COACHING STAFF COACHING STAFF DAN HARTLEB HEAD COACH // 16TH SEASON AS HEAD COACH // 31ST SEASON AT

Dan Hartleb is in his 16th season as head coach at Illinois and Jay and Sedlock were the first teammates from Big Ten schools 31st season on the Illini coaching staff in 2021. Hartleb ranks to be drafted in the first round of back-to-back drafts since among the winningest coaches in school history, as he enters Purdue’s Sherard Clinkscales and Jermaine Allensworth went in 2021 with a career record of 454-327-1 (.581). The D1Baseball. the 1992 and 1993 supplemental first rounds. com Big Ten Coach of the Decade for the 2010s has won a pair Two years later Ben Spillane became the highest drafted of Big Ten titles (2011, 2015) and owns a conference record of position player in the history of Illinois after one of the 202-153 (.569). greatest offensive seasons in Big Ten history. Spillane slashed Under Hartleb, Illinois has had one of its best eras ever, winning .389/.498/.903 and 23 home runs, the second-most in an 62.3% of its games over the last eight years (245-148-1). Illinois single season, while leading the nation in slugging Every Illini that has played four years for Hartleb has left with a percentage. The Reds selected Spillane in the third round, winning percentage of .500 or better. becoming the first Big Ten player off the board. Illinois has made a huge commitment to baseball under Hartleb The 2018 season also featured Illinois’ first ever Gold Glove with the announcement of the Susan and Clint Atkins Baseball Award winner, as Michael Massey took home the prestigious Training Center. The 26,000-square foot, $8 million facility is award as the best defensive second baseman in the nation. HARTLEB FILE scheduled to be completed in January 2022 and will give the Massey made just one while starting every game at second Fighting Illini one of the top indoor training facilities in all of base and went on a 60-game errorless streak between his BORN college baseball. Illinois Field’s turf was redone in 2020. freshman and sophomore seasons in Champaign. Feb. 15, 1966 Illinois returned to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time During the 2014 season, Illinois posted its then-best Big Ten under Hartleb in 2019. The four NCAA trips in the last nine record at 17-7 during the conference’s 24-game schedule era, HOMETOWN seasons (2011, 2013, 2015, 2019) is the best stretch in finishing in third place and playing in the Big Ten Tournament. program history, as Hartleb set the Illinois program record for The Illini earned their most conference wins under Hartleb, which Hamilton, Ohio tournament appearances. The Illini reached the postseason included a 10-2 mark in Big Ten road games. Six Illini earned All- by winning two season series against ranked teams (Coastal FAMILY Carolina, Indiana) for the third time in the Hartleb era, joining 2009 (LSU, Minnesota) and 2015 (Oklahoma State, Ohio Wife - Gina State). Children - Zak, Haley Illinois was off to a hot start in 2020 with ranked wins over #13 Texas A&M and #23 Oklahoma State before the COVID-19 EDUCATION pandemic shut down the season before the Illini could make a John A. Logan CC, 1986, A.S. at back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths. , 1989 Illinois enjoyed its greatest season ever in 2015 under Hartleb, who was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year, ABCA B.S., Advertising Mideast Region Coach of the Year and a National Coach of the Year finalist. The team won 50 games, breaking the Southern Illinois, 1996 previous school record of 49 wins set in 1982, won the NCAA M.S., Higher Educational Champaign Regional, and advanced to the NCAA Champaign Super Regional. Administration Along the way the Illini reeled off a Big Ten-record 27-game COACHING EXPERIENCE winning streak from March 30-May 20, the longest in the nation in 2015. Illinois won its first outright conference title 2006-PRESENT in 10 years, claiming the crown with a 21-1 record. The UI’s Illinois .955 winning percentage was the best by a league champion Head Coach since 1966. The Illini earned the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament; 2001-05 becoming just the second Big Ten team to earn a national seed. Illinois went on to win its first-ever NCAA Regional, Illinois advancing to the Super Regional for the first time in school HARTLEB AT A GLANCE Associate Head Coach history. The Orange and Blue hosted both the Regional and AT ILLINOIS Super Regional during a season in which the Illini won a • D1Baseball Big Ten Coach of the Decade (2010s) school-record 25 games at Illinois Field. 1991-2000 • 2015 Big Ten Coach of the Year Illinois Illinois swept the Big Ten individual awards for the first time • 2015 Mideast Coach of the Year in school history with first baseman David Kerian being Assistant Coach named Player of the Year, left hander Tyler Jay selected as • 87 professional players while at Illinois Pitcher of the Year and Dan Hartleb garnering Coach of the • 40 MLB Draft picks in the last ten years 1989-90 Year. Jay went on to earn first-team All-America honors while Kerian and pitcher Kevin Duchene were chosen as second- • 25 All-Americans Southern Illinois team All-Americans. The 2015 Illini pitching staff set a pair of • 12 Freshman All-Americans Graduate Assistant school records with a 2.55 ERA and 449 strikeouts. • 1 Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year Immediately following the season a school-record nine players • 7 Big Ten Players of the Year were selected in the MLB Draft, highlighted by Jay’s selection at No. 6 overall by the Minnesota Twins to become the highest • 5 Big Ten Pitchers of the Year draft pick in Illini history. Illinois was tied for the third-most • 2 Big Ten Medal of Honor winners draft picks in the country in 2015. • 45 first-team All-Big Ten selections The following year, right-hander Cody Sedlock was taken • 137 All-Big Ten honorees with the No. 27 overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft. Sedlock set Fighting Illini single-season records for strikeouts (116), • 234 Academic All-Big Ten performers innings pitched against Big Ten opponents (64.2) and strikeouts against Big Ten opponents (75) on his way to the CAREER 2016 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year award and first team All- • 99 professional players American honors by Baseball America. • 141 All-Conference selections

