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College Baseball Daily is reporting Wayne Graham will not return for the 2019 season. (Link)
Graham has taken Rice to the NCAA Tournament for the past 23 consecutive seasons, including the Owls' first-ever tournament appearance in 1995.
And won a national title in 2003, Rice is only behind Texas as far as prestige goes, followed by TCU, Baylor, A&M and Tech. In that order. They havent missed a tourney since 1995.

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27 minutes ago, Dewey said:

And won a national title in 2003, Rice is only behind Texas as far as prestige goes, followed by TCU, Baylor, A&M and Tech. In that order. They havent missed a tourney since 1995.

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I was told by the SEC network that A&M is a blue blood. 

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1 hour ago, Dewey said:

And won a national title in 2003, Rice is only behind Texas as far as prestige goes, followed by TCU, Baylor, A&M and Tech. In that order. They havent missed a tourney since 1995.

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I don't think I would put aggy ahead of Tech at this point.

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A&M is probably ahead of Tech currently in terms of baseball prestige. 

Tech is 1-4 in 2 CWS appearances and A&M is 2-12 in 6 CWS appearances. Both don't have much history at all. With that said, Tadlock is a good coach so it will only be a matter of time until Tech passes A&M in terms of prestige. 

You can probably make an argument that Houston is ahead of A&M. They have more CWS wins. I tend to judge "prestige" off titles and who wins at the CWS. 

Edited by texasstrong12
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Wayne Graham is an alumni of Texas, playing baseball for coach Falk  '56-'57. What makes me love him is during the '02 CWS, he got out of the way of the play from third to home when he was in the coaches box and could have blocked it.  We've all seen coaches pull that kind of shit.  To coin a phrase he's a "Longhorn Legend" to me.

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Also, from the article, Rice has a losing record at 16-23.  It would appear then that baseball in the state of Texas is a little bit down (or a lot).  Talent maybe getting spread a little thin with all the prominent and semi-prominent programs in the state?

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Not surprised given his age and the recent decline of Rice baseball.

 

46 minutes ago, Southernthunder said:

Lance Berkman next going to take over? 

Doubtful, I could see them going after the Sam Houston coach Matt Deggs.

 

 

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4 hours ago, Dry Elbows said:

Don't think so. I've heard that while some alums want him, the school does not like his political beliefs. 

Didn't he also express zero interest in helping Wayne Graham out who basically held an open invitation for him?

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6 hours ago, petscii said:

Didn't he also express zero interest in helping Wayne Graham out who basically held an open invitation for him?

Lot of rumors.   In 2014, he served as a volunteer assistant while completing his degree.    Story I heard/read was that he and Graham differed on hitting techniques.

In 2015, he and Andy Pettitte became high school coaches at Second Baptist.     Lance is still there I believe ?

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3 hours ago, torre said:

Lot of rumors.   In 2014, he served as a volunteer assistant while completing his degree.    Story I heard/read was that he and Graham differed on hitting techniques.

In 2015, he and Andy Pettitte became high school coaches at Second Baptist.     Lance is still there I believe ?

He is still at 2nd.  Not sure if Pettitte is still with him.

Edited by 66BUFF
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3 hours ago, torre said:

Lot of rumors.   In 2014, he served as a volunteer assistant while completing his degree.    Story I heard/read was that he and Graham differed on hitting techniques.

In 2015, he and Andy Pettitte became high school coaches at Second Baptist.     Lance is still there I believe ?

Pettite was there last year, but not sure about this year.  The other assistant is Raynor Noble.

 

Story on why Lance is not at Rice.  He did work under Wayne for a bit, but Wayne pulled him aside and said he didn't want Lance messing with the lower body of his hitters.  He could only work on the arm action in the swing.  Lance supposedly said to him that he had 366 career Home Runs, how many did you have?....knowing full well Wayne had Zero.  Lance walked out, never to be seen from again.

Edited by MAROON
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1 hour ago, DanRydell said:

Berkman definitely seems like the kind of asshole that would campaign for his former coach's job.

Graham built their program but he has started the process of burning it down.  I don't blame Berkman, he wants to get it back to where Graham had it in the mid 2000's

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3 hours ago, RiceOwl said:

He’s officially gone. 

Time to rejuvenate the program... Not sure if Berkman is the right guy or not but a change was needed.

Thanks for many great years, Coach Graham!

  Doesn't sound like the parting is mutual.    Hope Wayne accepts the decision, difficult as it is, and ends his career on a positive note with proper accolades. 

 

Quote

Graham tells TV station 2018 season to be his last at Rice

The Associated Press
Updated 21 minutes ago
HOUSTON — 

Longtime Rice coach Wayne Graham has told a Houston television station his contract won't be renewed after this season.

The Owls are 16-23-2 with four weeks left in the regular season and are in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 24 years. They haven't advanced past regionals since 2013 or played in the College World Series since 2008. They won the national championship in 2003.

The 82-year-old Graham told KRIV-TV athletic director Joe Karlgaard informed him his contract, which expires after the season, wouldn't be renewed. Karlgaard said in a statement he doesn't comment publicly on personnel matters. Graham hasn't responded to phone or text messages.

Graham has won more than 1,100 games in 27 years at Rice.

 

Edited by torre
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

An era has ended.    Hope he receives due accolades from Rice.

 

Quote

Biloxi, Miss. -- The Rice baseball team fell to FAU 9-8 in 10 innings early Sunday morning in an elimination game at the Conference USA Championship in Biloxi, Mississippi. The Owls' 2018 season has come to an end, and it also marks the end of the sensational Wayne Graham era at Rice University.

http://www.riceowls.com/sports/m-basebl/recaps/052718aaa.html

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  • 2 weeks later...

Matt Bragga has some huge shoes to fill following behind Wayne Graham. I don't wish him success on the account of Wayne Graham being a Longhorn Legend that earned Rice its only major sports championship ever and his dipshit team throwing the Horns down. 

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6 minutes ago, Tony Soprano said:

Seems like a really good guy. Great hire for Rice. I wish him and the Owls well.

This !

Key will be hiring the staff.    Impressed with his media interviews at the SR.    He knows and respects the game. 

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49 minutes ago, RiceOwl said:

Very happy! UT opens @Rice next year so he’ll get a second shot at them (albeit with lower stakes).

As someone who spends the entire off-season obsessive compulsively  tracking schedules for UT's next season games.  Got a source url for that?

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On 6/15/2018 at 5:08 PM, RiceOwl said:

Very happy! UT opens @Rice next year so he’ll get a second shot at them (albeit with lower stakes).

This is probably correct.   We owe them a weekend visit since they were here in '17.

'17 was a 4 game series (DH Sat).     

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2 hours ago, torre said:

This is probably correct.   We owe them a weekend visit since they were here in '17.

'17 was a 4 game series (DH Sat).     

No, this actually a new series from what I understand. The ‘17 series was a return for the ‘15 series at Reckling.

Rice is either at the Disch in 2019 or 2020 to return this upcoming one.

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