ONE OF OUR OWN
7/27/2026 9:30:00 AM | Baseball, "B" Association, Athletic News
Former baseball player will head up 'B' Association
More than the wins and losses, the exhilarating highs and deflating lows – three NCAA regionals and a loss to Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship final – Paul Thorp remembers the brotherhood and lifelong relationships he formed on the Baylor baseball team from 1999 to 2002.
"Some of the guys that I played with are still some of my best friends today," said Thorp, who is moving across campus from the Baylor Alumni Sports Outreach department to head up the "B" Association letterwinners group as Executive Director.
"You can't put a price tag on that. And it's not just baseball, it's across all the sports. There's just a special bond between teammates."
After 13 years on the university side, building connections with alumni through various events and programming, the 45-year-old Thorp is now tasked with making those same kinds of connections with letterwinners from Baylor's 19 intercollegiate sports.
"The 'B' Association has such a proud history of serving our letterwinners," Baylor Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Doug McNamee said. "It was only fitting that we fill the leadership chair with someone who has both worn the green & gold and spent more than a decade serving Baylor alumni in a previous capacity. I'm excited to have Paul and his new vision for how we best connect with letterwinners on our team."
Thorp fills the leadership void within the "B" Association that was created when David Wetzel returned to coaching five months ago as the head coach at Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano. A former football letterman, Wetzel was in that role for two years after working with the Baylor football staff for seven seasons.
"I think it's a lot of the same relationships," Thorp said. "Getting out and hearing people's stories . . . being able to touch the masses and take Baylor out to communities around the country is a must, really. Whether it's internal at Baylor or external constituents, I think knowing the Baylor landscape, knowing what's out there, is a huge advantage."
Planning and working on events like the Texas Tours and Lunch with a Legend, Thorp worked alongside Wetzel and former "B" Association Executive Director Walter Abercrombie.
"Having an idea of what I'm stepping into is a huge advantage," Thorp said.
This is a full-circle moment for Thorp, who came to Baylor as a baseball pitcher in the fall of 1999 out of Carrollton Newman Smith High School.
After initially signing with North Central Texas College in Gainesville as an infielder, he caught the attention of college scouts as a pitcher in a summer league state tournament game in Dallas.
"I threw a complete game, and I think we lost something like 1-0 or 2-0," Paul said. "Mitch Thompson was there, and the Texas A&M pitching coach (Jim Lawler) was there. And Thompy liked what he saw. It was kind of a whirlwind after that. I was getting calls from all over the country – LSU and all these different people that wanted me to come play. That was kind of a shock to me, because I hadn't had that much interest before that."
Returning from a quick one-day tour of both Baylor and A&M, Paul said he was a little overwhelmed and told his dad that he was going to stick with his decision to go to North Central.
"I got the catcher and first baseman from our team to sign with (North Central), and then I got two or three guys from my summer team to sign with them," Paul said. "I told my dad, 'My boys are going to North Central, and that's kind of what I'm thinking.' My dad told me to sleep on it, but he said, 'I really think Baylor is your choice.'''
The Aggies were coming off a College World Series appearance in 1999, while the NCTC team that Paul helped build won the Junior College World Series in 2001. Behind National Player of the Year Jason Jennings, Baylor was one game away from Omaha, losing to Oklahoma State in the 1999 Waco Super Regional.
"God works in mysterious ways," Paul said. "He put that opportunity (to go to Baylor) in front of me, and I don't know that I could have chosen any better. Even today, the way that the school has shaped me, and I'm still there giving back to the school. Coach Thompson and Coach (Hoot) Johnigan and Coach (Steve) Smith, they played a big part in shaping me into the man I am today."
With Chad Hawkins and Kyle Evans as the Nos. 1 and 2 pitchers and future Baylor Hall of Famer Zane Carlson locking down the closer role, Paul made only 10 appearances as a freshman on the 2000 team that won 45 games and hosted the Waco Regional.
"Of course, I'm 19 years old, full of myself, thinking I should have played more," Paul said. "Especially coming from high school, where I played shortstop and was in the lineup every day. And I'm like, 'This is not for me.' But I'll give it to Steve Smith, he told me, 'Go away this summer, you're going to get to pitch a lot.' I went off and had a great summer in Harrisburg, Virginia, and really learned how to pitch."
In three years combined, Paul was 8-4 with five saves, a 4.02 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 137 innings with the Bears, becoming one of their most reliable arms out of the bullpen.