2021 ILLINOIS BASEBALL RECORD BOOK // 65 COACHING STAFF

Big Ten honors, while Adam Walton was named a Freshman All-American. Illinois’ Mazurek played for the high class-A Lynchburg Hillcats, a Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff shined on the mound, setting the then-school record with a 3.25 affiliate, in 2005, and Olson played for the Minnesota Twins’ -A affiliate in team ERA. Tyler Jay garnered All-Region recognition and shined on the Team USA 2006. Conroy was drafted in the 19th round by the New York Yankees in 2005 and Collegiate National Team roster during the summer, going 2-0 with a save and no won a New York-Penn League title with the class-A Staten Island Yankees that fall. earned runs allowed in 16.2 innings of relief. Hartleb also served on the coaching staff for the 2014 USA Baseball 14U National Team Development Program. Other pros who have pitched under Hartleb at Illinois include 1999 draft pick Tim Lavery, 1998 Anaheim Angels signee Cody Salter, 1997 Houston During the 2013 season, Illinois advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second Astros pick Brian Hecht, 1993 St. Louis Cardinals draftee Matt Arrandale, Mark time in three years and finished 35-20, marking the most wins under Hartleb and Dressen and Jake Toohey. since 2000 by an Illini squad. The Illini earned an at-large bid into the Nashville Regional, where they won their opening game before falling in their final two Hartleb, a former catcher himself, also has been instrumental in creating a catcher contests. Hartleb coached a pair of players to top national and conference honors, tradition at Illinois. In addition to the high selections of Robinson and Lars Davis, as Justin Parr was named an All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year and Kevin catchers Jason Goldstein, Adam Davis, Patrick Arlis and Aaron Nieckula had their Duchene was picked as a Freshman All-American and Big Ten Freshman of the Year. names called during the draft. Goldstein went in the ninth round to Seattle in 2016, Adam Davis was an 11th-round pick by Baltimore in 2011, Arlis was selected in the Hartleb guided the Illini to Big Ten regular-season and tournament championships 11th round in 2002 by Florida and the A’s took Nieckula in the 22nd round in 1998. in 2011, and the squad advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Fullerton Regional. After a rocky start to the season, Illinois reversed course by winning 18 Following a five-year minor league career, Nieckula became the manager of the of their final 24 games to clinch a share of the regular season Big Ten title, sweep in 2006 and led the A’s Class-A affiliate to the Midwest through the Big Ten Tournament with a 3-0 record and go 2-2 at the NCAA Fullerton League championship series. He guided the Stockton Ports, Oakland’s advanced-A Regional as the No. 4 seed, eliminating No. 1 Cal State Fullerton and No. 3 Kansas squad, in 2009 and returned to Kane County in 2010. After the A’s changed State along the way. affiliates in the Midwest League, Nieckula became the manager of the Burlington Bees for 2011 and continued with the club in 2012. After spending the first 10 years of his tenure at Illinois as the pitching coach, Hartleb earned the additional title of associate head coach in 2001, coordinating In addition to developing Illinois’ batteries throughout the years, Hartleb also has many administrative