Southern Arkansas University Athletics

A respected leader, a proven winner and one of the all-time great baseball coaches the state of Arkansas has ever seen. That's Allen Gum. A native of Bentonville, Arkansas, Gum has carved out a hall of fame coaching career in the Natural State that has spanned nearly thirty years and includes 16 highly-impactful seasons as a collegiate head coach.
 
After serving two seasons (2004-05) as an assistant coach at Southern Arkansas, Gum grabbed the reigns of one of the state's most successful programs and led the Muleriders on a dominant five-season run. Under Gum's leadership, Southern Arkansas won 226 games (.769 – program-best career winning percentage), the third-most by any head coach in program history, and enjoyed 40 or more wins in all five seasons with a program-record 52 victories coming in 2009.
 
The Muleriders earned four NCAA regional berths and served as South Regional host for the first time in 2009. In his first season of 2006, Southern Arkansas claimed the Gulf South Conference Tournament Championship and three seasons later, the Muleriders won both the GSC West Division Regular Season title and tournament title with Gum honored as the GSC Coach of the Year both seasons in addition to being named the NCBWA South Region Coach of the Year in 2009.
 
His final season in Magnolia saw the Muleriders win 40+ games for a program-record fourth-consecutive season, while laying claim to a second-straight GSC West Division regular season championship. Under his tutelage, twenty-seven different players earned All-GSC honors, 13 received all-region recognition and eight were named all-American with four others earning academic all-America plaudits. Eight Muleriders were drafted, including a program-record four following the 2010 season with several more going on to sign independent league contracts.
 
After five seasons of annually ushering the Muleriders into the national postseason conversation, Gum became the head coach at Division I Central Arkansas. And the success continued. In 11 seasons in Conway, UCA's baseball program was transformed under Gum as the Bears won 310 games, the most by a head coach in program history and the eighth-most victories by a head coach in Southland Conference history.
 
Central Arkansas earned eight-consecutive SLC Tournament berths (2012-19) with four championship game appearances including back-to-back appearances in 2013 and 2014 with the Bears winning the '13 title. That victory, which was one of a program-record 42 that season, earned UCA its first NCAA regional bid where the Bears won three games, including one against host Mississippi State in Starkville.
 
During his time at UCA, Gum saw 11 players drafted, 26 named to All-SLC teams, which included an SLC Pitcher of the Year and SLC Freshman of the Year, and 17 players earn SLC All-Tournament honors.
 
Preceding his coaching career was a very successful career as a player. Gum arrived in Magnolia following two seasons at Crowder College. In 1990, Gum led SAU in hitting as a junior outfielder with a .338 average and fielded .975 as Southern Arkansas won the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) championship with a 20-4 record and finished the season 27-23 overall. As a senior, Gum hit .328 and fielded .961 while helping the Muleriders win their sixth consecutive AIC championship with a 20-4 record and an overall record of 44-15-1. SAU won the NAIA District 17 title to earn a trip to the 1991 NAIA World Series where Gum was honored as the Charles Berry Hustle Award winner.
 
Following his playing career, Gum assisted the Sheridan High School baseball program for six seasons and served as head baseball coach at Batesville where in three years he led the Pioneers to a 75-25 record with Class AAAA state runner-up finishes in both 2002 and 2003.