After an eight-year professional baseball career that included two years with the New York Mets, Jeff Duncan has joined John Pawlowski[apos]s coaching staff at Auburn as the volunteer assistant coach, reuniting the pair after the two spent the 1999 season together at Arizona State.

Duncan played the outfield at Arizona State and was a seventh-round pick of the Mets in the 2000 MLB Draft. By the middle of the 2003 season he had made his MLB debut, seeing time in center and left in both the 2003 and 2004 seasons. In eight minor league seasons, Duncan hit .270 and stole 171 bases, with his best year at the plate coming in 2002 when he hit a combined .373 with 18 doubles, three triples, six homers and 26 7RBI for Capital City and St. Lucie.

[quote]Bringing Jeff in to work with our outfield and assist with the hitters was a no-brainer,[quote] Pawlowski said. [quote]He is an up-and-coming coach that really knows his baseball and I am looking forward to him working with our team.[quote]

[quote]I am really excited to be here. The facilities are unbelievable. We just have to start putting wins on the board and I believe that we have the right staff in place to do that,[quote] Duncan said.

Pawlowski[apos]s and Duncan[apos]s ties go back to 1999 when Pawlowski was the pitching coach at Arizona State and Duncan was an Honorable Mention All-Pac-10 outfielder that same season. In two years at ASU, he hit .358 with 38 stolen bases in 45 attempts before being drafted after his junior season.

Duncan began his collegiate career at Iowa State before transferring to ASU. With the Cyclones he was the school[apos]s Rookie of the Year, starting all 47 games and hitting .311.

Duncan is married to the former Lauren Lowery.