LONDON — North Laurel High School varsity baseball coach Darren McWhorter earned the highest honor of the Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association with his induction into the KHSBCA Hall of Fame on Friday, joining Phil Grundy (Somerset), Nathan Isenberg (Henderson County, Bowling Green), John Morris (Eastern), and Kirby Smith (Spencer County, Campbellsville).
McWhorter had been head coach of the Jaguar baseball program for the past 24 years while servicing as an assistant under former coach Keith Gilbert for four years.
“It’s a great honor,” he said. “It’s very humbling to say the least. I was looking at the list of the first Hall of Fame class — Charlie Taylor, Mac Whitaker, and GJ Smith. You talk about a piece of humble pie, goodness gracious.
“It’s not a Darren McWhorter thing,” he added. “There has been a lot of great assistant coaches that have been a major contributor to the success of North Laurel’s baseball program. I was extremely surprised. I wasn’t expecting it. I don’t know who dominated me but I thank them for doing that. I’m glad the committee saw enough in me to warrant my selection.”
McWhorter began his athletic career at Laurel County High School, where he excelled in both football and baseball.
In 1986, he played a key role in winning the 12th Region Championship, and in 1987, was a runner-up under the leadership of KHSBCA Hall of Famer GJ Smith.
After graduating from high school, McWhorter attended Union College, where he continued to play football and baseball for four years.
Following his college career, McWhorter went to North Laurel High School, where he has been coaching both baseball and football for his entire career. He started as an assistant coach under Keith Gilbert in 1993 and has been the Head Coach of the Jaguars since 2001.
Throughout his coaching career, McWhorter has achieved over 500 overall wins, with 416 of them as the head coach. Under his leadership, the Jaguars have won 10 district titles and three region championships his teams have been runners-up in the regional tournament three times.
McWhorter’s coaching success is evident in the number of players he has sent to play at the collegiate level. More than 20 of his players have gone on to play in college, including five Division-1 players.
Currently, McWhorter serves as a region representative for the 13th Region and is entering his 24th year as the head coach at North Laurel.
