University of Houston Athletics
Whitting Honored as Regional Coach of the Year
7/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
HOUSTON -- After leading Houston Baseball to an American Athletic Conference title and to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, head coach Todd Whitting has been honored as the ABCA/Diamond South Central Regional Coach of the Year, announced by the organization on Tuesday.
Whitting became just the third Houston Baseball head coach in program history to be honored as a Regional Coach of the Year as Rayner Noble (2002) and Rolan Walton (1976) accompany him.
The fifth-year head coach joined former Houston Tennis head coach Patrick Sullivan as the second coach this spring for the Cougars to be named a top coach in the region after Sullivan took home Wilson/Intercollegiate Texas Regional Coach of the Year honors in early May.
NCAA Div. I - ABCA/Diamond Regional Coaches of the Year | |||
Region | Coach | School | State |
Northeast | Brett Boretti | Columbia | NY |
East | Shawn Stiffler | VCU | VA |
Atlantic | Brian O'Connor | Virginia | VA |
South | Tim Corbin | Vanderbilt | TN |
South Central | Todd Whitting | Houston | TX |
Mideast | Dan Hartleb | Illinois | IL |
Midwest | Jim Schlossnagle | TCU | TX |
West | Rick Vanderhook | Cal State Fullerton | CA |
The Regional Coaches of the Year are eligible for ABCA/Diamond National Coach of the Year, which will be announced on Thursday, July 9. The ABCA/Diamond National Coaches of the Year will be honored at the 72nd annual ABCA Convention, which will be held Jan. 7-10, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee.
For the first time since 2002 and first as head coach, Whitting led the Cougars to a regular-season conference title and to its second consecutive 40-win season. Whitting went on to coach Houston to its 20th NCAA Regional appearance and to an NCAA Regional host for the first time since 2000 and just the third time in program history as Cougar Field represented one of 16 host sites around the country.
Under Whitting's leadership, the Cougars finished 43-18 and 16-8 in American Athletic Conference play.
Houston played in what was considered the third toughest league in the country and won the most conference games (16) since 2006 (18). The Cougars also advanced to the American Championship game for the second consecutive season.
Houston went on to win 26 home games -- the most home wins ever won at Cougar Field, while also capturing the Silver Glove Series over Rice for the second consecutive season -- the first time winning back-to-back since the trophy was established in 1998.
Whitting helped the Cougars to eight shutouts, five weekend sweeps and a series win in the final six weekend series heading into postseason play. Houston won 20 of its final 26 games.
The Cougars entered the season with its highest ever preseason ranking at No. 3 by Baseball America and ranked No. 3 for the first two weeks of the season. Houston maintained a Top 30 national ranking every week of the 2015 season.
Whitting and staff saw sophomore Andrew Lantrip named a Third Team All-American by Perfect Game -- becoming the first Cougar All-American since 2006. Freshman LHP Seth Romero was named a Freshman All-American and American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year as he led the league with a 1.94 ERA. For his on-field success, Romero was invited to join USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team -- the second Cougar in as many summers to represent Team USA.
Seven Cougars earned American Athletic Conference honors under Whitting's leadership -- the most by any team in the league as junior OF Kyle Survance paced the group as a First Team selection. RHP Kyle Dowdy, RHP Lantrip, LHP Seth Romero, 2B Josh Vidales, 1B Chris Iriart and DH Jacob Campbell made up the Second Team All-Conference list.
Romero was tabbed a Freshman All-American First Team selection by Baseball America and was named a Freshman All-American by NCBWA. The southpaw was also invited to join USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team during the 2015 summer.
Survance was honored with another postseason accolade, being named to the ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-South Central Region Team, while Iriart and Lantrip were named to the All-Region Second Team.
Whitting helped Iriart to a 15-homerun season -- which was the most homeruns hit by a Cougar since 2006, while coaching junior Kyle Survance to 31 stolen bases -- to move into third all-time with 82 career stolen bases.
Off the field, Houston Baseball had 24 student-athletes carry a 3.0 GPA. The team notched a program-record 3.09 overall GPA for the 2014-15 academic year, while posting its fourth-highest spring GPA of 2.97. The Cougars had 100% in good academic standing and the student-athletes went on to pass an average of 13.9 hours during the season.
Whitting saw eight Cougars selected in the 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft as RHP Jake Lemoine and RHP Patrick Weigel were drafted in the 4th and 7th Rounds, respectively. Lemoine became the highest drafted Cougar since 2009 and the duo joined OF Kyle Survance as the three became the first Cougar trio drafted among the Top 10 Rounds since 2003.
Also selected were 1B Chris Iriart (12th), RHP Kyle Dowdy, RHP Taylor Cobb (26th), OF Ashford Fulmer (28th) and C Ian Rice (29th). The eight Cougars drafted are the most since 11 were drafted in 2000.
ABOUT THE ABCA
The ABCA, founded in 1945, is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level. Its over 6,600 members represent all 50 states and 23 countries. Since its initial meeting of 27 college baseball coaches in June 1945, Association membership has broadened to include eight divisions: NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA, Junior College, Pacific Association Division, High School and Youth. The 72nd annual ABCA Convention will be held Jan. 7-10, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee.
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For a minimum monthly installment of $100 or a minimum one-time gift of $1,000, supporters can take advantage of the Diamond level, which will guarantee batting practice passes for two to any home game, invitation for two to exclusive Dugout Club events and Houston Baseball apparel.
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