Larry Stocking, an Idaho State University graduate and the former coach who led Ricks College's softball program from infancy to national prominence, enters his second season as the head coach of Idaho State University's softball program, helping to develop a program that was dormant for 24 seasons. Prior to returning to his alma mater, Stocking served as both the head softball coach and Director of Athletics at Lake Land College, a two-year program in Mattoon, Illinois. Stocking helped Idaho State to a 10-win season in their first season in 24 years. Despite not being able to play home games on campus, the Bengals went 7-1 at home, and the team saw tremendous improvbement throughout the season, finishing the year 6-4 in their final 10 games, including an 11-8 win at Utah Valley, the teams' first road win. Overall, Stocking owns a career coaching record of 259-104, a .713 winning percentage. In his two seasons at Lake Land, his teams went 28-14 in 2005 and 29-15 in 2004. In both seasons with the Lakers, they finished with a second place showing in the Collegiate Conference of Illinois, including his first season after the Lakers were selected eighth in the preseason poll. Lake Land also crashed into the NJCAA top 15, the first top 15 ranking in school history. At Lake Land, Stocking also served as Director of Athletics, where he helped establish the Laker Hall of Fame and the Laker Club. He also raised over $240,000 for the college, and constructed new brick dugouts and the softball field during his time there. Prior to Lake Land, Stocking helped start the Ricks College program in Rexburg, Idaho, and he immediately landed the Vikings on the national stage. In their inaugural season, the Vikings went 28-4, including a 14-2 record in the Scenic West Athletic Conference, winning the conference and Region 18 Championships and finishing seventh in the NJCAA. He followed that up with seasons of 42-7 in 1997, 45-9 in 1998, and 47-11 in 1999, winning two more league titles, in 1997 and 1998. Over that span Ricks was a dominating 50-6 in Scenic West games, and the 1998 squad lost to Illinois Central 5-0 in the NJCAA National Championship Game after finishing third nationally the season before. In each of those first four seasons, Stocking earned Scenic West Athletic Conference and Region 18 Coach of the Year honors. Throughout his career, he has coached seven NJCAA All-Americans, and nearly 20 All-Region selections. While he served as the head coach at Ricks from 1996 to the just prior to the 2001 season, Stocking served as a health science instructor at Ricks, and in 1997 he was named the Division of Education's "Instructor of the Year". He also served as an adjunct faculty member in the department of education at Brigham Young University over the same time period. Stocking becomes Idaho State's fourth softball coach all-time, following Ellen Margolis (1976-80), Jo-Ann Garavaglia (1981) and Mary Ann Kluge (1982-83). Along with his coaching acumen, Stocking is an avid athlete, having complete eight marathons in his lifetime, including the 2004 Chicago Marathon. That race marked his first marathon after winning a battle with Hodgkin's disease, which led to his leaving Ricks in 2001. Stocking graduated twice from Idaho State, once in 1992 with a B.S. in Health Education and then again in 1993 with a master's in Education/Health. He also earned two A.A. degrees, in health science and physical education, from Ricks College. He is married, and he and his wife Tawnya have four children: Piper, Parker, Gehrig, and Paige.

Larry Stocking's Coaching Career Year by Year

YearSchoolOverall.PCTConf..PCT
1996Ricks    28-4.87514-2.875
1997Ricks   42-7.85715-1.938
1998Ricks   45-9.83319-1.950
1999Ricks   47-11.81016-4.800
2000Ricks   30-19.61213-11.542
2004Lake Land29-15.659
2005Lake Land28-14.667
2007Idaho State10-32.238
Career259-104.713