The rise to prominence of the ISU baseball program can be attributed, in part, to veteran coach Bob Warn who is one of six Sycamore legends who will be inducted into the 20th Class of the Indiana State University Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday. The event is sponsored by Old National Bank.
Three coaches who guided Sycamore teams to numerous post-season appearances and three athletes who consistently competed on the national level were selected for induction into the 20th Class including Crowder (Wayton), Jack Effner, Aubrey Herring, Fran McCann, Dennis Raetz, and Warn.
The induction ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 13, in the Heritage Ballroom of the Tirey Hall on the campus of Indiana State University. The six inductees will also be recognized during halftime of the Indiana State Homecoming football game on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The Sycamores will take on Western Illinois starting at 3:00 p.m.
Warn spent 31 seasons as the head coach of the Indiana State baseball team, leading the Sycamores to six Missouri Valley Conference championships, six NCAA Tournament appearances, and a College World Series appearance while compiling a record of 1,079-745-9 (.587).
A total of 126 players were recognized as All-Missouri Valley Conference during his tenure along with 72 players named to the All-MVC Tournament teams, four named MVC Tournament MVP, 97 players being named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete team, 90 players advancing to the professional ranks including 21 in the Major Leagues, 11 players were named All-Americans, and 30 players earned All-Region recognition.
His teams won six Missouri Valley Conference Championships (1979, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1989, and 1995) while posting a 50-40 conference tournament record. The Sycamores played in the NCAA Tournament seven times with the 1986 squad defeating Michigan and Central Michigan to win the Mideast Regional and play in the College World Series.
Warn also led the 1997 team to the Dutch Baseball Federation Championship.
Warn played collegiately at Southern Illinois University where the Salukis advanced to the 1968 College World Series. He began his coaching career as a player-coach with the U.S. Army at Fort Polk, La. Warn returned to the college ranks as a graduate assistant at Eastern Illinois and as the junior varsity coach at Western Illinois before becoming the head coach at Iowa Western where his teams were 104-38 in three seasons.
He has served as president of the American Baseball Coaches' Association (1997) and is currently on the Board of Directors. He also was on the committee that wrote the official Code of Ethics for Amateur Baseball.
Warn was honored by Indiana State University in 2009 when the ISU Board of Trustees unanimously approved the renaming of the baseball field to Bob Warn Field on Feb. 27.
He is an accomplished singer and musician, helping with numerous fund raising efforts in the Wabash Valley since his retirement as the Sycamore coach. He has also co-authored several books on coaching baseball fundamentals.
His 1986 baseball team was inducted into the Indiana State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002. Warn joins 10 players and five former baseball coaches with his induction into the 20th Class including Birch Bayh (1998), Arthur Strum (1982), Wally Marks (1982), Paul Wolf (1986), and John Wooden (1984).
- Head coach of Sycamores for 31 seasons, posting a 1,070-745-9 record
- Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year (1979, 1983, 1984)
- Indiana Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (1990),
- Iowa Western College Hall of Fame (2000),
- American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2003)
- Ranks top 30 all-time in wins among of Division I coaches
- MVC Tournament champions (1979, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1995)
- NCAA Tournament ( 1979, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1995)
- Mideast Regional Champion (1986)
- College World Series (1986)
- During his tenure: 11 All-Americans, 30 All-Region, 126 All-MVC, 72 All-MVC Tournament, four MVC Tournament MVP, 97 All-Academic, and 90 professional ranks, 21 in Major Leagues,
- 1986 team inducted into ISU Athletics Hall of Fame (2002)
- President of the American Baseball Coaches' Association (1997)
- Career head coaching record of 1,174-783-9 in 34 seasons
- Inducted into Hall of Fame October 13, 2011
