MARGATE, Fla. (NCBWA) – Michael Coker, founder and executive director of Black College Championships LLC and founder of the Black College World Series as well as lead contemporary reporter for the Black College Nines website, passed away Tuesday, April 22, after a lengthy battle with pancreatic and prostate cancer.
Coker, 65, also was an active board member of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and an insatiable promoter of HBCU and all college baseball programs nationally. Previously, he was special assistant to the executive director of the NCBWA before gaining a place on the board of directors.
The Black College Baseball Board of Directors and tournament committee issued the following statement after his passing:
“Michael Coker was a tireless believer and advocate for HBCU and all college baseball. We are deeply saddened by his passing, but we want to salute him for his great efforts to publicize and bring out the best points in college baseball as well as founding the Black College Baseball World Series, which has given so many youngsters a chance to extend their careers and to extol the benefits of this great sport. Our thoughts and prayers go to his family and many friends after his passing.”
He worked extensively in all areas of HBCU baseball and all divisions of collegiate baseball for 20-plus years and was a major advocate of diversity and equality in the diamond sport.
A former first baseman as a student-athlete at Edward Waters University in Jacksonville, Fla., as an undergraduate under coach Jeffrey Lee Jr., the baseball visionary came up with the idea of a special invitational tournament – the Black College Baseball World Series – in 2011 to help promote HBCU diamond activity on the NCAA Division II and NAIA levels.
Ten years later, the first of four BCBWS was held at Riverwalk Park (home of the minor league Class AA Montgomery Biscuits), and the postseason joust resulted in championships for Bluefield State (2021 and ’24), Edward Waters (2022) and Florida Memorial University (2023).
His insight, experience and passion for baseball student-athletics was evident for decades, and he had both a voice and long-term vision for HBCU baseball nationally. He assisted in Top 25 national voting for both the NCBWA and Black College Nines’ Top 10 HBCU polls for small and large schools for several years as well.
Coker also has been a member of the Black College Legends and Pioneers Committee for the National College Baseball Hall of Fame, founding member of the HBCU-Pro Sports Media Association, founder and executive director of the Black College Championships LLC and founder of HBCU Black College World Series. He was very active in suggesting names and advising athletics departments when HBCU baseball coaching positions became open.
He attended Oakton College and Wilberforce University before graduating from Edward Waters University and later obtaining a law degree from the University of Miami School of Law. He also did graduate work for a Master’s of Law degree at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, Calif., and worked in law offices for several years after finishing at Miami.
Coker also expressed extreme gratitude before his passing for the opportunity to cover college baseball for Black College Nines and to assist in postseason awards and many other aspects of the organization under BCN founder and author Jay Sokol.
The Evanston, Ill., native remained active on a year-round basis with HBCU baseball, the Black College World Series and working as a legal expert. He previously served as a special assistant to the executive director of the NCBWA. He also was instrumental in helping to schedule intersectional games for HBCU schools and was in constant contact with college baseball coaches, conference commissioners and representatives of Major League Baseball.
Coker was a longtime resident of Pompano Beach, Fla., and active in community service and church activities in that area. Celebration of life services are pending.