HALL OF FAME FEATURE: Adam Higgins '11

Adam Higgins ’11 journey to Averett University baseball stardom nearly never happened. The native of Quinton, Virginia, wasn’t being heavily recruited by anyone, so he was planning to attend Virginia Commonwealth University to solely focus on academics. That changed when an Averett baseball alumnus tipped off the Cougars’ coaching staff, who invited Higgins to campus for a visit. Ultimately, that connection altered Higgins path to one that has now landed him in the Averett Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2023.

Former Averett baseball assistant coach George Fisher remembered hearing about Higgins from former Cougar Ryan Ansama, who was at the time coaching high school in the Bay Rivers District and had seen Higgins play. Fisher followed up on the recruiting trail and was impressed with Higgins raw talent — especially his speed.

With Higgins not on other schools’ radar, Fisher and then-head coach Ed Fulton invited Higgins to visit Averett.

“My original plan was to go to VCU and not play and just go to school” Higgins said. “Then Fish reached out to me, and my parents were just like go tour. So I went down and met with Fulton and thought, ‘Yeah, I reckon I’ll play.'”

An outfielder with a decent arm, blazing speed and “sneaky pop,” Fulton and Fisher knew if they could work on Higgins’ approach at the plate, they had someone capable of setting the table for their lineup. Luckily, Fulton said, Higgins didn’t have a lot of bad habits to break.

“When he first got here he didn’t do anything right with a bat,” Fulton said. “We had to teach him how to hit. He was the perfect guy you want to get because he hadn’t been taught a whole lot or messed with, so for us it was like a blank piece of paper and we could get started with him and go.”

With Higgins’ speed, Fulton and Fisher knew that Higgins would be a great option as a leadoff hitter for their lineup.

“Having a tool like that and having the ability to run was something that we needed,” Fisher said. “We knew we could develop his hitting because he was still raw as a hitter. He was raw at the time but that’s what we did, we developed guys and their skill set.”

Fulton recalled that in Higgins first year, they spent at least one day a week teaching Higgins how to bunt.

“He eventually learned how to be a pretty good hitter,” Fulton said. “He took his walks, he didn’t strike out a whole lot and he put balls in play like we taught him to.”  

As a freshman, Higgins started 36 games and batted .359 with 52 hits, seven doubles and 28 runs scored while earning USA South All-Conference Second Team honors. Still, his coaches believed Higgins wasn’t aggressive enough on the base paths given his speed. He only stole nine bases on 12 attempts in his first season.

During his sophomore season in 2009, Higgins batted .345 over 35 games with 34 runs scored, 49 hits, seven doubles and two home runs — including his first career homer in walk-off fashion against a Christopher Newport University team that ended up being ranked in the top 10 nationally the following week. He had 15 steals that season, but the coaches thought he could improve even more in that area.

When Higgins first got to Averett, as much as Fulton wanted to let him go on the base path, he couldn’t because Higgins was still learning the game and had so much to learn. But by now, Fulton felt Higgins was ready.

“We got to the point eventually where we knew he should be terrorizing the league and we were like ‘Why aren’t you running? You’ve got speed. Use it,’” Fulton said.

Higgins began to trust himself and his coaches. It paid dividends. As a junior, he hit .407 with 62 runs scored, 72 hits, 12 doubles, four triples, three home runs, 30 RBIs and 37 steals —all career-highs. Higgins marks for runs scored, hits and steals that season are also all program single-season records. With the offense to match his stellar defense in center field, Higgins was rewarded with USA South All-Conference First Team honors and Second Team accolades from the Virginia Sports Information Directors.

As a senior in 2011, Higgins continued his dominance. In 38 games, he batted .366 in 38 games with 45 runs scored, 52 hits, 11 doubles, four triples, one homer, 19 runs batted in and 30 stolen bases on 33 attempts Again, Higgins earned USA South First Team recognition while also being named to the All-South Region Third Team.

When the dust settled on his four-year career at Averett, Higgins finished with a career batting average of .371 with 169 runs, 225 hits, 37 doubles, eight triples, six homers, 67 RBIs and 91 stolen bases in 150 games. His numbers rank first at Averett in hits, runs scored, stolen bases and total bases, as well as third all-time in average. He also holds the single-season marks for at-bats, runs scored and steals, along with a share of the single-game marks for runs scored and stolen bases.

“It’s funny,” Higgins said. “I honestly didn’t know that I held that many records until I saw it printed.”

Fisher believes Higgins is one of the best leadoff guys the program has seen in its nearly 30-year existence.

“The numbers speak for themselves,” Fisher said. “He still holds a large chunk of the program records. He ranks up there as one of the best players in program history, and his abilities also rank up there.”

Higgins impact in the lineup was crucial to Averett’s success during his time in Danville.

“Higgy led the charge with his group,” Fulton said. “We liked to run, we liked to go first and third and he was the catalyst on a lot of that.”

Higgins says Fulton had the biggest impact on him and his career at Averett, especially since he was not originally planning to play in college.

“Ed would turn you into a man or you wouldn’t make it,” Higgins joked. 

Being a part of the Averett family is still impacting Higgins today. Even though his baseball career ended 12 years ago, he still finds himself on the diamond playing softball with or against some other Averett alumni at times when he isn't working for Waste Management as a gas operations supervisor while residing near Richmond. 

Now he’ll join the elite list of Averett baseball alumni in the Averett Athletics Hall of Fame, which will induct its newest class during Homecoming on Oct. 14.