duties associated with the Illini baseball program. Following helped bring some of the top recruiting classes in the nation to Champaign in the 2005 Big Ten Championship season, ABCA Hall of Famer Richard “Itch” Jones recent years. Illinois received its first ever top-25 recruiting class ranking in 2018, retired and Hartleb was hired as the 10th coach in 136 years of Illinois Baseball. coming in at No. 24 by Baseball America and No. 22 by D1Baseball.com. Illinois was Hartleb coached under Jones for 17 years, two at Southern Illinois and 15 at Illinois. the only Big Ten program ranked in either ranking and the highest rated “Northern school” in America. During his time with the Illini, Hartleb has been instrumental in recruiting and developing 64 players who have signed minor league contracts, including six in Hartleb began his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at Southern 2015, one in 2014, three in 2013, two in 2012, four in 2011, three in 2009, two Illinois University in 1989-90. A two-year letterwinner at SIU, Hartleb finished his in 2008, four in 2007 and seven in 2005. Ten former Illini have reached the major playing career with a .305 batting average. As a senior, Hartleb appeared in 56 leagues, with Tanner Roark (Washington Nationals) and Chris Robinson (San Diego contests as a catcher. Hartleb transferred to Southern Illinois from John A. Logan Padres) adding their names to that list in 2013. Community College, where he was a junior college all-star catcher. At Hamilton High School in Hamilton, Ohio, Hartleb was a standout athlete in both baseball In addition, 30 former players have earned All-America honors and 10 Illini and football. He was inducted into Hamilton High School’s Hall of Fame in February freshmen have been named to Freshmen All-America teams. Five of Hartleb’s 2002. pitchers have been named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and Illinois has produced six Big Ten Players of the Year, along with 38 first-team All-Big Ten selections. A 1989 graduate of SIU with a B.S. in advertising, Hartleb received his M.S. in higher educational administration from SIU in May 1996. He and his wife, Gina, The Illini also have achieved a great deal of success in the classroom in Hartleb’s were married in December 1993 and reside in Champaign with their children, 15 years as head coach, earning nine NCAA Public Recognition Awards, an honor Zakary David and Haley Noel. bestowed on the highest-achieving schools in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate (APR). Illinois has eight years of perfect 1000 scores in the APR and has never scored before 964 during Hartleb’s head coaching career, finishing above the HARTLEB’S CAREER COACHING RECORD national average in every season. ASSISTANT COACH As the pitching coach at Illinois from 1991-2005, Hartleb produced an All-American YEAR SCHOOL OVERALL CONF. FINISH NCAA POSTSEASON pitcher in five consecutive seasons from 1998-02 and three of the four Big Ten 1989 Southern Illinois 26-38 6th-MVC Pitchers of the Year from 1998-2001. Brett Weber started the run when he earned 1990 Southern Illinois 49-14 1st-MVC NCAA Regional (2-2) 1991 Illinois 26-30 7th-Big Ten All-America status and won Pitcher of the Year honors in 1998 and closer Jimmy 1992 Illinois 36-20 3rd-Big Ten Journell followed suit with All-America honors of his own in 1999. 