June 22, 2011
NORFOLK, VA -- Chris Finwood, the head baseball coach at Western Kentucky the past six years and the 2009 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year has been named Old Dominion's new head baseball coach, as announced today by Director of Athletics Dr. Wood Selig.
In six seasons, the Hilltoppers witnessed unprecedented success under Finwood, a Hampton, Va. (Hampton High) native. Magical postseason runs in 2008 and 2009, both in the Sun Belt and NCAA Tournaments, highlighted the Finwood era, as he compiled a 190-154 record at the Bowling Green, KY. school. His 2009 squad reached the Regional final in Oxford, MS.
"Obviously I have great admiration and respect for Coach Finwood having hired him at WKU six years ago while spending five of those years working together to grow WKU baseball," said Selig. "Coach Finwood and success are synonymous. His teams represent themselves exceptionally well academically, athletically, and within the community.
"He preaches defense and plays a scrappy and exciting brand of baseball that will be very popular among baseball fans. Coach Finwood and his family will quickly become visible and vital members of our community and we look forward to welcoming them back home to Hampton Roads. This is an exciting day for ODU baseball and baseball in general throughout our region of the Commonwealth."
WKU captured the 2008 Sun Belt championship and in 2009, en route to notching the program's first 40-win season in 21 years and fifth overall, Finwood's club earned a share of WKU's first-ever Sun Belt Conference Regular Season Championship that same season. WKU also achieved more "firsts" with back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament, including the program's first at-large invitation (2009).
"I am so excited and proud to be the head baseball coach at Old Dominion University," said Finwood. "I want to thank President Broderick and Dr. Selig for their confidence in me and I will work tirelessly to make everyone associated with the Old Dominion baseball program proud. I am really looking forward to working with Dr. Selig again. I see great things in our future here and am extremely excited to be a part of it."
Finwood-coached squads pride themselves on defense and his 2009 team was no exception, finishing third in the nation in fielding percentage (.979). WKU's fielding percentage was nine percentage-points higher than the next-closest conference foe, and the Hilltoppers made 17 fewer errors than second-place Troy. The 2011 squad had a .976 fielding percentage which tied them for first in the Sun Belt and 15th nationally. The 2008 squad also had a .976 fielding percentage which tied them for first in the Sun Belt.
The 2011 squad won 33 games, beating NCAA participant Illinois twice. WKU also defeated Louisville, Ole Miss. and Kentucky, which was Finwood's fifth straight win against the Wildcats.
The 2010 Hilltopper team played one of the most ambitious schedules in school history, as 24 of the team's 56 games were against teams that played in the NCAA tournament. WKU had significant non-conference wins against Baylor, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Texas State and notched a pair of wins over the University of Kentucky. The Toppers' 24-8 win over Kentucky on April 20 at Bowling Green Ballpark came in front of 6,183 fans, the largest crowd to ever see a college baseball game in the state of Kentucky.
The 2009 team finished with a 42-20 record and a 21-8 mark in the Sun Belt Conference, earning a conference championship along the way, the first in Finwood's WKU tenure. That squad won three games in the NCAA tournament, which equaled the total NCAA games won by the Hilltoppers in the 100 years. WKU beat Missouri twice and host Mississippi, before losing to the Rebels in the Regional finals. The Hilltoppers were an impressive 27-3 at home, setting a new WKU record for home winning percentage in a season.
The 2008 squad went 33-27 and captured the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship and it marked the schools first winning season since 2004. The nine-game turnaround from 2008 to 2009 is tied for the fifth-best improvement from one year to the next in the 90-year history of Hilltopper baseball.
After winning just five Sun Belt Conference games in 2006, the Hilltoppers finished 15-15 in the league in 2007. The 10-win turnaround marked the biggest one-year improvement in the history of the conference. The Hilltoppers also qualified for the eight-team Sun Belt Conference Tournament all six seasons under Finwood.
Under Finwood, Western Kentucky has had 17 players drafted in the last three years, the most in the Sun Belt Conference, including the school's first - first round draft pick. Throughout his career, Finwood has coached more than 55 players who have gone on to sign professional contracts, which includes three Major Leaguers.
Academics have also been a priority for Finwood's student-athletes at WKU. In 2009-10 71 percent of his players recorded a GPA of at-least 3.0 and four earned a perfect 4.0. In 2011, the Hilltoppers catcher, Matt Rice had a perfect 4.0 GPA in Mechanical engineering and was named the Capital One (CoSIDA) Academic All-American of the Year, and was also a first team All-Sun Belt catcher. The Hilltoppers team had the highest GPA of any WKU men's squad at 3.12 this year.
"My wife, Annette and myself are really looking forward to getting back to the Hampton Roads area where we grew up and there are so many people who we can't wait to see again," said Finwood. "The support and love for baseball in Tidewater Va. is one of the things that makes this such a great job."
