Tuskegee University Athletics

Wyndal Henry is set to enter into his third season serving as an assistant coach for Tuskegee University Baseball (and fourth season coaching overall after serving as a student assistant in 2010-2011), after earning his bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Pride of the Swift Growing South in May, 2011.  As a student-athlete, Henry was one of the top hitters for the Golden Tigers during his junior season in 2008-2009 in total batting average, hitting .341 in 91 appearances at-bat to go with 25 RBI’s.  During his senior season in 2009-2010, Henry was fourth on the team in total batting average, hitting .303 in 66 appearances at-bat to with 24 RBI’s and three homeruns.  He has also played semi-pro baseball for the Forest Park Braves (Summers of 2005-2006) and the Bessemer Blues (Summers of 2008-2009), a traveling team located just outside of Birmingham. 
 

A lifelong student of the game of baseball, Henry has over 23 years of playing experience on the diamond.  This has helped him develop profound knowledge of the format of the game, along with proper baseball technique and formulation of key strategies that he has taken into his coaching career.  After his athletic eligibility expired at Tuskegee University, Henry began his coaching career at his alma mater just three months later, with the start of the 2010-2011 baseball season as a student assistant coach.  He later was promoted to assistant coach upon earning his degree in 2011.  In the three seasons that Henry has served as an assistant coach or student assistant, he has helped assist TU Baseball to an average of 17 wins per season, which on average is six wins better than the baseball team was averaging during his time playing baseball as an upperclassman (average of 11 wins per season).

 
Henry has helped lead TU baseball to some major accomplishments in the three seasons that he has served as assistant coach and student assistant.  During his first season as student assistant coach under Montressa Kirby, the Golden Tigers earned an overall record of 18-17 in 2011, which signified the first winning season for Tuskegee Baseball in 13 seasons (last winning season was in 1998) and the SIAC Coach of the Year award for Kirby.  After joining full-time the following season, the team endured a rebuilding season in 2012, before the Golden Tigers rallied to earn another 18-win season in 2013.  Tuskegee finished below .500 for the second consecutive year (18-21 overall), but the Golden Tigers achieved a feat that had not been accomplished at the school in 24 years by playing for the SIAC Conference Championship for the first time since 1989.  Henry’s team did this by winning nine out of 12 games down the backstretch of the season to enter into the championship series against eventual conference champion Stillman College.  In the 2013 season, Henry helped coach the SIAC Player of the Year, along with selections to the All-SIAC Team, All-SIAC Tournament Team and All-SIAC Academic Team.

Henry’s duties as assistant baseball coach include planning and directing a physical conditioning program that puts Tuskegee’s student-athletes in an optimal, prime shape to reach their peak performance levels.  He also assists student-athletes away from the diamond, serving as an academic mentor in order to help players achieve top success in the classroom while helping them reach their ultimate goal of a college degree.  Additionally, Henry’s duties include conducting off-season workouts with members of the team, including serving as a position coach for catchers and hitting.  Henry is also responsible for organizing the fall and spring baseball schedules, as well as daily schedules for practice arrangements and purchasing of essential equipment and uniforms for the baseball program on an annual basis, along with film review and recruitment efforts.

 
Henry also serves as a baseball skills trainer to the Auburn, Ala. community, arranging and conducting sport-related activities, such as training camps and skill-specific clinics, which allowed him to develop strategic relationships with community high school baseball programs, and coaches in the area.  Before transferring to Tuskegee as a student-athlete, Henry also coached youth baseball in Atlanta, Ga. in the South Fulton Country Recreation League for the Royals (11-12 year olds) as a volunteer coach.