Head Coach George Greer
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Head Coach George Greer 44 George Greer 17th Year Head Coach Connecticut (1968) 21 years and earned an invitation to the NCAA As a junior, Cory Sullivan was named second Championship for the first time since 1977. team All-American. Although his teams have enjoyed a high level of In 2001, the Deacons captured its third ACC success recently, success is certainly not new to title in a span of four years behind seven All- Greer who enters his 17th season at Wake Forest in ACC selections, including Sullivan who was a 2003. first team All-American and David Bush, a third- Greer owns the distinction of being the win- team All-American closer. ningest coach in school history. He owns a 16-year Four players off the team were drafted in the record of 591-349-4 and ranks fifth all-time in the top ten rounds of the June 2001 draft. Atlantic Coast Conference in wins. He is three wins In 2002, Greer was selected by his peers as shy of picking up his 700th career victory on the the ACC Coach of the Year. He led Wake Division I level and moving into fourth place on the Forest to a 47-13-1 record, a second place fin- ACC wins chart. Including his six-year stay at ish in the ACC and coached four players to All- Davidson, Greer’s overall mark stands at 697-471-8 America status including Adam Bourassa, in 22 seasons. Dave Bush, Ryan Johnson and Kyle Sleeth. About Greer: With nine more wins, Greer will become only Last spring, Sleeth was again named an All- Entering his 17th season as head the fourth coach in ACC history to record 600 wins American and was joined by ACC Player of the coach of the Wake Forest baseball while a coach in the prestigious conference. Only Year Jamie D’Antona. Sleeth was selected team is the legendary George Greer. Bill Wilhelm of Clemson, Mike Roberts of North with the third overall pick by Detroit. D’Antona He is a member of the Cape Cod Carolina and Mike Martin of Florida State have was taken in the second round by Arizona. Baseball Hall of Fame, a member of accomplished the feat. Adam Bourassa, Ryan Johnson and Adam four Halls of Fame total, the architect “It’s a tribute to the continued commitment the Hanson were taken in the 6th, 13th and 42nd of three Atlantic Coast Championship school has made to baseball that has given me the rounds, respectively. teams, the coach of 29 All-Americans tools to put together winning teams,” says Greer of There’s no denying that Greer has made the in 16 years at Wake Forest and the his success with the Deacons. “We have had out- Demon Deacons an annual threat in one of fifth-winningest coach in ACC history. standing groups of student-athletes and assistant America’s toughest baseball conferences. But In recent seasons, Greer has guided coaches who have all contributed to our success, that’s not surprising to those who watched the Demon Deacons to levels of so I don’t think of this as a personal accomplish- him grow up in Rhode Island. He was a star at national prominence unseen at Wake ment as much as it is a Wake Forest accomplish- the University of Connecticut, where he earned Forest since winning the 1955 national ment.” All-America honors two times, and gained fur- championship. His consistency for winning wherever he has In 2002, Wake Forest was ranked as been is one of Greer’s biggest assets. That has Greer Year-By-Year... high as number two nationally and tied never been more evident than at Wake Forest, a school record with 47 wins. The where he has won at least 30 games in 14 of his 17 Year School W L T Pct. team earned a national seed in the seasons, including 40-plus wins in 1998, 1999, 1982 Davidson 13 26 0 .333 NCAA Tournament, the fifth straight 2000, 2001 and 2002. 1983 Davidson 11 24 0 .314 year in the tournament for the In 1998, Greer guided his talented squad to a 1984 Davidson 12 16 1 .431 Deacons. For all those accomplish- 43-23 overall record and a 13-10 league mark, tying 1985 Davidson 24 19 0 .558 ments, Greer was named ACC Coach the school record for most ACC wins in a season. 1986 Davidson 21 20 1 .512 of the Year. The Demon Deacons boasted the ACC’s leading 1987 Davidson 25 17 2 .595 By capturing the 2001 ACC batter in Jon Palmieri as well as the conference’s 1988 Wake Forest 32 26 0 .552 Championship, Greer and Wake Forest winningest pitcher and ACC Tournament MVP in earned its third league title in four John Hendricks. 