Current position | |
---|---|
Title | VP of Business Development - Coaches/Academy |
Team | 3D Sports Partners, Inc |
Biographical details | |
Born | April 29, 1964 |
Playing career | |
1984 | Connors State |
1985 | Western Oklahoma State |
1987–1988 | Oklahoma State |
Position(s) | 3B, C |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1994 | Indianapolis (Asst.) |
1995–1996 | Kansas State (Asst.) |
1997–2000 | New Mexico State |
2003–2014 | New Mexico State |
Rocky Ward is an American college baseball coach, most recently the head coach of the New Mexico State Aggies baseball program He was given that position before the 2003 season and left after the 2014 season to join Hittinguru 3D. He had previously had the same position from 1997 through 2000. In the intervening years, his father, Hall-of-Famer Gary Ward, worked as head coach of the Aggies while Rocky assisted. [1] [2]
Ward first enrolled at Connors State, which compiled at 72–13 record in 1985. He then played one season at Western Oklahoma State before completing his eligibility at Oklahoma State while playing for his father. In his two seasons in Stillwater, the Cowboys reached the 1987 College World Series final and amassed a 61–8 record in 1988 and were at the top the Baseball America poll for 12 weeks. [1]
After graduating from Oklahoma State, Ward established the Mid-America Baseball School, and was marketing director and an instructor with the program which helped develop the skills of young players until 1994, when he became an assistant coach at Indianapolis. After one season with the Greyhounds, he moved to Kansas State, where he spent two years as recruiting co-ordinator and worked with infielders and hitters. He earned the head coaching position at New Mexico State beginning in 1997 and completed four seasons before giving way to his father. [3] After two seasons as an assistant, he was again in charge of the Aggies. Since then, New Mexico State has appeared in the NCAA Tournament twice and won the Western Athletic Conference regular season title once. [1]
Ward left at the end of the 2014 season as the most successful coach in NMSU history (455), the most All-Americans (10), the most post-season appearances (11), the most NCAA tournament appearances (3). He is now the CEO of Guru Products LLC which provides development and sales for Guru Training Systems based in Belgium. GTS has developed the first artificially intelligent hitting coach, called the Swinguru Hitting.[ citation needed ]
The table below reflects Ward's record as a head coach.
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New Mexico State Aggies (Big West Conference)(1997–2000) | |||||||||
1997 | New Mexico State | 21–33 | 8–22 | 4th Northern (4) | |||||
1998 | New Mexico State | 23–29 | 8–21 | 4th Northern (4) | |||||
1999 | New Mexico State | 18–38 | 7–23 | 8th (8) | |||||
2000 | New Mexico State | 19–36 | 4–26 | 8th (8) | |||||
New Mexico State: | 81–136 | 27–92 | |||||||
New Mexico State Aggies (Sun Belt Conference)(2003–2005) | |||||||||
2003 | New Mexico State | 43–18 | 15–9 | 2nd (9) | NCAA Regional | ||||
2004 | New Mexico State | 33–25–1 | 12–12 | 5th (9) | |||||
2005 | New Mexico State | 28–29 | 13–11 | 5th (9) | |||||
New Mexico State: | 104–63–1 | 40–32 | |||||||
New Mexico State Aggies (Western Athletic Conference)(2006–2014) | |||||||||
2006 | New Mexico State | 19–36 | 6–18 | 7th (7) | |||||
2007 | New Mexico State | 22–34 | 6–18 | 7th (7) | |||||
2008 | New Mexico State | 28–33 | 15–17 | 5th (7) | |||||
2009 | New Mexico State | 44–17 | 12–12 | T-3rd (7) | |||||
2010 | New Mexico State | 36–23–1 | 14–9 | T-2nd (7) | |||||
2011 | New Mexico State | 34–24 | 9–15 | 6th (7) | |||||
2012 | New Mexico State | 35–24 | 11–7 | T-1st (7) | NCAA Regional | ||||
2013 | New Mexico State | 29–28 | 13–14 | T-6th (10) | WAC Tournament [lower-alpha 1] | ||||
2014 | New Mexico State | 23–31 | 12–13 | 7th (10) | WAC Tournament [lower-alpha 2] | ||||
New Mexico State: | 260–240–1 | 98–123 | |||||||
Total: | 455–458–2 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion |
Pan American Center is a multi–purpose arena in Las Cruces, New Mexico, located on the campus of New Mexico State University. The arena has a current seating capacity of 12,515 people.
Louis Ray Henson was an American college basketball coach. He retired as the all-time leader in victories at the University of Illinois with 423 victories and New Mexico State with 289 victories. Overall, Henson won 779 games putting him in sixteenth place on the all-time list. Henson was also one of only four NCAA coaches to have amassed at least 200 total wins at two institutions. On February 17, 2015, Henson was selected as a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. In August 2015, prior to the reopening of the newly renovated State Farm Center at the University of Illinois, the hardwood floor was dedicated and renamed Lou Henson Court in his honor. The court at the Pan American Center at New Mexico State University is also named in his honor.
The New Mexico Lobos are the athletic teams that represent the University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque. The university participates in the NCAA Division I in the Mountain West Conference (MW) since 1999, after leaving the Western Athletic Conference. The university's athletic program fields teams in 16 varsity sports.