1993 Illinois 32-23 8th-Big Ten 1994 Illinois 26-26 7th-Big Ten Jason Anderson picked up the streak in 2000, taking home both All-America and 1995 Illinois 25-31 5th-Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors after posting a 14-3 record that season. Andy Dickinson 1996 Illinois 37-22 2nd-Big Ten kept it alive with All-America honors in 2001 and ‘02 and Pitcher of the Year 1997 Illinois 32-27 3rd-Big Ten accolades in 2001. 1998 Illinois 42-21 1st-Big Ten NCAA Regional (3-2) 1999 Illinois 34-22 3rd-Big Ten But Hartleb has not simply been a pitching coach. He also has helped recruit and 2000 Illinois 41-23 3rd-Big Ten NCAA Regional (1-2) develop many top Illini players, including infielder Chris Basak, catchers Chris 2001 Illinois 29-28 5th-Big Ten Robinson and Lars Davis, and infielder Bubba Smith. After three years under 2002 Illinois 32-19 6th-Big Ten Hartleb’s tutelage, Robinson became the highest-drafted position player in Illinois 2003 Illinois 27-26 7th-Big Ten history when he was selected in the third round of the 2005 2004 Illinois 22-33 9th-Big Ten First-Year Player Draft by the Detroit Tigers. Davis nearly matched Robinson in the 2005 Illinois 33-23-1 1st-Big Ten 2007 draft when he was taken in the third round by the Colorado Rockies, but 12 picks later overall. HEAD COACH YEAR SCHOOL OVERALL CONF. FINISH NCAA POSTSEASON Hartleb has sent a number of former Illini hurlers to the professional ranks following 2006 Illinois 29-29 5th-Big Ten their collegiate careers, most recently having former Joey Gerber get the call to the 2007 Illinois 31-27 5th-Big Ten Seattle Mariners in 2020. Weber, Anderson and Jimmy Conroy all entered the New 2008 Illinois 31-25 4th-Big Ten 2009 Illinois 34-20 4th-Big Ten York Yankees’ farm system, and Anderson spent time in the big leagues with the 2010 Illinois 26-26 9th-Big Ten Yankees, New York Mets and Cleveland Indians after spending only three years in 2011 Illinois 30-27 1st-Big Ten NCAA Regional (2-2) the minors. 2012 Illinois 28-25 t-6th-Big Ten 2013 Illinois 35-20 t-5th-Big Ten NCAA Regional (1-2) Jimmy Journell earned his first Major League appearance with the St. Louis 2014 Illinois 32-21 3rd-Big Ten Cardinals in 2003, less than three months after Anderson’s big-league debut. 2015 Illinois 50-10-1 1st-Big Ten NCAA Super Regional (3-2) Journell was the Cardinals’ 2001 Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Mitch Walk, who 2016 Illinois 28-23 t-8th-Big Ten was the Pitcher of the Year for the class-A San Jose Giants in 2001, pitched for 2017 Illinois 23-28 10th-Big Ten Illinois from 1998-2000 and advanced to Double-A Norwich in 2005. Matt Vorwald 2018 Illinois 33-20 4th-Big Ten was drafted in the seventh round by the Minnesota Twins in June of 2001. 2019 Illinois 36-21 t-3rd-Big Ten NCAA Regional (0-2) 2020 Illinois 8-5 N/A Andy Dickinson was drafted by the Oakland A’s in June of 2002 and advanced to the A’s Double-A Midland RockHounds in 2005. Dave Mazurek and Justin Olson added Head Coaching Record: 454-327-1 (.581), 15 years their names to the list in 2003, as the former All-Big Ten closer signed a free agent Assistant Coaching Record: 581-447-1 (.565), 17 years deal with the Texas Rangers and Olson joined the Minnesota Twins organization. Total Division I Coaching Record: 1,035-774-2 (.572), 31 years 66 // FIGHTING ILLINI BASEBALL // FIGHTINGILLINI.COM // @ILLINIBASEBALL // #ILLINI COACHING STAFF MARK ALLEN ASSISTANT COACH // SECOND SEASON