1989 Wake Forest 35 23 0 .603 years. Among active coaches in the In 1999, Greer led the Demon Deacons to a 1990 Wake Forest 35 24 2 .590 ACC, only Greer and Florida State’s school-record 16 ACC wins and a second place fin- 1991 Wake Forest 37 22 0 .627 Mike Martin have won three rings. ish in the ACC, the school’s best regular-season 1992 Wake Forest 36 22 0 .621 The year 2001 was a banner year for league finish since 1979. He molded the Wake 1993 Wake Forest 31 22 0 .585 the program but especially for Greer. Forest lineup into one of the most potent in the 1994 Wake Forest 37 20 0 .649 During the course of the season, he ACC, as the Deacs hit .329 as a team, scored a 1995 Wake Forest 34 24 0 .586 picked up career win number 600 and school-record 8.7 runs per game, won a school- 1996 Wake Forest 26 32 0 .448 record 47 games and earned a top-10 national rank- also his 500th win as the Wake Forest 1997 Wake Forest 37 20 0 .649 skipper. ing. Three of his players - Palmieri, Mike 1998 Wake Forest 43 23 0 .652 As a team in 2001, the Deacons won MacDougal and Danny Borrell - earned All- 44 games en route to an ACC American honors and MacDougal became the sec- 1999 Wake Forest 47 16 0 .746 Championship and a berth in the NCAA ond first-round draft pick in school history when he 2000 Wake Forest 41 20 1 .669 Tournament for the fourth straight sea- was selected 25th by the Kansas City Royals. 2001 Wake Forest 44 18 0 .710 son. Andrew Riepe was named the ACC Tournament’s 2002 Wake Forest 47 13 1 .779 In 2000, the Demon Deacons won Most Valuable Player. 2003 Wake Forest 29 24 0 .547 40 games for the third year in a row. In In 2000, Wake Forest posted a 41-20-1 record Division I Totals 697 471 8 .596 1999, Greer’s team won its second and a fourth-place finish in the ACC. The Deacons Davidson (6 yrs) 106 122 4 .466 straight ACC championship and won were backed by the strong arms of first-team All- Wake Forest (16 yrs) 591 349 4 .628 47 games. In 1998, Wake ACC selection Scott Siemon, freshman All- Avery Point (9 yrs) 155 52 3 .745 Forest captured the American Ben Clayton and Borrell, who was draft- Cotuit (Cape Cod, 9 yrs) 213 143 21 .593 school’s first ACC title in ed in the second round by the New York Yankees. 10 Wake Forest Baseball Head Coach George Greer ther acclaim as captain of the USA’s gold- medal winning Pan Am Games team in 1967. His penchant for winning has rubbed off on his players whether at Cotuit of the Cape Cod League - where he won three All-Cape cham- pionships and one regular season title - Connecticut - Avery Point, winning nine titles in nine years, Davidson, or Wake Forest. Before coming to WFU, Greer was head coach at Davidson and succeeded in getting that program to a competitive level. By the time he left in the summer of 1987, Greer had three straight 20-win seasons under his belt, including a then-record 25 wins his final year. Greer broke into coaching in 1972 when he started the program at Connecticut-Avery Point from scratch. His ability to judge talent was immediately evidenced as he posted an impressive 155-52-3 record in eight seasons, highlighted by a 31-6 record in 1981. While many great moments have occurred during his collegiate coaching career, Greer is George Greer is one of just six coaches in the 51-year history of the Atlantic Coast still remembered for the outstanding teams Conference to lead his team to three ACC Championships (1998, 1999, 2001). that he coached on Cape Cod. As manager of Cotuit for nine years, Greer Americans in his tenure at Wake Forest. Billy Corey Slavik (1998), Ben Clayton (2000), was named Coach of the Year twice, including Masse (1988), Warren Sawkiw (1989), John D’Antona (2001), Sleeth (2001), Adam Hanson his first season, in addition to his league Hendricks (1998), Jon Palmieri (1999), Mike (2001), Steve LeFaivre (2001), Josh Hansen championships. Greer’s career record at MacDougal (1999), Cory Sullivan (2001), Dave (2001), Ben Ingold (2002), Daniel Davidson Cotuit was 213-143-21. Bush (2002) and Jamie D’Antona (2003) were (2002) and Tim Morley (2002) were Freshman Major league stars such as Ron Darling, first-team choices, while Chris Kowilcik All-Americans. Greg Vaughn, Will Clark, John Franco and (1992), Bret Wagner (1994), Palmieri (1998), All-Americans are something Greer knows Terry Steinbach have all benefited from Danny Borrell (1999), Sullivan (2000), Adam a lot about.