Ken Knutson Has Built the UW Baseball Team Into the the Third Player from a Northern School to Win the Golden Spikes
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COACHING STAFF Husky Coaching Staff COACHING STAFF K en K N U T S OK Ne n K N U T S O N H ead C oach – 1 7 T H YHear e a d C o a c h When the Husky baseball team beat UCLA, ships, four Pac-10 Northern Division crowns,F i fa second-placet h Y leaguee a finish r and two 7-2, on May 22, 2004, at Husky Ballpark, Ken second-place division finishes. He has led Washington to within one game of its Knutson became the winningest baseball coach first College World Series appearance on three occasions. Six of Washington’s eight 2009 SEASON in UW history, passing the 422 wins of his all-time NCAA appearances have come under Knutson’s watch. former coach and mentor Bob MacDonald. In 2007, he added to that legacy, becoming only He has beaten six No. 1-ranked teams. He has landed the Huskies’ first-ever top the 17th baseball coach in Pac-10 history to 10 recruiting class. Knutson has been named the Pac-10 North Coach of the Year reach 500 wins, reaching that milestone with three times. In 1994, he coached the first Washington first-team All-American. In a victory over Southern Utah on March 5, 2007. doing all this, Knutson’s teams have almost completely rewritten the school record books while developing a long list of talented players. PLAYERS Last year, he became the winningest coach – in any sport – in UW athletics history. During his 16 years, Knutson has sent 78 players onto the professional ranks, only What those wins did was cement the notion that there has been no better or more 23 of whom were drafted out of high school. He has also coached 54 All-Pac-10 successful coach in Husky baseball history. With all due respect to longtime skippers first-team players and 23 Pac-10 All-Academic honorees. Under Knutson’s tutelage, like MacDonald and Tubby Graves, Knutson’s credentials speak for themselves. 26 Huskies have earned some level of All-America acclaim and eight have been named first-team Freshman All-Americans. Additionally, eight different Husky With his 559-369-2 overall record, Knutson has a higher winning percentage (.602) players have participated with the USA Baseball National Team, including starters COACHES than any Husky coach who was in charge for more than 85 games (Knutson has Chris Magruder (1997) and Brent Lillibridge (2003). Before Knutson’s arrival as head coached in 930). And of course, he’s done it against a much more competive schedule coach, no Husky had ever even tried out for the national team. than any of his predecessors had ever faced. Of the 16 UW players who have gone on to play in the Major Leagues, seven played In addition, his 16 seasons at the helm of his alma mater’s baseball team have under Knutson as head coach and 10 played on teams for which he was either the been the most successful stretch since the program’s inception in 1901. In fact, head coach or an assistant. in terms of national recognition, winning seasons and postseason achievements, you could argue that the last 16 years have seen more success than the previous In 2006, Knutson coached Tim Lincecum, a unanimous All-American and the winner 92 years combined. of the Golden Spikes Award, which recognizes the nation’s top amateur baseball 2008 REVIEW player and is considered the Heisman Trophy of college baseball. Lincecum was only In his 16 years as coach, Ken Knutson has built the UW baseball team into the the third player from a northern school to win the Golden Spikes. Lincecum went on dominant program in the Northwest, one of the most consistently successful programs to win the 2008 National League Cy Young Award, the highest single-season honor in the West and a nationally respected team that always plays at the highest level ever awarded to a UW alumnus in one of the major professional sports. even as the UW and the other former Northern Division teams completed a 1999 merger to a unified Pac-10, the most successful conference in the country. In 2009, Knutson will look to get the Huskies back to the NCAA postseason, which they’d done in three straight years prior to 2005. In each of the last four seasons, RECORDS In 16 seasons, Knutson has led the Dawgs to two Pacific-10 Conference champion- the Huskies may very well have finished just one win short of a berth. KEN KNUTSON’S UW HEAD COACHING CAREER Year Overall Pac-10 (Place) Accomplishments 1993 39-19 22-8 (1st) Set Pac-10 North record for conference wins; won UW’s second straight division title HISTORY 1994 46-18 20-10 (2nd) Set UW wins record; 2nd at NCAA