Mark Allen was named Illinois’ pitching coach in October 2019 and will begin his second season with the Illini in 2021. Allen joined the Fighting Illini after nine seasons in professional baseball, including the 2019 season as the San Francisco Giants’ pitching coordinator.

Illinois was off to a hot start in 2020, Allen’s first with the program, with ranked wins over #13 Texas A&M and #23 Oklahoma State before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the season before the Illini could make a run at back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths. Freshman Cole Kirschsieper was already only one win away from Illinois’ all-time freshman top 10 when the season was cancelled.

Allen oversaw all of San Francisco’s minor league teams and pitching development during the 2019 season. Five of the Giants’ eight minor league clubs reached the postseason and the Sacramento River Cats won the Triple-A national ALLEN FILE championship. BORN “I humbled and honored to have this opportunity at the University of Illinois,” said Allen. “I am extremely excited to begin Nov. 26, 1975 working alongside our baseball coaches, our baseball players, our entire athletic department and the University. I would HOMETOWN like to thank Dan Hartleb and the entire Illinois family for giving me this chance to positively contribute in any and every Lake Kiowa, Texas way I can to our Fighting Illini student-athletes and their futures.” FAMILY “I am extremely excited about the opportunity we have with the hiring of Mark Allen,” said Hartleb. “Mark’s knowledge, Wife - Angela experience, and people skills are off the charts. His past experiences as a collegiate coach, minor league instructor, and Children - Skylar, Avery his most recent position as a pitching coordinator show his great abilities with development and also evaluation in the EDUCATION recruiting process. Mark fits in our Illini family in so many ways, starting with the type of person that he is. He will be a St. Gregory’s University, 1999 great asset to our program moving forward and I’m extremely excited to get to work with him.” B.S., Health and Wellness Prior to joining the Giants, Allen spent eight seasons with the Cleveland Indians organization as a scout, cross checker, COACHING EXPERIENCE national pitching cross checker, and pitching coordinator. He started as an area scout in 2010, before becoming a 2020-PRESENT Illinois cross checker from 2014-16, then moving to the assistant pitching coordinator role through 2018. During his years with Assistant Coach the Indians, Allen also coached on the field in the Arizona League for three seasons. He began coaching in the Indians organization in 2014 with the AZL Indians, helping the team to the Arizona League championship. 2019 San Francisco Giants Allen played college baseball at Vernon Junior College (1994-96), Texas-San Antonio (1996-97) and Phillips University Pitching Coordinator (1997-98) before going into coaching. He made coaching stops at St. Gregory’s University (1998-99), Northlake Junior 2010-18 College (1999), Frank Phillips College (2003-04), North Central Texas College (2004-08), the Northwoods’ Wisconsin Cleveland Indians Woodchucks (2007), and Seminole State College (2008-10). Allen helped lead Seminole State, one of the top junior college Scout, Cross Checker, programs in the country, to the 2009 JUCO World Series. National Cross Checker, Pitching Coordinator Allen and his wife Angela have two daughters, Skylar and Avery. Skylar is on the beach volleyball team at South Carolina. 2008-10 Seminole State College Assistant Coach 2007 Wisconsin Woodchucks Assistant Coach 2004-08 North Central Texas College Assistant Coach 2003-04 Frank Phillips College Assistant Coach 1999 Northlake Junior College Assistant Coach 1998 St. Gregory’s University Assistant Coach

