Jim Deckinger

As a coach at Southeast High School and Bishop Carroll Catholic High School, Jim Deckinger won ten Greater Wichita Athletic League titles, five state championships and was named GWAL coach of the year 11 times.  

From 1976 to 1978, his Southeast teams were 57-2 and won state championships in 1976 and 1978. The 1978 Buffaloes were the only undefeated team (23-0) in Kansas Class 5-4-3A history and were named mythical national champion by Collegiate Baseball magazine.  They outscored their opposition 155-25.

All seven seniors on the 1978 received college scholarships.  These included Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame member Jim Thomas (Wichita State) and Kevin Clinton (University of Kansas) who is the son of the late Lou Clinton, also a member of the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame.

Deckinger also coached at the collegiate level, at Friends University in Wichita, where he was named KCAC coach of the year in 1988.  

In 1997, Deckinger was named Kansas High School Coach of the Year and in 1998 was honored with a lifetime achievement award, presented by the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches.