Jeff Albies, the head coach of William Paterson University's baseball team for the past 30 years, was inducted into the prestigious American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame on January 4, in San Antonio, TX.
 
Founded in 1945, the ABCA membership includes 6,000 coaches ranging from college to high school to youth, from every state in the country and many nations. The Association's main objective is to help improve the level of coaching. Hall of Fame candidates must receive 75 percent of the votes from the 17-person Hall of Fame Committee in order to be considered by the
31-member Board of Directors.

"I am extremely honored by my selection to the ABCA Hall of Fame," Albies said. "It is particularly gratifying to earn this honor while I'm still coaching. I am well aware of the fact that many of the men I am privileged to join are the pillars of collegiate baseball."

"Jeff Albies is a significant player nationally with amateur baseball," said ABCA Executive Director Dave Keilitz.  "Jeff has been not only a tremendous contributor as a coach at William Paterson, but also in the east and on a national level with his committee work and leadership."

From his arrival in 1975, Albies built the Pioneer baseball program into a Division III power that has won NCAA championships in 1992 and 1996.The 1992 team went 36-7 and had three future professional players, while the 1996 squad went a school-record 39-5-1 and also had three future pros.

In addition to winning two national championships, Albies has guided the Pioneers to 18 NCAA regional invitations, 11 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) crowns and seven regional titles, most recently in 1999 when his team finished third in the nation. The 11 NJAC championships are the most any conference program has captured since 1975. William Paterson has also posted
12 consecutive seasons with more than 20 victories and, overall, Albies' teams have won more than 20 games 25 times. This includes 12 campaigns with 30 or more victories under the venerable coach.

Albies possesses a career record of 780-336-10, giving him the sixth most victories among active Division III coaches. He is also among the Top 15 in winning percentage among current coaches. In addition, he has coached 27 All-Americans and has had 29 players sign professional contracts, including outfielder Bryan Graham, the 2003 NJAC Player of the Year who was drafted in
the 16th round last June by the Kansas City Royals.

"Through 30 years at William Paterson University, Jeff Albies has been dedicated to the excellence of this University and its student athletes," said University President Arnold Speert.  "He has worked tirelessly to prepare his athletes for success throughout their lives. I look forward to his continued leadership and guidance."

His success has led to many honors. The ABCA selected Albies as its national coach of the year in 1992 and 1996, and also picked him as its Mid-Atlantic Regional Coach of the Year nine times (1982, 1988-89, 1992-93, 1995-97, 1999, the same number of times the NJAC honored him as its Coach of the Year  (1982-83, 1987, 1989, 1991-93, 1995-96). Meanwhile, the New Jersey
Collegiate Baseball Association gave him its annual coaching award on six occasions (1982, 1987, 1989, 1991-92, 1996).

"The record Coach Albies has amassed as the leader of the William Paterson baseball program speaks for itself," Athletic Director Sabrina Grant said. "The University is fortunate that Jeff has spent a long career with the program that he developed into a national powerhouse. It is rare in this day and age of intercollegiate athletics to have a coach with such success remain loyal to one institution."