2021 ILLINOIS BASEBALL RECORD BOOK // 67 COACHING STAFF ADAM CHRIST ASSISTANT COACH // SIXTH SEASON

Adam Christ enters his sixth season as an assistant coach for the Fighting Illini in 2021, working with the hitters, serving as the third base coach, and leading Illinois’ recruiting efforts. He joined the staff in July 2015 after spending seven seasons at Minnesota State. Christ helped the Fighting Illini return to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 after finishing third in the Big Ten and owning two season series wins over ranked teams (Coastal Carolina, Indiana). Illinois has gone 128-97 (.569) since Christ’s arrival in Champaign and has had a National Player of the Year, Gold Glove winner, and has had 14 players selected in the MLB Draft. Illinois was off to a hot start in 2020 with ranked wins over #13 Texas A&M and #23 Oklahoma State before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the season before the Illini could make a run at back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths. Christ has been instrumental in the development of two of the top five position player draft picks in Illinois history, Bren Spillane and Michael Massey. When the Reds drafted Spillane with the No. 82 overall pick in 2018, he became the highest drafted position player in Illinois history. A year later Massey went No. 109 overall to become the highest drafted infielder CHRIST FILE ever for the program. BORN Jan. 10, 1980 Spillane was the 2018 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Player of the Year, the fourth national player of the year in Big Ten history and the Illini’s first. He had one of the best offensive seasons in Illinois history, hitting .389 with 23 HOMETOWN home runs, 158 total bases and a .903 slugging percentage. He was a consensus first team All-American, the 2018 Big Waseca, Minn. Ten Player of the Year and a Dick Howser Trophy finalist.

FAMILY Spillane was followed in the 2018 draft by Illini outfielders Doran Turchin (14th round, Baltimore) and Zac Taylor (36th round, Minnesota) to give Illinois its highest position player draft total since the record-setting 2015 team. A year later in Wife - Amanda 2019, Illinois had four position players drafted in Massey, Jack Yalowitz (10th round, Colorado), Ben Troike (11th round, Children - Coryn, Bo, Tampa Bay) and Taylor (25th round, Chicago Cubs). Natalie Spillane, the No. 500 recruit in high school (Perfect Game), was just one of many Illini that have made huge jumps in EDUCATION national rankings since arriving in Champaign. Massey was Perfect Game’s No. 344 recruit out of high school and was Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2003 picked No. 109, while leaping from the No. 57 second baseman (Perfect Game) to No. 3 at the start of 2019 season (D1). B.S., Kinesiology Ben Troike went from No. 132 shortstop (Perfect Game) to No. 17 (D1) and an 11th round pick, and Jack Yalowitz went from outside of Perfect Game’s top 1,000 recruits to a 10th round pick in 2019. Minneosota State, 2008 Christ’s work expands off the field, as he helped Illinois bring in the No. 22 recruiting class in the nation in 2018, M.S., Athletic Admin. according to D1Baseball.com. Baseball America ranked the class at No. 24, the first top-25 class in Illinois history. COACHING EXPERIENCE In his first season at Illinois, the Fighting Illini went 28-23 with four draft picks, including one position player and another 2015-PRESENT MLB free agent signing. Senior catcher Jason Goldstein was picked in the ninth round, an improvement from his 17th Illinois round selection from the year before, and shortstop Adam Walton was picked up by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Assistant Coach The following season Christ helped the Illini, one of the youngest teams in the Big Ten, have three All-Big Ten selections 2012-15 and two All-Freshman Team picks. Sophomore Jack Yalowitz had a breakout season with a .335 batting average and Minnesota State 12 homers to earn All-Big Ten first-team honors and be in the conversation for Big Ten Player of the Year. Senior Pat Associate Head Coach McInerney hit 15 homers and was a second-team selection, while freshman Michael Massey hit .330 with six long balls to earn third team and All-Freshman Team awards. Redshirt freshman walk-on Casey Dodge emerged as the Illini’s 2009-11 designated hitter, a year after serving as the bullpen catcher, to hit .280 and earn an All-Freshman Team pick. Minnesota State Named an assistant coach at Minnesota State in the summer of 2008, Christ was promoted to associate head coach in Assistant Coach 2012. During his time with the Mavericks, Minnesota State accrued a 306-86 overall record for a .781 winning percentage. In his seven seasons in Mankato, Minnesota State made seven NCAA postseason tournament appearances, won four Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular-season titles, four NSIC tournament titles, claimed four NCAA regional titles and posted NCAA DII National Championship tournament finishes of seventh (2010), third (2012), second (2013) and third (2014). The Waseca, Minnesota, native spent three years with the Ripken Academy in Aberdeen, Maryland prior to becoming an assistant coach at Minnesota State. A graduate assistant coach with the Maverick baseball program for two years (he earned his master’s degree from Minnesota State in 2008), Christ is a 2003 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee graduate where he was middle infielder with the Panthers. Christ also spent a season with the baseball program at Iowa State (2000-01) where he was the starting shortstop and earned a scholar-athlete award with the Cyclones. He also logged two years at Des Moines Area Community College (1998- 99 and 1999-2000) where he was a two-time all-conference selection. Christ and his wife, Amanda, have three children, Coryn, Bo and Natalie.

