Graham Named Division I Baseball Coach of the Year
12/4/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Dec. 4, 2007
NASHVILLE - Rice head baseball coach Wayne Graham was named the Division I college baseball coach of the year by FieldTurf and Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., Tuesday (Dec. 4) at the major league baseball winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn.
FieldTurf and Cal Ripken Jr. announced award winners for the 2007 baseball season in four categories, including Division I Coach of the Year (Graham), Division II head coach of the year (Grand Valley State's Steve Lyon), college team of the year (Oregon State) and MLB team of the year (Colorado Rockies).
In 2007 Graham led the Owls to a 56-14 record and to the semifinals of the College World Series in Omaha. Last year he coached six players to different all-America honors and an eye-opening 14 of his Owls were selected in the major league baseball draft, including Joe Savery in the first round (as the 19th overall selection).
Graham was named the Division I national coach of the year in three other years. In 2006 he earned the honor from the Collegiate Baseball Foundation. In 1999 he was Baseball America's national coach of the year. Graham was the consensus coach of the year in 2003 after leading Rice to the school's first national championship in any sport. He has also been named the national coach of the year at the junior college level five times in his career. Graham has been a college head coach for 27 seasons, including the last 16 at the helm of the Rice program.
The 2008 Rice baseball season begins with the program's biennial varsity-alumni game on Feb. 2. The official season-opener is a big three-game weekend series on the road against Long Beach State beginning on Feb. 22.
