Minnesota Assistant Head Coach Rob Fornasiere has been selected as the 2008 recipient of the ABCA Assistant Coach of the Year award
FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Minnesota Assistant Head Coach Rob Fornasiere has been selected as the 2008 recipient of the ABCA Assistant Coach of the Year award. Fornasiere will received the honors on Sunday, January 4, 2009 as part of the annual Honors Luncheon that will be held from 12:15 to 2 p.m. at the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina as part of the ABCA Coaches Convention.
Fornasiere, who arrived at the University of Minnesota in 1985, will enter his 17th season as the Assistant Head Coach for the program and his 24th overall as a coach with the Maroon and Gold this spring. He is currently the second-longest tenured coach in the Big Ten, only behind Minnesota Head Coach John Anderson who will enter his 28th season this year.
In Fornasiere’s time at Minnesota, the Golden Gophers have gone 842-540-2 for a .609 winning percentage, won 11 Big Ten titles (including two West Division titles in 1986 & 87) and played in 13 NCAA Regionals. Fornasiere has also been part of all eight of Minnesota’s 40-win seasons, including the record-breaking 1999 season when the Golden Gophers collected 46 victories.
He has been part of six Big Ten Tournament titles, has coached in 14 tournament title games and helped lead the Golden Gophers to a record seven straight Big Ten Tournament Championship appearances from 2001-07. In 2004, Minnesota won both the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles for the first time in school history.
“I think the first thing that comes to my mind is it is always nice to be honored by your peers”, said Fornasiere. “I am also honored to be put in the prestigious group of assistant coaches that have won this award before me. It has been a privilege and an honor to be a baseball coach at the University of Minnesota, and have an opportunity to carry on the amazing tradition this program has had for so many years.
I am thankful to the tutelage that John Anderson has given me, and the freedom he has given me to do my job on a day-to-day basis. He is a truly great leader in that aspect. I also have to give credit to my coaching mentor Don Purvis, really helped me get my coaching career launched on the right track at Bowling Green and has been a mentor throughout my career. Finally, I want to thank all the great players, people and support staff that have been part a part of this program during my time here. I have developed some great relationships during my time at this program, and a lot of our success has been because of the great players and their energy and determination throughout their respective careers.”
Fornasiere, who during his time at Minnesota has been the Recruiting Coordinator, has recruited 11 players that have gone on to have Major League careers. He has also guided 29 different players to 48 Big Ten All-Conference honors, and has coached nine different players that have been named All-Americans.
He has recruited five different players who have been named Big Ten Player of the Year and along with Todd Oakes recruited two hurlers who collected Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. The list of Minnesota Big Ten Players of the Year includes former Major Leaguer Brent Gates (1991), and current Major Leaguers Robb Quinlan (1999) and Jack Hannahan (2001). Luke Appert also won the honors in 2002 & 03, joining Barry Larkin as the only player in conference history to do so. Mark Merila (1994) and Shane Gunderson (1995) have also captured the honors during that time. Current Major Leaguer Glen Perkins (2004) and C.J. Woodrow (2002) have captured Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors for Minnesota during Fornasiere’s tenure.
Fornasiere has also been a big part of carrying on the fundamentals that Dick Siebert preached throughout his time with the Golden Gopher program. In his 23 years as the of coaching the team’s defensive drills, Fornasiere has helped the Maroon and Gold field at .960 or better clip in 18 of the last 20 seasons, including a school-record .971 clip in 2004. The Golden Gophers have also batted .310 or better as a team in 18 different seasons during Fornasiere’s tenure.
“Rob has earned this award because of his longevity and loyalty to the University of Minnesota baseball program” said Anderson. “My career has been aided in a big way by having Rob with the program for as long as he has been with me. He has really embraced the tradition of the program since arriving here in 1985, and has shown a great deal of passion and commitment to make the program better year in and year out. It is not very often that you have an assistant who is as loyal and as talented as Rob. He loves teaching and coaching baseball, is a tireless recruiter and is very organized and professional in every aspect of what he does. I don’t think there is a better assistant coach in the nation.”
Fornasiere is the ninth recipient of the award, that being in 1999. Past winners include Dean Stotz (Stanford – 1999), Tim Corbin (Clemson – 2000), Brian O’Connor (Notre Dame – 2001), Jim Toman (South Carolina – 2002), Jim Lawler (Texas A&M – 2003), Dave Serrano (Cal State Fullerton – 2004), Bob Wojick (Eastern Connecticut State – 2005), Mitch Thompson (Baylor – 2006) and Fritz Hamburg (Army – 2007).
