BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Baseball head coach Marc Rardin was named to the Top 20 Most Impactful Coaching Hires of this offseason by D1Baseball.com. Rardin comes in at No. 11 on the list.
"Rardin has been very selective in what Division I Baseball job he would be willing to take, but WKU just felt right to him, and now he gets to try his luck at the biggest level in college baseball," said Kendall Rodgers of D1Baseball.com. "Rardin has already established himself as one of the premier coaches in the junior college ranks, earning National Coach of the Year honors three times and tallying 934 career wins at Iowa Western CC. Rardin could be a rockstar hire for the Hilltoppers."
Rardin comes to The Hill following a remarkable 20 year stint as the head baseball coach at Iowa Western Community College. In his time with the Reivers, the program won 15 Regional Championships and 12 District Championships while making 12 JUCO College World Series appearances and earning three NJCAA D1 National Championships.
Rardin accumulated a 934-252 (.788) record while at the helm of Iowa Western, good for an average of more than 46 wins, including a 452-69 (.868) conference/regional record and 122-43 (.739) record in postseason play. Over the past 20 years, no other Division I junior college baseball program has won more games or more postseason championships than Iowa Western.
That success resulted in Rardin earning three National Coach of the Year Honors, 10 District Coach of the Year awards and 12 Louisville Slugger Coach of the Year accolades. He was also a 2015 inductee into the NJCAA Hall of Fame.
Full List
1. Link Jarrett, Florida State
2. Erik Bakich, Clemson
3. Jim Foster, Northwestern
4. Shawn Stiffler, Notre Dame
5. Tracy Smith, Michigan
6. Andy Stankiewicz, USC
7. Mitch Thompson, Baylor
8. Bill Mosiello, Ohio State
9. Jason Kelly, Washington
10. Kerrick Johnson, Memphis
11. Marc Rardin, WKU
12. Dan Fitzgerald, Kansas
13. Blake Beemer, Butler
14. Greg Wallis, Grand Canyon
15. Jay Uhlman, Tulane
16. Greg Mamula, Delaware
17. Brian Hamm, Yale
18. Mike Anderson, Northern Colorado
19. Greg Beals, Akron
20. Chris Tracz, Army
How to follow WKU Baseball: For complete information on WKU Hilltopper Baseball, visit WKUSports.com or follow the program via social media @WKU_Baseball on Twitter and @WKUBaseball Instagram.
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