Prior to his stint at Western Kentucky, Finwood served as an assistant coach for five seasons and helped lead the Tigers to three NCAA Regionals in his first four seasons. During his time at Auburn, Finwood was responsible for all aspects of the Tiger defense, while also coordinating the program's recruiting efforts. In his five seasons, Auburn posted five winning campaigns and combined for 181 victories. The Tigers made the NCAA Tournament field in each of his first three seasons, earning a top-seed and hosting a regional in 2003 after a 42-21 season and second-place finish with the West Division of the Southeastern Conference. Auburn again advanced to the regionals in 2005, falling in the finals to host Florida State.
In his five seasons at Auburn, he oversaw a defense that posted the two best fielding percentages in school history, finishing at .970 in 2002 and .968 in 2003. The 2002 fielding percentage also ranked second in the SEC and 12th nationally.
Prior to joining the staff at Auburn Finwood spent six seasons at Virginia Commonwealth -- four seasons as an assistant (1995-98) before serving as the Rams' associate head coach in 1999 and 2000. Finwood helped guide VCU to a 219-139 record in six years in Richmond. In his six seasons, VCU claimed Colonial Athletic Association regular-season titles in 1997 and `98. The Rams also earned trips to the NCAA Tournament in 1998 and `99, winning 40-plus games each season including a school-record 46 victories during the `98 campaign.
Finwood began his coaching career at his alma mater -- Virginia Military Institute -- serving as an assistant for three seasons before taking over the head coaching duties from 1992-94. After inheriting a VMI team that had won just two games the year before, Finwood led the Keydets to a school-record 21 wins in `93 and `94 and a berth in the 1993 Southern Conference Tournament championship game.
A four-year starter on the field at VMI from 1985-88, Finwood was named to the Southern Conference all-Northern Division team three times. A career .300 hitter, he posted a .399 batting average as a senior -- the sixth-best average in school history. He was also named team captain during his senior season and finished his career with the Keydets ranked second in hits and runs scored. Finwood was inducted into the VMI Athletics Hall of Fame in the summer of 2003.
Finwood is 13th head baseball coach in ODU history. He and his wife Annette have two children -- a daughter, Riley, and son, Greyson.
There will be a reception to introduce Coach Finwood to the media and community on Tuesday, June 28 at 1:30 at the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex.
What Others Are Saying About Coach Finwood
"I have known Chris for a long time. He is a good person, knows the recruiting area and I think you have a very good coach. I remain ready to help him in any way possible. Good luck to all the Monarchs."
Mark Newman - Senior Vice President for Baseball Operations - New York Yankees, and former ODU baseball coach
"Chris Finwood is one of my all time favorite VMI baseball players. I recruited him out of Hampton High School to play shortstop for us and he became a four-year starter, All Southern Conference selection, and was inducted into the VMI Sports Hall of Fame. Chris was the hardest working player I had. Wood Selig was smart to hire him at Western Kentucky and even smarter hiring him at ODU."
Donny White - VMI Director of Athletics
"In my opinion Chris is one of the best five college baseball coaches in America. I'm excited for ODU and baseball."
Henry Morgan - Peninsula Pilots Owner
THE FINWOOD FILEBorn: Jan. 20, 1966 in Plattsburgh, N.Y.High School: Hampton (Va.) High SchoolHigh School Athletics: Varsity Baseball (3 years), Varsity Basketball (3 years)College: Virginia Military Institute, 1988 (BA, English)College Athletics: Baseball (1985-88), shortstop, four letters
Coaching Experience:Virginia Military Institute, Assistant Coach, 1989-90; 1991Radford, Assistant Coach, Fall 1990Virginia Military Institute, Head Coach, 1992-94Virginia Commonwealth, Assistant Coach, 1995-98Virginia Commonwealth, Associate Head Coach, 1999-2000Auburn, Assistant Coach, 2001-05Western Kentucky, Head Coach, 2005-2011
FINWOOD TEAMS IN THE NCAA2008 - Stillwater, Okla.Oklahoma State 5, WKU 3TCU 10, WKU 5
2009 - Oxford, Miss.WKU 11, Missouri 5Ole Miss 7, WKU 4WKU 11, Missouri 6WKU 10, Ole Miss 9Ole Miss 4, WKU 1 (regional final)
FINWOOD IN THE SUN BELT TOURNAMENT
2006 #8L 3-2 (10) vs. TroyL 8-6 vs. Florida International
2007 #7L 11-6 vs. New OrleansL 7-6 vs. Florida Atlantic
2008 #5W 9-0 vs. Florida AtlanticW 10-4 vs. Louisiana MonroeL 6-5 vs. Florida AtlanticW 5-4 vs. Florida AtlanticW 17-5 vs New Orleans (Finals)
2009 #2W 14-4 vs. Louisiana-MonroeW 14-11 vs. TroyL 11-3 vs. Louisiana-MonroeL 4-2 vs. Louisiana-Monroe
2010 #8
L 9-8 (13) vs. Florida AtlanticL 7-4 vs. Florida international
2011 #4W 11-10(12) vs. Florida AtlanticL 9-5 vs. Arkansas- Little RockL 4-3 vs. Troy
-ODU