The New Mexico State University teams are called the Aggies, a nickname derived from the university's agricultural beginnings. The mascot is known as "Pistol Pete". NMSU's colors are crimson and white. Since 2005 the Aggies have competed in the Western Athletic Conference in all men's and women's sports with the exception of football in which the Aggies have been Independent since 2018. New Mexico State sponsors six men's and ten women's teams in NCAA sanctioned sports. The athletic director is Mario Moccia, who has held the position since January 2015.
The New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team represents New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1904, the Aggies currently compete in the Western Athletic Conference and last played in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2022. The Aggies are one of 34 college basketball teams with multiple NBA retired jerseys from former players and a team that reached the NCAA Final Four. The team plays home games in the Pan American Center. The Aggies' head coach is Greg Heiar.
The New Mexico State Aggies football team represents New Mexico State University in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football as an independent.
The Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball team represents Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. All women's teams at the school are known as Cowgirls. The Cowboys currently compete in the Big 12 Conference. In 2020, CBS Sports ranked Oklahoma State the 25th best college basketball program of all-time, ahead of such programs as Oklahoma and Texas. Oklahoma State men’s basketball has a very rich history of success, having won more national titles and advanced to the NCAA Championship, Final Four, Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen more times than any Big 12 program other than Kansas. Oklahoma State has won a combined 23 regular season conference titles and conference tournament titles, which is the most of any program in the state of Oklahoma. NBA greats from Oklahoma State include Cade Cunningham, Tony Allen, John Starks, Desmond Mason and Marcus Smart. Several people associated with the program in some form have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Eddie Sutton, who was inducted as a coach, is both a former player and former coach for the program. Don Haskins and Bill Self are former Cowboys players inducted as coaches for other programs. Bob Kurland was inducted as a player and Hank Iba was inducted as a coach at Oklahoma State
Neil McCarthy was an American college basketball coach. He was head coach of the Weber State Wildcats team from 1974 to 1985 and at the New Mexico State Aggies from 1985 to 1997.
The New Mexico State Aggies baseball team represents New Mexico State University, which is located in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Aggies are an NCAA Division I college baseball program that competes in the Western Athletic Conference. They began competing in Division I in 1962 and joined the Western Athletic Conference in 2006.
New Mexico Lobos baseball is a college baseball program of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Lobos have won three conference tournaments, finished first in regular season conference play eight times, and appeared in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship five times. The team plays their home games on the University of New Mexico campus at Santa Ana Star Field. Tod Brown has been the head coach of the Lobos since the 2022 season.
The 2013–14 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team represented New Mexico State University during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Aggies, led by seventh year head coach Marvin Menzies, played their home games at the Pan American Center and were members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 26–10, 12–4 in WAC play to finish in second place. They were champions of the WAC tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. In their 21st NCAA Tournament appearance, they lost in the second round to San Diego State.
The 2013–14 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2013, which was followed by the beginning of the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. The regular season title was won by the Utah Valley Wolverines, who fell to Idaho in the first round of the conference tournament. New Mexico State was crowned the conference champions for their third straight season after a 77-55 win over the Vandals.
The 2015–16 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team represented New Mexico State University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Aggies, led by ninth year head coach Marvin Menzies, played their home games at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico and were members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 23–11, 13–1 in WAC play to win the WAC regular season championship. They defeated UMKC to advance to the championship game of the WAC tournament where they lost to Cal State Bakersfield. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Saint Mary's.
The 2016–17 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team represented New Mexico State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Aggies, led by first-year head coach Paul Weir, played their home games at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico as members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 28–6, 11–3 in WAC play to finish in a tie for second place. They defeated Chicago State, UMKC, and Cal State Bakersfield to win the WAC tournament. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Baylor.
The 2008–09 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team represented New Mexico State University in the 2008–09 college basketball season. This was Marvin Menzies 2nd season as head coach. The Aggies played their home games at Pan American Center and competed in the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 17–15, 9–7 in WAC play. They lost in the 2nd round of the 2009 WAC men's basketball tournament to end the season.
The 2016–17 New Mexico State Aggies women's basketball team represented New Mexico State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Aggies, led by seventh year head coach Mark Trakh, played their home games at the Pan American Center and were members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 24–7, 14–0 in WAC play to win the regular season WAC championship. They defeated UMKC and Seattle to be champions of the WAC women's tournament. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Stanford. In that game, the Aggies nearly pulled off the monumental upset, leading 38-31 at halftime. The Cardinal cut the lead to one at the end of the third quarter before taking the lead for good halfway through the fourth.
The 2017–18 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team represented New Mexico State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Aggies, led by first-year head coach Chris Jans, played their home games at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico as members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 28–6, 12–2 in WAC play to win the WAC regular season championship. In the WAC tournament, they defeated Chicago State, Seattle, and Grand Canyon to become WAC Tournament champions. They received the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Clemson.
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Teddy Allen is an American basketball player. He played college basketball for the New Mexico State Aggies, West Virginia, Western Nebraska Community College, and Nebraska Cornhuskers. He also attended Wichita State but never played a game for the Shockers.