Fucci Joins Cougars

HOUSTON – The University of Houston Track and Field program announced the addition of former national champion and experienced multi-event coach Drew Fucci to Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Will Blackburn's staff on Monday pending approval from the University.

Fucci, who makes the trek from cross-town rival Rice, will coach the multi-event athletes and high jump athletes while also overseeing all training modules for all field events.

"I'm extremely excited to announce that Drew Fucci will be a part of the Houston Track and Field program," Blackburn said. "Drew has long ties with Houston as he trained post collegiately at the University of Houston when he was training for the Olympic trials as a decathlete and has been coaching at Rice for many years. His wealth of knowledge and proven success coaching athletes at the highest level at the NCAA and World Stage will be a perfect for Houston and the Big 12 Conference."

As a former world-class decathlete and the 1990 NCAA Decathlon Champion, Fucci has not only achieved success in the decathlon but has worked with some of the top decathletes in the country, including Rice alumnus Ryan Harlan. Harlan was 2004 NCAA Decathlon Champion and three-time Olympic trials qualifier.

"Houston's track & field program is near and dear to my heart," Fucci said. "After finishing my collegiate career I spent the next seven years of my track career training for the Olympic trials in 1992 and 1996 at the University of Houston. I was blessed to be coached under Tom Tellez and those years of training is what gave me the inspiration to move into coaching after I retired. I was blessed to have the coaching and facility to help me achieve my goals. I am honored to now have the opportunity to work with such a great staff, athletes and program."

A 1990 graduate of Southwest Texas State (Texas State), Fucci spent the last four years at Rice coaching the multi-event athletes and most recently in 2022-23, guided Rice's Grant Levesque to an All-American Second Team honor at the NCAA Championships in the decathlon where he finished ninth with 7,739 points while setting a personal best in three events (100-meter dash, 1,500 meters, shot put). Levesque also set a personal high in points weeks prior at the C-USA Championships with 7,903 points, finishing second.

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