Jeff Rhoads '00 is Ripon College's 'Iron Man,' playing every inning of every game during his four-year career for Ripon's baseball team. There was a reason he never came off the field - Rhoads is one of the best hitters in the history of the Midwest Conference. A four-time First Team All-Conference and All-Region selection, he became the first freshman in conference history to be named MWC Player of the Year, doing so in 1997. Inducted into Ripon's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017, Rhoads graduated with conference records for career hits (218), doubles (54), triples (12), and total bases (353).
"Jeff was part of my father (Head Coach Gordie Gillespie's) first recruiting class," Legendary Ripon baseball and basketball coach Bob Gillespie said. "After I saw him play for the first time, I knew our program would never be the same, because Jeff Rhoads was a program changer."
In the 22 years prior to Rhoads joining the team as a freshman, Ripon had won three MWC Championships. He doubled that number during his four years as a Red Hawk, helping the school win three consecutive conference crowns (1998-2000) for just the second time in program history, while qualifying for the NCAA Tournament for the first two times in program history with back-to-back appearances in 1999 and 2000.
"Jeff really set the foundation for what Ripon College baseball became during the next two decades, and he is truly one of the greatest baseball players that the MWC has ever seen," Bob Gillespie said. "Our program was mentioned among the top teams in the Region and Nation from that point on."
As a freshman, Rhoads hit .365 with 11 doubles, two triples, two home runs, and 19 RBI, en route to MWC Player of the Year honors during his only season that didn't end in a conference championship for his team. The third baseman followed that up with a .421 average as a sophomore, while setting a single season school record of 21 doubles, which still stands today. As a junior, Rhoads hit .322 with eight doubles, three triples, 26 RBI, and 18 stolen bases, which still ranks fourth in program history for a single season. He capped his career as a senior by setting single season school records for hits (64), runs scored (56), triples (4), and total bases (116), all of which have since been broken, but remain among the top 10 in school history.
Twenty-one years after his graduation, Rhoads still holds school records for career doubles and triples, while also currently ranking second in hits, runs scored (166), and stolen bases (52), third in total bases, fourth in batting average (.387), fifth in runs batted in (138), and eighth in home runs (19). One of the most feared hitters in the MWC, Rhoads also drew the ire of coaches from around the league.
"During Jeff's time, he was not the most popular player in the Midwest Conference," Bob Gillespie joked at Rhoads' Ripon Hall of Fame induction. "St. Norbert's coach once asked me, "Is Rhoads EVER going to graduate?!"
Recruited by Gordie and also coached by Bob, who was an assistant on his father's teams, Rhoads grew close to the Gillespie family over the years, including a third generation of Gillespie in Scott, who was in grade school during Rhoads' playing days, but would ultimately join him in Ripon's Athletics Hall of Fame as a basketball player years later.
"Scott was just a kid at the time and would ride to the games with his dad and grandpa," Rhoads recalled. "Scotty would come up to me before the games and say things like 'Grandpa says you're hitting third today,' or 'Grandpa said you had a good practice,' so he was kinda like my inside man."
A native of Oconomowoc, Wis., Rhoads earned his Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. He currently works in his hometown as a Senior Developer for Paragon Development Systems, where he has worked for the past 18 and a half years.
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