Veteran baseball head coach Hank Banner will enter the 2011 season as the only coach in school history to eclipse 300 wins. A year ago, Banner recorded his 300^th win with a victory over Tennessee Wesleyan. Banner's 2010 team reached another milestone that night; the victory gave UVa-Wise its 500^th win in the last 25 seasons. Throughout his tenure, Banner's squads have been known for consistency.  The Cavaliers have posted at least 20 victories in six consecutive seasons.  Over that period, UVa-Wise has posted two 30 win seasons to go along with back to back third places finishes in the NAIA Region XII Tournament.
    Highlighting Banner's tenure are the teams produced during the 2006-2008 seasons.  Over those three seasons the team combined for a 91-59-1 mark (.606).  The 2007 team finished fourth in the AAC regular season, fourth in the conference tournament, and returned the Cavaliers to the NAIA Region XII Tournament for the first time in five years.  The 2007 Cavs' hold the school record for most wins in a season at 32.
    The 15th year head coach notched the most wins in school history when UVa-Wise defeated Alderson-Broaddus on March 21, 2007 by the score of 5-0.  Banner currently stands at 301 victories over 14 seasons, averaging over 21 wins per campaign.
    Banner is a 1992 graduate of UVa-Wise.  While a student, the coach was a four-year member of the Cavaliers' baseball team and started at second base on the 1989 and 1990 conference championship teams.
    His wife, Bridgette, also graduated from UVa-Wise.  The couple and their daughter, Brooke, live in nearby Castlewood, Virginia.