BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Jiwan James has his first head-coaching opportunity, and it couldn’t come at a better place — the school he’s been at for the past two years.
James, who had been a Union County High School assistant, was named the Tigers’ new head coach, replacing Travis Rimes, who coached UCHS for four years.
“I know what kind of support system I’ll have here,” James said. “I know that the community actually cares about their program. One of the first things I noticed when I got here two years ago was how much the community is behind their sports programs.
“I think I’m in a real good spot here.”
James has been a full-time coach for the past six years, starting out as an assistant at his alma mater, Williston, but he did some coaching before that. During his time playing professionally, he helped Williston during his off season before he’d have to report for spring training. James also got involved with the Naturals travel organization, which was started by Williston alumnus and former professional player Esix Snead.
“He started that in 2008,” said James, who’s now a co-owner of the organization. “He kind of got me into coaching a little bit then.”
1st love put James on road to pro ball
James was a three-sport athlete at Williston, also playing football and basketball, but he said, “Baseball was always my first love. More than likely, it came from my dad and my grandpa. It was also the first organized sport I was able to play.”
Since he played other sports, James said it was easy to escape from the pressures of being a recruited student-athlete. Plus, he made an early commitment, which helped as well.
“Fortunately, I committed to the University of Florida my sophomore year,” he said. “That kind of took a lot of the pressure off. I was able to go out and just play.”
When James made his commitment to Florida official with his letter of intent in November 2006, he was coming off a pair of incredible seasons. As a sophomore, he batted .477 with 28 RBI, while going 9-0 as a pitcher with 48 strikeouts and an ERA of 0.82 in 42 innings. During his junior season, James batted .554 with 28 RBI, while going 3-3 on the mound with four saves, 53 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.75 in 48 innings.
James was a first-team all-state selection both seasons and was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 3A Player of the Year his junior season.
The intent was to honor that commitment. However, Florida Head Coach Pat McMahon and his staff were fired on draft day.
“In the middle of the draft, I found out the whole staff got canned,” James said. “I was like, ‘Now what?’”
James said he did talk to Kevin O’Sullivan, the current UF coach who was hired to replace McMahon, but he just didn’t have the time to build a relationship with him, so he decided to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies organization, which drafted him in the 22nd round.
James was part of the Phillies organization for seven years. A couple of highlights were putting together a 24-game hit streak for the High-A Lakewood (New Jersey) BlueClaws which is still a record for that organization and moving up to the Double-A level to play for the Reading (Pennsylvania) Phillies in 2012.
Though James said he was never one of those players who believed in superstitions, he did stick to a routine throughout the duration of his hitting streak with Lakewood, which occurred in 2010.
“I’m pretty sure I ate the same meal at McDonald’s for three weeks straight,” James said.
Injuries and health issues began taking a toll on James. He had knee surgery, which wiped out most of his 2013 season. When he did return, he experienced a flare-up of his Crohn’s disease, which caused him to miss the remainder of the season.
In November of that same year, he had surgery related to his Crohn’s disease, which kept him out of action until July 2014. Two weeks after his return, the Phillies released him.
James signed with the Detroit organization in 2015. While there, he missed some action again because of Crohn’s disease. Detroit released him at the end of spring training in 2016.
He played for a couple of independent organizations, but during his first week of play after signing with one, he was hit by a pitch, which fractured his ankle. That put him out for two months. James was released shortly thereafter.
Because he had been in a walking boot for seven to eight weeks, James said he was having problems with his sciatic nerve, which affected his play, which ended with a stint in the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball.
“I pretty much played the last two months in Canada kind of one-legged almost,” James said. “The biggest part of my game was speed. That was one of the most important parts of my game. Not being able to play to my strength kind of hurt me a bit.”
In looking back on it, James said he enjoyed everything that came with playing pro ball — even the 7:30 a.m. sessions in the weight room, the bus rides to games and trying to find somewhere to eat at 11:30 p.m. after games.
“It was a great experience,” James said. “Anybody who loves the game and who had the chance to play professionally, more than likely they loved it.”
Coaching the Tigers
James was no stranger to some of the players when he joined the UCHS staff as an assistant. He was familiar with many of the seniors the last two seasons from coaching in the Naturals organization.
“I had relationships built over the last 10 years,” James said. “The last two classes that graduated played a big part in me coming to Union County. I said when they were 9 and 10 years old that Union was going to be a problem (for other teams) in such and such years when those guys got into high school.
“They didn’t get the state championship, but they had a lot of success in their high-school years. It wasn’t by accident. There was a lot of talent.”
James said returning players won’t experience much difference in the program with him as the new head coach.
“I don’t plan on making any huge changes. It’s more of just being a different voice,” James said, adding, “I was on the staff the last two years, so (players) kind of know already what to expect.”
James said describes himself as a laid-back coach, but said he’ll get fired up if the need arises.
“When I do speak up, (players) better be listening,” he said, while also adding, “As long as these boys are working hard and playing hard, I’m real easy to play for, and then it’ll be a lot of fun.”
Coaching consists of more than helping players improve on the fundamentals of the game and making in-game decisions. For example, James said one of the things he learned from Rimes and his staff was how important it is for a coach of a small-town school to build relationships in the community.
James also knows that high-school coaches should help set up student-athletes for success in life.
“I think being in a position where you can help young men grow into their adulthood is kind of one of the most important things,” James said. “Your high-school years are pretty much your most important years as far as going into the real world. I was telling somebody the other day, if I can just be like one screw in their springboards, sending them off into the adult world to be successful, then I’ll feel like I did my part.”
Winning games, of course, is the goal, but James said if you put the record aside, what would make a successful season is one in which players experience growth — on the field and in the classroom. Players should improve from the start of the season to its end.
As a coach, James said it’s his job to make sure the players see the improvement within themselves by having conversations with them throughout the season, perhaps saying, “You may not see it, but I’m letting you know to keep doing what you’re doing. Everything will work out.”
“You’ve got to be able to talk to the kids on the side, one on one, instead of it always being a group conversation,” James said, adding, “Let them know that you do care about them and that you are paying attention.”
Basically, it’s all about creating a foundation that will factor into the number of wins and losses.
“If we do everything right, the record will take care of itself,” James said.
