Andrew Checketts, who has spent the past three seasons as the top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Oregon, was named UCSB’s new head baseball coach.
Checketts was introduced by UCSB Director of Athletics Mark W. Massari at a press conference on Wednesday.
Checketts becomes the ninth head coach in Gaucho baseball history and takes over a program that has produced the third-most Major League Baseball players in the Big West.
“Throughout the process, Andrew’s name kept coming up as one of the best recruiters and assistant coaches, not just in the west, but in the country,” Massari said. “In only a short time at Oregon, what he and Coach George Horton have accomplished has been extremely impressive. Andrew’s future is extremely bright and we’re excited that he decided to make that future at UCSB.”
Checketts helped build Oregon into a national power as part of Horton’s inaugural staff after the school reinstated baseball following a 27-year hiatus. His recruiting classes consistently ranked among the best in the nation, as did his pitching staffs.
In his coaching career at UC Riverside and Oregon, Checketts has had 36 pitchers drafted or sign pro contracts and he has coached 12 pitchers who were drafted in the top 10 rounds since 2001.
Over the past four years Checketts has produced four consecutive top-25 recruiting classes, most recently bringing in a class ranked third overall in 2010 by Collegiate Baseball.
“I am thrilled at being given the opportunity to lead Gaucho baseball,” Checketts said. “UCSB is a place of excellence, both academically and athletically. I can’t think of a better place in the Big West Conference to build a championship baseball program.”
Horton called UCSB’s decision “a great selection,” saying that Checketts is “an exceptional coach, recruiter and mentor of student-athletes. … He is one of the top coaches in the country, and has a very bright baseball mind.”
Not only has Checketts succeeded on the field at UC Riverside and Oregon, but he has succeeded at top-ranked academic universities, which will help with his transition to UCSB, which is consistently ranked as a top public institution.
“Besides the type of talent he has on the field, what kept being repeated by anyone who knew Andrew was what type of person and communicator he is and the strong family values he possesses,” Massari said. “Those are some of the traits we looked for in the search. We’d like to welcome his wife Michelle and his daughter Amelia Anne to the Gaucho family.”
Before embarking on his coaching career, Checketts was a standout pitcher at Oregon State where he went 11-1 with a 3.77 ERA in 13 starts as a senior in 1998. The West Linn, Ore. native was named the Pac-10 North Player of the Year, Collegiate Baseball Second Team All-American, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Second Team All-American and was an All-West Region Second Team selection. He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 21st round of the 1998 MLB Draft.
After his playing career, Checketts began his coaching career at Riverside Community College where the staff set the school record for team ERA and he helped guide the squad to their second consecutive California State Championship in 2001.
UCSB recently launched a capital campaign for Gaucho Park at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. For more information and to view renderings, please visit UCSBgauchos.cstv.com/gauchopark.html.
WOW,
UCSB does it again. New coach, lots of promises of new facilities, lights, green grass, bathrooms, Geno’s corner, Hall of Fame Walk, Hammerheads etc. This planning obviously started with the arrival of the new AD and obviously was not going to include Bob Brontsema. The man coached for many years with those crappy facilities and this is the thanks he gets. UCSB just doesn’t get it! They remind me of the kid with his hat on backwards and his pants sagging to his crack!
What’s wrong with having your hat backwards and your pants sagging? With all due respect, the old coach did nothing but treat that job like a 12 – 5 job. Time for someone who lives this shit and cares about his players. The old coach liked 1 or 2 guys a season and the rest he could care less about and treated them that way. That has nothing to do with facilities. That’s character. And who’s to say these promises of new facilities won’t come true? MM has only been here a few years and he already took one great step in moving forward, which was getting rid of the old regime who couldn’t win. And good college coaches can get the community behind them to support new facilities. SB = Money. If you can’t find a way to tap into that resource minus one very rich parent in 18 years and you can’t win, get out of here. Find a new job that you can excel in, D1 baseball coach clearly isn’t your expertise. Go Gauchos.
Hey Real fan, I can’t agree with you anymore. If you can’t win, get out. Nobody cares about all the reasons why this former coach couldn’t get it done. Enough with the excuses already people. Somehow, Cal found themselves in the college world series this year after being told their baseball program would be eliminated from Cal athletics. Talk about lack of admin support. This Checketts guy is a winner, read his resume on the article. He helped UC Riverside win a Big West title in 2007 which almost seems false because it’s UC Riverside. You upgrade when you get a young and motivated coach who is a proven winner, “Hammerhead85”. You also upgrade because you get a guy who is a proven recruiter, check the resume. Recruiting is #1 at the D1 level. The former coach should just be happy that he was able to coach that many years. Any other school in the Big West or who cares about winning, would have wiped their hands with the old coach after a couple seasons. And enough with the facts on how many former players at UCSB have been drafted through the former coaches tenure. These facts have nothing to do with what he accomplished as a coach. If anything, it’s detrimental to what he did during his time as head Gaucho. Unfortunately, we live in a cruel sports world and winning is what will always define a successful coach. And to all you Santa Barbarians that read this and start talking about how winning is not everything: Wake up and join the rest of the world in sports, winning brings money, power and recognition that is earned. If you don’t like that, then don’t watch sports or go sign up to be a local little league coach.
I agree with Old Coach – UCSB did not upgrade instead they get a guy who has never head coached any program before and is just glad to here. I am sure he is a great baseball guy but he will soon realize the lack of admin support which will stop him from improving the program. Top D1 kids want to be at a program with D1 facilities – which is why they go to schools like 2nd tier educational schools like Fullerton and Fresno before UCSB. I sure hope Andrew has the balls to get the AD to back up any promises he made. Bronts only mistake was not moving on sooner to another program who would appreciate him.
Did anyone notice the baseball parks of the teams hosting the regionals?