New baseball coach and Jayhawks off to great start

University of Kansas senior pitcher Kevin Wheeler was named Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week for games played from Feb. 18-24.

The Kansas baseball team is off to a blistering start in 2003, and much of the success can be attributed to new head coach Ritch Price.

Price was hired to rebuild the Kansas program, which has had only one winning season since 1995. Known for his enthusiasm and tremendous work ethic, Price has rebuilt programs before. He has a collegiate head-coaching record of 501-403-1 (at Cal Poly, De Anza Community College and Menlo College). After turning Menlo College into a winner from 1983 to 1986, he put De Anza Community College on the map with four conference titles during his eight-year reign. Price was named head coach at Cal Poly on July 26, 1994, guiding the Mustangs from NCAA Division II to Division I.

Price is now on a mission to make Kansas baseball a force not only in the Big 12 but also in the nation.

"As a coach, you want high expectations," he says. "We want to build a program here to the point where the team is expected to win every game and to where the teams we face know they must play well to beat us."

So far, the Jayhawks are living up to the high expectations. At 16-5, the Jayhawks have been ranked as high as 17th in the country.

After they swept sixth-ranked Louisiana State University, the Jayhawks were named the NCAA team of the week.

National recognition has also found some individuals on this year's team. Junior Ryan Baty and sophomore Travis Metcalf have both been named the NCAA national hitter of the week, and Kevin Wheeler has been named the Big 12 pitcher of the week.

What they're saying about new Coach Price…

"What you're going to get from Coach Price is a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm for the game of college baseball. He is a tremendous recruiter with a fantastic knowledge of the game." --Mark O'Brien, head coach, Santa Clara

"Ritch is a tremendous asset to the Kansas baseball program and his addition in the Big 12 only strengthens what is the toughest conference in the country from top to bottom. Whenever we have played his teams at Cal Poly, they have always been hard-nosed and fundamentally sound." -Mike Anderson, head coach, Nebraska

"Ritch is one of the top coaches in the country. Not only is he a great baseball person, but he is also wonderful at all the other duties that go along with coaching. You guys got a good one." -Mark Marquess, head coach, Stanford.

The Price File

Ritch Price

Name: Ritch Price
Birthdate: 4/10/55
Hometown: Sweet Home, Oregon

Education: bachelor's degree in physical education from Willamette in 1978, master's degree in physical education from Cal-State Hayward in 1987.

Wife: Cindy

Children: Ritchie, Ryne, Robby

Playing Experience

1975-76 Linn-Benton CC

1977-78 Willamette University

Coaching Experience

1978-81 Phoenix High School, Phoenix, Ore.

1982-83 Jasper High School, Jasper, Texas

1983-86 Menlo College, Atherton, Calif.

1986-94 De Anza CC, Cupertino, Calif.

1994 Sioux Falls Canaries (Indep.), Sioux Falls, S.D.

1994-02 Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, Calif.

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