Don Rhoton compiled an amazing 669-268 record during his 18 years as head baseball coach for Motlow State Community College from 1989-2006. Rhoton, currently the athletic director at Franklin County High School, will be inducted into the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association Hall of Fame on Friday, Jan. 13, at Nisbett Center on Motlow’s Moore County campus.
Former Motlow State Community College head baseball coach and athletic director Don Rhoton will be inducted into the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) Hall of Fame on Friday, Jan. 13, at Nisbett Center on Motlow’s Moore County campus.
The ceremony will be held at halftime of the women’s basketball contest between the Motlow Lady Bucks and visiting Walters State. Both teams are nationally ranked and the winner will be in sole possession of first place in the TCCAA standings. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., with the men’s game to follow.
“We are extremely proud to welcome Coach Rhoton back to Motlow and to see him finally receive this honor of being inducted into the TCCAA Hall of Fame,” said Scott Shasteen, athletics director at Motlow. “Don built a baseball powerhouse here and helped change the lives of hundreds of young men. We invite all of his former players and those who have followed his successful career to come out and support him on this memorable night.”
Rhoton was the head coach of the Motlow baseball program during its most successful stretch. From 1989 until 2006, Rhoton’s teams won 669 games while losing only 268. He also served as Motlow’s athletic director from 1995-2006.
His teams won TCCAA/Region VII championships in 1998 and 2000, and finished as the national tournament runner-up in 2000, falling to San Jacinto, Texas in the national championship game. The 2000 team posted a school-best 57-13 record and recorded a program record 17-game winning streak.
Rhoton was named the TCCAA Coach of the Year three times, and his teams won seven consecutive Eastern Division titles from 1994-2000. Sixteen of his former players made it to the professional ranks, including current San Francisco Giants pitcher Bryan Morris. During Rhoton’s 18 years at Motlow, he coached 114 players who continued their careers as student-athletes at four-year institutions.
Prior to his career at Motlow, Rhoton coached the Franklin County High School baseball team for 11 years, compiling a 213-97 record and winning five district titles and two region championships. He is currently the athletic director at Franklin County High School in Winchester.
Rhoton joins three other members of the Motlow State athletics family who have been inducted into the TCCAA Hall of Fame. Joe Daves started the men’s basketball program and coached it for nine years from 1969-78, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987. Carr McCalla, former Motlow men’s basketball head coach and athletics director, was inducted in 1998, and former Bucks baseball player and professional baseball player David Weathers was inducted last January.
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