CHAMPAIGN — Dillon Napoleon was named Illinois baseball's pitching coach Friday, with Dan Hartleb successfully hiring the 2025 Conference USA Assistant Coach of the Year away from Western Kentucky.

"I'm honored to join the University of Illinois baseball program and to work under the leadership of Coach Hartleb," Napoleon said in a statement. "The opportunity to contribute to such a respected program and be part of an outstanding, well-established coaching staff is truly exciting. My family and I are thrilled to become part of the Fighting Illini community. I look forward to helping develop a pitching staff that competes at the highest level, with toughness, discipline and a relentless drive to win on and off the field."

Napoleon replaces interim pitching coach Zach Luevanos, who was added to the Illinois staff in January to fill in for Mark Allen during his absence from the team as he battled cancer. Allen, 49, died in April.

Napoleon spent the past three seasons at Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers posted a 3.50 ERA this season, which led C-USA by more than a run and also stood as the fourth-lowest ERA in the country. Western Kentucky also set a single-season program record with 513 strikeouts this season, breaking the record of 490 set in 2024.

Prior to his time at Western Kentucky, Napoleon was the pitching coach at Iowa Western Community College for three seasons. That stint came after two seasons at Northwestern where he was an assistant coach, camp coordinator and video coordinator and five at Division III Berry College (Ga.) as pitching coach, strength and conditioning coach and video coordinator.

"For years I have admired how Dillon has carried and presented himself dating back to his time in the Big Ten as an assistant at Northwestern," Hartleb said in a statement. "He has proven to be a tireless recruiter and his pitching staffs' numbers speak for themselves. His ability to build strong relationships and drive skill development has been instrumental in his teams' successes and the individual achievements of his pitchers."

Napoleon, a Wilmette native and New Trier grad, started his own college baseball career at Heartland Community College where he went 19-1 in two seasons and was an NJCAA All-American. He transferred to UAB and finished out his playing career with the Blazers where he was 2011 C-USA Newcomer of the Year — the first UAB baseball player to earn that honor.

Scott Richey covers college basketball for The News-Gazette. His email is , and you can follow him on Twitter ( @srrichey ).