Although he lasted until the 31st round of the 2002 MLB Draft, Paul was taken by the New York Yankees after his junior season at Baylor and ended up getting the money that he was slotted to get and asked for as a potential pick in the first five rounds.
"They knew what I wanted, and I wasn't going to take any less," he said. "They offered me several times as I was driving up to the Cape Cod League, and I finally got what I wanted."
After signing his pro contract on July 1, Paul gave up two earned runs in 5.0 innings for Staten Island the very next day before having to undergo Tommy John surgery on July 22.
"I rehabbed the end of that first year into spring training the next year and never had any issues. I was never on the DL," he said.
Making it as far as Double A Trenton, Paul earned three all-star game nods and was named to two postseason all-star teams in a six-year pro career, compiling a 9-15 record with a 2.66 ERA and 67 saves. His final season was in 2008 with the Lancaster Barnstormers in the independent Atlantic League in Pennsylvania.
Returning to school, he finished his undergrad degree in business administration and management in December 2009 and also met his wife, Laurinda.
"I kept calling and calling teams and everybody was full," Paul said. "I was 28 years old at the time, and I was kind of at a fork in the road. And I said, 'You know what, I'm just going to take some summer classes and finish in the fall and be done.' I came in the fall of '99 and finished in the fall of 2009. It took me 10 years, but I was on the Big 12 Commissioner's list that fall."
With what he described as a "slim job market," Paul sold insurance for three years before starting at Baylor in August 2013 as Coordinator of Sports Network. He was promoted to Assistant Director two years later and has been Director of Alumni Sports Outreach since March 2020.
Senior Director Doug Fertsch, a former BU football player and assistant coach, helped mentor and bring Paul along for the last 13 years.
"If there's a word bigger than mentor, that's what Doug has been to me," Paul said. "He's a guy that just knows everybody. The relationships and the people he introduced me to, he's been very instrumental in helping me. And we've been together for almost 13 years. Along with Tessa (Jamerson), we've been through a lot of change, a lot of adversity, but we persevered. We kept our heads down, did our work and kept showing Baylor in the best light we could."
While everything with the "B" Association is "up to be looked at and questioned," Paul said his goal is to develop the same kind of brotherhood he had with his Baylor baseball teammates.
"In my mind, whether you're on the football team or the equestrian team, you're still an athlete at Baylor," he said. "You still belong to this small, special group. You've made it, you're here."
"Some of the guys that I played with are still some of my best friends today," said Thorp, who is moving across campus from the Baylor Alumni Sports Outreach department to head up the "B" Association letterwinners group as Executive Director."You can't put a price tag on that. And it's not just baseball, it's across all the sports. There's just a special bond between teammates."
After 13 years on the university side, building connections with alumni through various events and programming, the 45-year-old Thorp is now tasked with making those same kinds of connections with letterwinners from Baylor's 19 intercollegiate sports.
"The 'B' Association has such a proud history of serving our letterwinners," Baylor Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Doug McNamee said. "It was only fitting that we fill the leadership chair with someone who has both worn the green & gold and spent more than a decade serving Baylor alumni in a previous capacity. I'm excited to have Paul and his new vision for how we best connect with letterwinners on our team."
Thorp fills the leadership void within the "B" Association that was created when David Wetzel returned to coaching five months ago as the head coach at Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano. A former football letterman, Wetzel was in that role for two years after working with the Baylor football staff for seven seasons.
"I think it's a lot of the same relationships," Thorp said. "Getting out and hearing people's stories . . . being able to touch the masses and take Baylor out to communities around the country is a must, really. Whether it's internal at Baylor or external constituents, I think knowing the Baylor landscape, knowing what's out there, is a huge advantage."
Planning and working on events like the Texas Tours and Lunch with a Legend, Thorp worked alongside Wetzel and former "B" Association Executive Director Walter Abercrombie.
"Having an idea of what I'm stepping into is a huge advantage," Thorp said.
This is a full-circle moment for Thorp, who came to Baylor as a baseball pitcher in the fall of 1999 out of Carrollton Newman Smith High School.
After initially signing with North Central Texas College in Gainesville as an infielder, he caught the attention of college scouts as a pitcher in a summer league state tournament game in Dallas.
"I threw a complete game, and I think we lost something like 1-0 or 2-0," Paul said. "Mitch Thompson was there, and the Texas A&M pitching coach (Jim Lawler) was there. And Thompy liked what he saw. It was kind of a whirlwind after that. I was getting calls from all over the country – LSU and all these different people that wanted me to come play. That was kind of a shock to me, because I hadn't had that much interest before that."