68 // FIGHTING ILLINI BASEBALL // FIGHTINGILLINI.COM // @ILLINIBASEBALL // #ILLINI COACHING STAFF CURT COURTWRIGHT VOLUNTEEER ASSISTANT COACH // THIRD SEASON

Curt Courtwright is in his third season as a volunteer assistant at the University of Illinois in 2021. He was hired by head coach Dan Hartleb in August 2018.

Illinois advaned to the 2019 NCAA Tournament in Courtwright’s first season in Champaign. The Fighting Illini finished third in the Big Ten, won two season series against ranked opponents (Coastal Carolina, Indiana), and had six players selected in the MLB Draft.

Courtwright spent the previous three seasons (2016-18) at Eastern Illinois under head coach Jason Anderson, a former Fighting Illini and MLB pitcher. Courtwright helped instruct the infielders and hitters at EIU, helping the Panthers finish one double play shy of leading the nation in 2017.

Courtwright spent one year as an assistant at Rend Lake College in 2014, primarily working as the hitting and infield COURTWRIGHT FILE instructor as well as the recruiting coordinator, prior to his stop at EIU. BORN Sept. 4, 1987 A native of Lincoln, Illinois, Courtwright competed at various levels of baseball. During his four-year career playing at Missouri State, Courtwright appeared in 158 games for the Bears and left as the school record holder for assists in a HOMETOWN game. Courtwright played for the Glens Falls Golden Eagles in the New York Collegiate Baseball League and was named Lincoln, Ill. team MVP in 2008. In 2010, he played professionally for the Gateway Grizzlies of the .

EDUCATION After his time with the Grizzlies, Courtwright began his coaching career. He was the head coach at Lincoln Community Missouri State, 2010 High School before serving as the hitting and infield coach for the Morehead City Marlins of the Coastal Plains League. B.S., Public Relations Courtwright earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations with a minor in business from Missouri State in 2010. COACHING EXPERIENCE 2018-PRESENT Illinois Volunteeer Assistant Coach

2016-18 Eastern Illinois Assistant Coach

2014 Rend Lake College Assistant Coach

2012-14 Morehead City Marlins Assistant Coach

2011 Lincoln Community High School Head Coach

2021 ILLINOIS BASEBALL RECORD BOOK // 69 COACHING STAFF ILLINOIS BASEBALL SUPPORT STAFF

Diego Acosta John Birdsell Leah Bodin PJ Carmichael Student Manager Equipment Fighting Illini Productions Student Manager

Shari Clapp David Craan Mike Glasgow Justin Houng Academic Advisor Social Media Coordinator Creative Services Strength and Conditioning Coach

Jim Halpin Giana O’Connor Michael Pasquale Brandon Perel Athletic Trainer Marketing Student Manager Athletics Communication

Rick Raven Dylan Richardson Deion Summers Andy Wenstrand Equipment Fighting Illini Productions Event Management Director of Operations

Not pictured - Darahn Magnus, Student Manager

70 // FIGHTING ILLINI BASEBALL // FIGHTINGILLINI.COM // @ILLINIBASEBALL // #ILLINI