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Co-Lin Athletic Alumni Association to induct four into Sports Hall of Fame
WESSON – The Copiah-Lincoln Community College Athletic Alumni Association will induct four members into the Sports Hall of Fame during Homecoming festivities on Thursday, Oct. 28.
This year’s class includes Jason Kinchen of Greenwell Springs, Louisiana; Josh McNulty of Magee; Rebecca Rousseau of Bowling Green, Kentucky; and Kenneth Walley of Ridgeland. The four will be inducted during the Alumni Association Awards Reception at 3:30 p.m. in the Thames Conference Center on the Wesson Campus.
Jason Kinchen
Kinchen is a 1995 graduate of Co-Lin where he was a member of the Wolf Pack baseball team. As a walk-on his freshman season, Kinchen hit four homeruns and went on to earn a scholarship to play for the team. During his sophomore season, Kinchen hit eight homeruns and batted mid-370. The 1995 team earned a school record for most wins that season (a record that has since been broken). While at Co-Lin, he was named All-State and All-Region.
After Co-Lin, Kinchen attended Brewton Parker College where he was a member of the baseball team. During the 1996 season, Kinchen was named 1st Team All-American, hit 15 homeruns, and batted over 400. In 1997, he was named 1st Team All-American and national player of the year and the team earned a national championship title. Kinchen graduated from Brewton Parker in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology.
Kinchen went on to play professional baseball for seven years. He played for the Lafayette Leopards for the 1997 and 1998 seasons and was named All-Star and League MVP in 1998. In 1999, he played for the Richmond Roosters and was also named an All-State that year. In 2000, he joined the New York Yankees playing for the Staten Island Yankees and won a Low A. League Championship that year. In 2001, he played for the Greensboro Bats in the South Atlantic League where he was an All-Star selection, and the Tampa Yankees in the Florida State League where he won a co-league championship. In 2002, he played for the Norwich Navigators in the New York Yankees Eastern League where he won a league championship. In 2004, Kinchen joined the Joliet Jackhammers Northern League, but was traded mid-season to the Fargo-Moorehead Redhawks where the team won an Indy ball league championship.
Following his professional career, Kinchen became an assistant coach at Central Private School where the team won three state championships during four years. He became head coach and the team went on to win another three state championships in eight years. Kinchen was named head coach and athletic director for St. John High School in Plaquemine, Louisiana in 2018, where he was named district coach of the year and the team won a district championship and were state runners-up. As a head coach, Kinchen had over 275 wins in 10 years, with 10 district championships, 1 state runner-up, and three state championships.
Kinchen started a travel baseball organization in 2006 until 2015 called JackHammer Baseball and had over 90 tournament wins and 10 world series wins. He recently brought back the organization in 2021 to coach his son. Kinchen left full-time coaching in 2019 and became park director for West Feliciana Parish Parks and Recreation. He and his wife Nicole have two children, Kane and Kennedy.
Josh McNulty
McNulty is a 2000 graduate of Co-Lin where he was a member of the Wolf Pack baseball team. While at Co-Lin, he set two school records for doubles and RBI’s and was second in homeruns. He was also named All-Region and All-State.
After Co-Lin, McNulty attended William Carey University where he was a member of the baseball team. While at William Carey, he was named All-Conference and led the team in batting average, doubles, and RBI’s. He went on to play independent professional baseball in the Southeastern Baseball League for the Montgomery Wings, where he led the league in batting. In 2002, he signed with the Seattle Mariners and played through the 2003 season.
McNulty currently serves as president of Apex Physical Therapy. He has served on the Simpson County Board of Economic Development and is a volunteer coach at Simpson Academy. He and his wife Keely have three children, Sly, Elle, and Monroe.
Rebecca Rousseau
Rousseau is a 2009 graduate of Co-Lin where she was a member of the Lady Wolves softball team. While at Co-Lin, she was named 1st Team All-Region, 1st Team All-State, and the team won back-to-back state championships. The 2008 the team also won the regional championship and finished national runners-up. In 2008, Rousseau logged 45 innings with a 4-2 record, while saving five games with 49 strikeouts and only 15 walks. She had a .341 batting average with 20 RBI and 20 runs scored. As team captain in 2009, Rousseau led the way with a 19-5 record with a 1.91 ERA, while recording four saves. She struck out 144, only issuing 29 walks in 150 innings pitched. She hit for a .368 average, with 21 runs scored and 22 RBI.
After Co-Lin, Rousseau attended Belhaven University where she was a member of the softball team. In 2010, the team was the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Regular Season Champion and earned a sixth-place finish in the NAIA National Championship Tournament. In the 2011 season, the team earned a third-place finish in the NAIA National Championship Tournament. Rousseau graduated from Belhaven in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in sports administration and a master’s degree in leadership in 2013.
Rousseau participated in the American International Sports Tours (AIST) softball tournament in Prague where she pitched against the Czech National Team, Czech Republic, USA Team, and Austrian National Team and finished third place in the tournament. Rousseau has spent many years coaching and leading softball clinics and has served as an assistant coach at Ball State University and Morehead State University. Most recently, Rousseau has coached at Greenwood High School, where she was an assistant coach for two years and then named head coach.
Since 2016, Rousseau has been a prep/production manager at BlueCotton in Bowling Green, Kentucky. She and her husband Marq Moran have two children, Aiden and Ryleigh.
Kenneth Walley
Walley is a 1968 graduate of Co-Lin where he was a member of the Wolf Pack basketball and track and field teams. While at Co-Lin, he was a member of the state champion 440-yard relay team and member of the 1967 State Track Championship Team. He received honorable mention All-State in basketball and was co-captain of the basketball team. Walley was also freshman class president, president of the Baptist Student Union and French Club, vice president of the Student Government Association, a member of Phi Theta Kappa, and sports editor of the Trillium. He was selected to the Hall of Fame and Who’s Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges.
After Co-Lin, Walley attended Mississippi College where he earned a bachelor’s degree. He went on to receive a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Tennessee and a master’s of science in orthodontics from St. Louis University. He opened his orthodontic practice in Jackson in 1980 and expanded to a second office in Madison in 1997. In addition to working in private practice, Walley has served as a clinical professor of orthodontics at the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry for more than 34 years.
Walley was honored as Co-Lin’s Alumnus of the Year in 1988 and served on the Foundation’s Board of Directors for many years. He served as past president of the Co-Lin Alumni Association and Athletic Alumni Association and is a member of the Foundation Hall of Fame in recognition of his gifts to the college. Walley has also served as president of the Mississippi Association of Orthodontics and the Orthodontic Education and Research Foundation and is a member of the American and Southern Association of Orthodontics.
Walley is a member of First Baptist Church in Madison where he is a Sunday School teacher. He and his wife Rebecca have two children, Kenneth Jr. and Richard, and two grandchildren.
Admission to the Alumni Awards Reception is free. Kickoff for the Homecoming game against Jones College is at 6:30 p.m. For more information on Homecoming events, visit www.colin.edu.
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