BERKELEY – Following a successful first two seasons leading the California baseball program, head coach Mike Neu has agreed to a contract extension through the 2024 season, Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton announced Monday.
“Mike has done an outstanding job over his first two years leading Cal baseball,” Knowlton said. “It is important that we make this investment in our program to both solidify his leadership in Berkeley and ensure that we can continue to be successful over the long term. Mike has demonstrated an ability to develop student-athletes on and off the field, and I believe we have a very bright future with him at the helm.”
Neu’s Golden Bears reached the NCAA Tournament in 2019 – Cal’s first postseason trip since 2015 – and have won 32 games in back-to-back seasons, along with 33 total Pac-12 Conference victories. The Bears have finished fourth and fifth in the Pac-12 over the last two seasons, respectively, improving upon sixth- and eighth-place finishes in 2017 and 2016.
By establishing a culture of player development and consistency, Neu has already seen 12 Bears drafted in two seasons, none more accomplished than 2018 Golden Spikes Award winner Andrew Vaughn. Vaughn became the program’s highest draft pick ever in last June’s MLB First-Year Player Draft, going No. 3 overall. He and teammate Korey Lee, both of whom went undrafted out of high school, became the first duo in school history to be taken in the first round of the same draft.
In addition to their exploits on the field, the Bears have maintained an emphasis on academics under Neu; the 2017-18 team posted a perfect single-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) of 1,000.
“I want to thank Jim Knowlton and our athletics administration for their continued trust in me to lead Cal baseball,” Neu said. “While we’ve celebrated successes over the last two years, I’m excited to see what lies ahead as our great group of student-athletes continue to build toward a standard of championship-level success.”
Cal called upon Neu to manage the program in July 2017. The Bears’ pitching coach from 2012-15, Neu returned to Berkeley after two years as head coach at the University of the Pacific, where he guided a rebuilding Tigers program to 40 wins over two seasons. The turnaround started immediately in 2015 as Pacific won 12 league games in the always-competitive West Coast Conference, the program’s second-most conference wins since 1999.
Before making the move to Stockton, Neu established himself as one of the Pac-12’s top pitching coaches and recruiters. In Neu’s final year as a Cal assistant (2015), the Bears reached NCAA Regional play and posted a team ERA of 3.03, the program’s second-best pitching mark since 1976. Neu also enjoyed a standout collegiate career as a pitcher before playing professionally for four different major-league organizations. He led the University of Miami to the 1999 national title, recording three saves while pitching in all four of the Hurricanes’ games as he earned All-College World Series Team honors.
The timing of Neu’s extension agreement coincides with a generous $2 million commitment from Cal Baseball Foundation Chairman Stu Gordon, which will be used to support sustained excellence within the program.
“I am excited about the direction of Cal baseball under Mike Neu and our Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton,” Gordon said. “I believe the program is heading in the right direction. I have been a part of Cal baseball for more than 50 years, and it is important that we maintain the program’s storied tradition now and well into the future.”
Gordon, a 2012 Cal Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, lettered for the Bears as a pitcher in 1961 and 1962. He received the Hall of Fame Service Award for his longtime commitment to Cal Athletics and valued leadership to raise funds necessary for the reinstatement of the Golden Bear baseball program in 2011. He’s a two-time recipient of the Carl Van Heuit Cal Baseball Alumnus of the Year Award and the program’s Excellence in Leadership Award is named in his honor.
“We are so grateful for Stu’s leadership over many years,” Knowlton said. “He and the Cal Baseball Foundation have been instrumental in supporting the program and allowing us to make this long-term commitment to the future of Cal baseball and Mike Neu.”
Neu and the Bears are currently in the midst of fall preparations for the 2020 season. Stay tuned to CalBears.com for further updates about the 2020 schedule and more.
