned NJCAA All-American honors. Will Freeman, who signed with Alabama, was picked by the San Diego Padres in the 2018 MLB Draft.
Thigpen spent the 2016 season as the pitching coach at Hinds, where all four sophomore pitchers signed to play NCAA Division I.
Thigpen was introduced to the MACCC in 2008 as a catcher at Meridian Community College. He started in 99 career games for the Eagles, helping them to a conference title as a freshman and region championship and NJCAA World Series berth as a sophomore.
After two all-conference seasons and an all-region sophomore campaign, Thigpen became a two-year starter at Mississippi State where he was a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and helped the Bulldogs to a Super Regional appearance as a senior in 2011.
While at Mississippi State as a graduate assistant in 2014-15, he was also able to work closely with widely respected pitching coach Butch Thompson, now the head coach at Auburn University. Thigpen was also able to catch or coach numerous professional and eventual MLB pitchers between his time in the SEC and in pro ball.
Thigpen would then enter the professional playing ranks with the Detroit Tigers organization in June 2011. He advanced all the way to the Double-A level in just his second season in 2012 before ending his playing career at the end of the 2012 summer to complete his education.
He is married to the former Holly Head of Vicksburg. They have a son, Maddox (7) and daughter, Emrie (5).