Midwest II Regional; fell one win short of College World Series; coached first first-team All-American in UW history; beat three different teams ranked No. 1 at one point during the year 1995 24-30 16-14 (2nd) Won 100th game April 19 at Portland 1996 30-28 16-8 (1st) Pac-10 North Coach of the Year; won second Pac-10 North title; finished one win short of NCAA berth 1997 46-20 20-4 (1st) Pac-10 North Coach of the Year; won third Pac-10 North title; won Pac-10 championship; finished second at NCAA Mideast Regional; team finished No. 13 in nation 1998 41-17 17-7 (1st) Pac-10 North Coach of the Year; won fourth Pac-10 North title; swept No. 1 Stanford for Pac-10 championship; finished third at Central Regional; No. 13 in final poll OPPONENTS 1999 33-23 12-12 (5th) Coached three All-Pac-10 first-teamers and first-round and second-round draft picks 2000 26-30 7-17 (8th) Second straight Top-30 recruiting class; four players named some level of Freshman All-America 2001 29-23 7-17 (8th) Picked up 300th win, only second Husky coach ever to reach that plateau 2002 33-27-1 15-9 (3rd) Made UW’s sixth-ever NCAA appearance and got Huskies to regional title game for third time 2003 42-18 15-9 (3rd) Second straight NCAA appearance and third-place Pac-10 finish; two All-Americans; No. 23 in final poll 2004 39-20-1 15-9 (2nd) Third straight NCAA appearance; second place in third straight regional; No. 21 in final poll 2005 33-22 12-12 (6th) 11th winning season in 13 seasons as head coach; had seven players drafted or signed by pro teams 2006 36-25 11-13 (5th) Coached Golden Spikes Award winner Tim Lincecum; 12th winning season in 14 seasons at UW 2007 29-27 11-13 (5th) Second straight season with first-round draft pick; 17th coach in Pac-10 history to reach 500 wins WASHINGTON WAY 2008 33-22 11-13 (6th) 14th winning season in 16 years at UW; became winningest coach (all sports) in Husky history Total 559-369-2 227-175 First all-time in UW history with 559 wins; coached 54 All-Pac-10 players in 16 seasons; (.602) (.565) coach of four division titleists and two Pac-10 winners; three-time league Coach of the Year 28 WASHINGTON HUSKIES 2 0 0 9 B A S E B A L L COACHING STAFF Husky Coaching Staff COACHING STAFF Ken Knutson vs. Head Coach Ken KNUTSON 2009 SEASON PAC-10 OPPONENTS fielding while finishing 12th in home runs and had seven Opponent (Years Played) Record players drafted or signed by professional teams. Arizona (1999-2008) ................................14-16 Arizona State (1998-2008) ......................12-21 In 2004, the Huskies continued their ascent in the rugged Pacific-10 Conference, finishing alone in second place in California (1998-2008).............................18-15 the standings, only one win short of the championship Gonzaga (1993-2004, 2006-08) ...............37-24 at 39-20-1 overall and 15-9 in the league. For the third Oregon State (1993-2008) .......................44-40 straight season, the Huskies played in an NCAA Regional Portland (1993-2008) ...............................51-16 Portland State (1993-98) ..........................34-8 championship round, this time at Ole Miss. Six more PLAYERS Huskies went on to professional baseball at season’s UCLA (1995, 97, 1999-2008) ...................16-17 end after four were named first-team All-Pac-10. In USC (1996, 1999-2007) ...........................17-16 addition, Lincecum became the first ever to earn Pac-10 Stanford (1997-2007) ..............................14-25 Freshman of the Year and Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year in Washington State (1993-2007) .............. 62-27 the same season. TOTAL .................................................. 319-225 NOTE: includes conference and non-conference games After struggling to play up to the level of the re-unified vs. current and former Pac-10 members. COACHES Pacific-10 Conference, the Huskies arrived in 2003, taking sole possession of third place in the conference with a 15-9 nation in the final poll. mark and a 42-18 overall record. That included a sweep of USC, probably the most powerful program in college Following the 1998 season, Washington had seven history, to end the regular season. Washington made its players sign professional contracts, including four seventh NCAA Regional appearance (fifth under Knutson) that were taken in the first five rounds of the draft, The 2008 Huskies went 33-22 overall and 11-13 in the and once again out-played its seeding, finishing second the second-highest such total of any college in 2008 REVIEW Pac-10 Conference, perhaps just one league win away in the regional after entering as the third seed.