Cooper Accepts Head Baseball Coach Position at Penn State
8/9/2013 4:00:00 AM | Baseball
Rob Cooper, the head baseball coach at Wright State for the last nine seasons, has accepted a similar position at Penn State.
“I'm extremely thankful for the opportunity that Bob Grant, Dr. Hopkins and the WSU community has given me and my family for the last nine years,” Cooper said. “Wright State will always be a special place for us, and I will always look back fondly on my time here. I am thankful and grateful for the chance to coach great young men and I am excited about the next chapter of my life. I will always consider myself a Raider.”
Cooper guided his Raider teams to seven-straight 30+ win seasons, made six appearances in the Horizon League Championship Game, winning three of them, and led WSU to three NCAA Regional berths.
“Rob has done a remarkable job in all aspects of our baseball program, but beyond that he has been a tremendously valuable member of our Raider family,” said WSU Director of Athletics Bob Grant. “I am confident that he will accomplish great things at Penn State. A solid foundation has been established by Rob and coach (Ron) Nischwitz and my expectation is that our program will continue to thrive and bring positive notoriety to Wright State.”
The California native took the reins of the Wright State program after serving as an assistant coach at national-power Oral Roberts and immediately instilled a renewed passion. He helped the program grow through fundraising and community involvement, organizing the Wright State Baseball First Pitch Banquet before the start of each season and planning the annual Military Appreciation Night at Nischwitz Stadium.
He directed the program to almost 300 victories, with his 2007 squad setting the school standard with 21 wins in Horizon League play. He is one of only five coaches to lead his team to multiple Division I NCAA Tournaments at Wright State, guiding the Raiders to a Regional in 2006, 2009 and 2011. He watched 21 of his players sign professional contracts, seven of those being selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Four players have garnered All-American honors, 47 players have been selected to the All-League teams and 18 players have earned All-Newcomer honors.
Cooper twice joined Team USA as an assistant coach during his time at Wright State, joining the 2007 and 2009 squads on international tours. Two of Cooper's players have accompanied him on those trips, with Jeremy Hamilton making the '07 squad and Casey McGrew was a mainstay in the lineup for the 2009 Collegiate National Team. In 2007, Cooper helped Team USA to a silver medal at the Pan-American Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Cooper helped Team USA compile a 25-12 overall record during that tour.
Later this month will be a little different, though, as Cooper will make his managerial debut as USA Baseball selected him to lead its 18U National Team.
Before coming to WSU, Cooper served as the hitting coach, recruiting coordinator and bench coach at Oral Roberts University. Cooper began his coaching career at national power Miami (FL), spending two seasons (1994-95) as a student/graduate assistant on the Hurricanes' staff. While at Miami, Cooper helped lead the Hurricanes to College World Series berths in 1994 and 1995.
Cooper spent the 1996 season as an assistant and team academic coordinator at Wake Forest, then moved on to Tulane for the next two seasons, serving as the Green Wave's hitting coach. During his tenure as an assistant coach at Miami and Tulane, his teams advanced to NCAA Tournaments in 1994-95 (Miami) and 1998 (Tulane). In 1997, the Green Wave won the Conference USA regular-season crown.
Cooper left Tulane following the 1998 season and returned to Sacramento City College, where he starred in the early 1990's before lettering at Miami in 1993. In his first season at Sac City, Cooper helped guide SCC to the California Community College State Tournament championship. Sac City was then the runner-up in 2002.
Along with his college coaching experience, Cooper also was an associate scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1990-92 and was selected to a coaching stint with USA Baseball in 2000.
Cooper earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from Miami in 1994 and a master's in sports sciences/administration from Miami in 1996. He and his wife, Maureen, have two sons, Jake and Tyson.
Cooper Year-by-Year at Wright State
|
Year
|
Overall
|
Pct.
|
League
|
Pct.
|
Finish
|
Horizon League
Tournament
|
NCAA Regionals
|
| 2005 | 26-33 | .441 | 11-9 | .550 | Fourth | ||
| 2006 | 32-27 | .542 | 17-13 | .567 | Third | Champion | Corvallis, OR |
| 2007 | 36-22 | .621 | 21-9 | .700 | Second | Runner-Up | |
|
2008
|
30-23 | .566 | 16-6 |
.727
|
Second | ||
|
2009
|
33-30 | .524 | 14-12 | .538 | Third |
Champion
|
Fort Worth, TX |
|
2010
|
31-25 | .554 | 17-6 | .739 | First | Runner-Up | |
|
2011
|
36-19 | .655 | 16-7 |
.696
|
Tied for First | Champion | College Station, TX |
| 2012 | 37-21 | .638 | 20-10 | .667 | Second | ||
| 2013 | 25-30 | ,455 | 9-12 | .429 | Fourth | Runner-Up | |
|
Totals
|
286-230 |
.554
|
141-84
|
.627
|
2 Titles |
3 Titles
|
3 Appearances |
