The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Hall of Honor
- Induction:
- 2023
The Texas Baseball record holder for career hits, doubles and runs batted in, David Denny put together one of the most accomplished hitting careers in program history from 1982-85. Denny racked up hit after hit, helping lead the Longhorns to four-straight College World Series appearances and the 1983 National Championship. His 296 total hits, 78 doubles and 228 RBI have stood as Texas records for nearly 40 years while countless other All-Americans and program greats have suited up in the Burnt Orange during that time. Denny played in 244 career games and stepped into the batter’s box for 886 total at-bats, both the second-most ever at UT. He also ranks first in school history with 25 sacrifice flies, second with 451 total bases, third with 108 extra-base hits, and fourth with 205 career runs scored. Despite battling injuries through his first two seasons at Texas, Denny still played in an integral role on the 1982 team that won 59 games and finished third in the nation, and the 1983 team that won a school-record 66 games and the program’s fourth National Championship. Denny’s 1984 season was arguably his finest on the Forty Acres, when he paced the Horns in batting (.343), hits (102), doubles (29), triples (4) and runs scored (102) and led the Longhorns to a runner-up finish at the College World Series. Following that standout season in 1984, Denny was selected in the seventh round of the 1984 MLB Draft, but he opted to return for his senior season. Denny co-captained the 1985 team along with fellow senior Bill Bates and went on to lead the team with 26 doubles and a career-high 99 RBI. Texas finished as the national runner-up for the second-straight season in Denny’s senior campaign, capping an incredible four-year run of Longhorn teams finishing no worse than third place nationally. Denny was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1985 and played one season of professional baseball before embarking on another legendary career – as a high school baseball coach. Denny has led two different high school programs to Texas State Championships in a career that has spanned nearly 30 years. In 2005, Denny won his first 5A state title at Kingwood High School before moving on to Barbers Hill High School in Baytown and winning the 5A title in 2021. In his most recent season in 2023, Denny led Barbers Hill to the 5A Region 3 semifinals before falling to eventual state champion Magnolia West.