Returning from a quick one-day tour of both Baylor and A&M, Paul said he was a little overwhelmed and told his dad that he was going to stick with his decision to go to North Central.
"I got the catcher and first baseman from our team to sign with (North Central), and then I got two or three guys from my summer team to sign with them," Paul said. "I told my dad, 'My boys are going to North Central, and that's kind of what I'm thinking.' My dad told me to sleep on it, but he said, 'I really think Baylor is your choice.'''
The Aggies were coming off a College World Series appearance in 1999, while the NCTC team that Paul helped build won the Junior College World Series in 2001. Behind National Player of the Year Jason Jennings, Baylor was one game away from Omaha, losing to Oklahoma State in the 1999 Waco Super Regional.
"God works in mysterious ways," Paul said. "He put that opportunity (to go to Baylor) in front of me, and I don't know that I could have chosen any better. Even today, the way that the school has shaped me, and I'm still there giving back to the school. Coach Thompson and Coach (Hoot) Johnigan and Coach (Steve) Smith, they played a big part in shaping me into the man I am today."
With Chad Hawkins and Kyle Evans as the Nos. 1 and 2 pitchers and future Baylor Hall of Famer Zane Carlson locking down the closer role, Paul made only 10 appearances as a freshman on the 2000 team that won 45 games and hosted the Waco Regional.
"Of course, I'm 19 years old, full of myself, thinking I should have played more," Paul said. "Especially coming from high school, where I played shortstop and was in the lineup every day. And I'm like, 'This is not for me.' But I'll give it to Steve Smith, he told me, 'Go away this summer, you're going to get to pitch a lot.' I went off and had a great summer in Harrisburg, Virginia, and really learned how to pitch."
In three years combined, Paul was 8-4 with five saves, a 4.02 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 137 innings with the Bears, becoming one of their most reliable arms out of the bullpen.
Although he lasted until the 31st round of the 2002 MLB Draft, Paul was taken by the New York Yankees after his junior season at Baylor and ended up getting the money that he was slotted to get and asked for as a potential pick in the first five rounds.
"They knew what I wanted, and I wasn't going to take any less," he said. "They offered me several times as I was driving up to the Cape Cod League, and I finally got what I wanted."
After signing his pro contract on July 1, Paul gave up two earned runs in 5.0 innings for Staten Island the very next day before having to undergo Tommy John surgery on July 22.
"I rehabbed the end of that first year into spring training the next year and never had any issues. I was never on the DL," he said.
Making it as far as Double A Trenton, Paul earned three all-star game nods and was named to two postseason all-star teams in a six-year pro career, compiling a 9-15 record with a 2.66 ERA and 67 saves. His final season was in 2008 with the Lancaster Barnstormers in the independent Atlantic League in Pennsylvania.
Returning to school, he finished his undergrad degree in business administration and management in December 2009 and also met his wife, Laurinda.
"I kept calling and calling teams and everybody was full," Paul said. "I was 28 years old at the time, and I was kind of at a fork in the road. And I said, 'You know what, I'm just going to take some summer classes and finish in the fall and be done.' I came in the fall of '99 and finished in the fall of 2009. It took me 10 years, but I was on the Big 12 Commissioner's list that fall."With what he described as a "slim job market," Paul sold insurance for three years before starting at Baylor in August 2013 as Coordinator of Sports Network. He was promoted to Assistant Director two years later and has been Director of Alumni Sports Outreach since March 2020.
Senior Director Doug Fertsch, a former BU football player and assistant coach, helped mentor and bring Paul along for the last 13 years.
"If there's a word bigger than mentor, that's what Doug has been to me," Paul said. "He's a guy that just knows everybody. The relationships and the people he introduced me to, he's been very instrumental in helping me. And we've been together for almost 13 years. Along with Tessa (Jamerson), we've been through a lot of change, a lot of adversity, but we persevered. We kept our heads down, did our work and kept showing Baylor in the best light we could."
While everything with the "B" Association is "up to be looked at and questioned," Paul said his goal is to develop the same kind of brotherhood he had with his Baylor baseball teammates.
"In my mind, whether you're on the football team or the equestrian team, you're still an athlete at Baylor," he said. "You still belong to this small, special group. You've made it, you're here."
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