Chicago White Sox manager Will Venable is putting together a fantastic season. In his second year with the White Sox, the team finished 84-78. In the postseason, Chicago knocked off the Houston Astros in the Wild Card round and now faces the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Division Series. 

Well before his time as manager of the White Sox, Venable was playing two sports during his college days with the Princeton Tigers. The 43-year-old played basketball and baseball at the Ivy League school. 

Venable’s basketball and baseball career at Princeton

Venable played basketball for Princeton from 2001 to 2005. He was named first-team All-Ivy League during the 2003-04 basketball season and was second-team All-Ivy League during the 2004-05 season. 

In his four-year basketball career with the Tigers, Venable averaged 9.3 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, and shot 51% from the field. He was great defensively on the court for Princeton as well, averaging 1.4 steals per game over the course of his career. 

The Tigers won the 2002 and 2004 Ivy League regular season titles while Venable was on the team. They also made the NCAA Tournament in 2004 and played the Texas Longhorns in the first round. In that NCAA Tournament game, Texas defeated Princeton 66-49. However, Venable did finish with 16 points and led the Tigers in scoring. 

While playing basketball, Venable also played baseball for the Tigers for three seasons in 2003, 2004, and 2005. 

He broke out in a big way for the Tigers in 2004, finishing with a .344 batting average. In 2005, he also had a big year with a .385 batting average, a .437 on-base percentage, nine home runs, and 33 RBIs. 

Venable was named first-team All-Ivy League for baseball during the 2005 season. 

During his college baseball career, Venable was a part of two conference tournament championship teams at Princeton in 2003 and 2004. Those same two teams also made the NCAA Tournament. 

After his college athletics career wrapped up, Venable was selected by the San Diego Padres in the seventh round of the 2005 MLB June Amateur Draft. 

He went on to play in 967 games during his professional career for the San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Venable finished his professional playing career with a .249 batting average, 707 hits, 81 home runs, and 307 RBIs.