How ‘divine intervention’ led Mark Kingston to Creighton baseball as successor to Ed Servais

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Mark Kingston had just watched his alma mater, North Carolina, defeat West Virginia to advance to the College World Series, when the event’s host school came calling.

“I got my first call from [Creighton athletic director Marcus Blossom] about five minutes after,” Kingston said.

Kingston admitted he was “completely caught off-guard” by the call, but after a visit to Omaha—where he ran into the Tar Heels ahead of CWS—he agreed to become the coach-in-waiting for Bluejays baseball.

“Sometimes these things just feel like it’s meant to be and there’s divine intervention,” he said. “This kind of feels like one of those times.”

Kingston will serve as an associate head coach next year before taking over as head coach after the 2025 season. The former South Carolina head coach will take over for Creighton’s longtime head coach Ed Servais.

“I’ll be shoulder-to-shoulder with Ed for the next year trying to serve our players and do everything we can to make this a great experience for the 2025 season,” he said. “After that, we want to continue to build this program and make it one of the premiere programs around.”

Kingston led the Gamecocks to four NCAA Tournament appearances in seven seasons, including two Super Regional appearances. He also has previous head coaching stops at South Florida and Illinois State.

In his time with the Redbirds, Kingston regularly coached against Servais’ Creighton teams, then a Missouri Valley Conference rival.

Kingston laughed recalling a heated exchange the two coaches shared years ago. The Bluejays had arrived in Bloomington for a game. Illinois State was just finishing batting practice when—as Kingston tells it—Creighton began encroaching on the outfield to stretch.

“I thought they were being a little too aggressive in taking our real estate, since we were still taking batting practice,” he said. “So, Ed and I had a few words for each other. But all out of competitiveness and sticking up for our teams.”

Now positioned as Servais’ successor, Kingston plans to take advantage of the next year to learn everything he can from Creighton’s all-time winningest coach.

“I’d be very foolish not to try to get every bit of information and knowledge out of him over the next 12 months,” Kingston said.

“It’s God’s will. You never know where your next step is going to be. It’s humbling to think we’re here now. It’s humbling to know that this is where God wants us.”

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