Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2013
- Class:
- 1971
Gene Depew retired following the 2012 baseball season after coaching at his alma mater for more than 40 years, including the final 31 as head baseball coach. One of the longest-tenured coaches in Bucknell history in any sport, Depew won 591 games, more than five times the amount of any other Bison baseball coach. The Bison were especially successful over his last 17 years, finishing either first or second in the Patriot League eight times, including six regular-season titles and five Patriot League Tournament crowns. Depew guided Bucknell to five NCAA Tournament appearances over that span, highlighted by a memorable 7-0 victory over fourth-ranked Florida State in 2008.
As an undergraduate, Depew was a standout football player for the Bison after coming in from Mifflintown, Pa. He was a three-year letterwinner, earned All-Middle Atlantic Conference Honorable Mention in 1969, and served as co-captain of the team his senior year. Following graduation, Depew returned to Bucknell to coach the defensive line, and he would remain an assistant football coach until 1992. He was first introduced to the baseball program in 1974, when he was hired as an assistant coach under Hall-of-Famer Tommy Thompson. Prior to the 1982 baseball season, Depew was chosen to succeed Thompson as head baseball coach. He won the Patriot League Coach of the Year award four times (1993, 1996, 2003, 2009), had four Patriot League Pitchers of the Year, four Players of the Year and two Rookies of the Year.
Depew was so well-respected by his former players that in 2003 the Bucknell varsity baseball field was renamed Eugene B. Depew Field in his honor.
