SAN DIEGO – San Diego State baseball head coach Shaun Cole announced his first staff hire on Wednesday with the addition of Julius McDougal as assistant coach.
With his appointment, McDougal rekindles his professional association with Cole after their careers intersected as assistant coaches at Eastern Kentucky University in 2019 and 2020.
McDougal arrives on The Mesa after spending the past three seasons as associate head coach at Georgetown University, where he served as the Hoyas' hitting coach and recruiting coordinator. Among his numerous responsibilities, McDougal will also continue those duties with the Aztecs, along with overseeing the team's infield defense.
"I am excited to welcome Julius to the Aztec baseball family," Cole said. "When we started this search, it was my goal to find one of the best recruiters and talent developers in all of college baseball. We have accomplished that and much more in bringing Julius to San Diego State. His work ethic, character, player relationship building, evaluation skills, and ability to connect with players are unparalleled."
During McDougal's tenure at Georgetown, the Hoyas fashioned a dramatic turnaround with back-to-back seasons of 30 victories or more for the first time in program history, highlighted by a pair of Big East tournament appearances, after posting a 6-25 record in 2021.
"I am very excited and honored to join the San Diego State coaching staff and the Aztec baseball community," McDougal said. "I would like to thank Coach Cole, (athletic director) John David Wicker and the rest of the athletic administration for this this opportunity. I can't wait to get started and help the Aztecs win championships."
With McDougal on board, Georgetown was collectively named the Big East Conference Coaching Staff of the Year for the first time in school history following the 2022 campaign after the Hoyas established a program record for victories (32), home runs (98) and total bases (925), while setting second-best team marks in winning percentage (.571 (32-24)), runs scored (400), RBIs (367) and slugging percentage (.480).
That season, McDougal also coached the Hoyas first Big East Freshman of the Year recipient in catcher Owen Carapellotti, who garnered second-team All-America accolades from D1Baseball.com, while infielders Ethan Stern and Jake Hyde were all-Big East selections, earning first- and second-team honors, respectively.
During McDougal's final season on the D.C. campus in 2023, Georgetown compiled a 30-27 record, featuring its first conference tournament victory, and boasted six all-Big East selections, including first-team honorees Michael Eze and Ubaldo Lopez.
Prior to his stint with the Hoyas, McDougal spent three years at Eastern Kentucky from 2018-20, serving as the program's recruiting coordinator, infield coach and assistant hitting coach after joining the Colonels' staff as a volunteer assistant in the summer of 2017.
With McDougal's assistance, EKU posted consecutive 30-win seasons in 2018 and 2019, accomplishing the feat for the first time since the 1999 and 2000 campaigns. The Colonels' 16 conference victories in 2019 were the most for the program since 2013 and he helped direct an offense that ranked among the top 30 nationally in walks, runs, home runs and stolen bases.
A renowned recruiter, McDougal helped assemble the 65th-ranked national recruiting class in 2020, according to Perfect Game. EKU boasted six of the top 20 freshmen in the Ohio Valley Conference, according to PG, which was the most of any school in the league. Between 2018-19, three of McDougal's recruits were selected in the MLB Draft.
In 2020, McDougal helped guide the Colonels a 12-2 mark, including a Friday night upset at No. 11 LSU, before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a team, EKU finished 10th in the nation in on-base percentage (.420), 12th in batting average (.314), 13th in doubles per game (2.43), 14th in slugging percentage (.492), and 15th in scoring (8.4 runs/game).
Individually, McDougal coached a pair of All-Americans in second baseman Daniel Harris IV and catcher A.J. Lewis, as the latter signed a free-agent contract with the Colorado Rockies.
Previously, McDougal spent the 2016 and 2017 campaigns as head coach at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he guided the Tigers to the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) regular-season championship in his first year at the helm. That season, Stillman earned the No. 1 seed at the SIAC tournament and advanced to the finals. In all, he had five players sign pro contracts during his tenure.
Prior to his elevation to head coach, McDougal worked as an assistant at Stillman after serving the same role at Kentucky State for one season in 2014.
McDougal played collegiately at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, earning all-conference honors in 2010 after hitting .416, which was ranked 53rd in the country. In addition, he was named Claflin's Defensive Player of the Year in 2011.
McDougal earned a bachelor of science degree in marketing from Claflin in 2012 before completing his master's degree in business administration at Alabama in 2016.