Wayne Graham

College coach infobox
Name = Wayne Graham

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Title = Head Coach
College = Rice
Sport = College baseball
Conference = C-USA
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DateOfBirth = Birth date and age|1936|4|6
Birthplace = Yoakum, Texas
DateOfDeath =
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Championships = 1985 NJCAA World Series
1986 NJCAA World Series
1987 NJCAA World Series
1989 NJCAA World Series
1990 NJCAA World Series
2003 College World Series
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Player = y
Years = 1956-1957
Team = Texas
Position = Third base/Outfield
Coach = y
CoachYears = 1981-1991
1992-Present
CoachTeams = San Jacinto
Rice
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Wayne Graham (born April 6, 1936 in Yoakum, Texas) is a former major-league baseball player and the college baseball coach of the Rice Owls baseball team in Houston, Texas.

Playing career

Graham attended Reagan High School in Houston and played college baseball at the University of Texas, where he played two seasons under coach Bibb Falk.

Graham then played 11 years as a professional with the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets organizations, including brief major-league stints in 1963 and 1964. He was named Texas minor league player of the year in 1962 after hitting .311 for Dallas-Fort Worth. Graham was called up to the Phillies in 1963 and played in 10 games under manager Gene Mauch. One year later, Graham appeared in 20 games for the Mets under legendary Casey Stengel.

Coaching career

High School

When his playing career ended, Graham returned to the University of Texas to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education in 1970, and he later added a Master's Degree in education at the University of Houston in 1973.

His coaching career began at Scarborough High School in Houston. Graham coached for nine seasons at Scarborough and one year at Spring Branch Memorial before moving on to coach junior college baseball at San Jacinto College in Houston.

an Jac

Beginning in 1981, Graham turned San Jac into the nation's most dominant JUCO baseball team. After regular conference titles in Graham's first few seasons, the Gators became a dominant force in 1984 when they began a run of seven consecutive 50-win seasons and berths in the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado.

After losing in the 1984 championship game, San Jac won three consecutive titles from 1985-87. After falling short again in 1988, the Gators went back-to-back in 1989-90. Those five national titles in six years eventually led to Graham being named Junior College Coach of the Century by "Collegiate Baseball".

In his 11 seasons at San Jac, Graham earned five national coach of the year awards and produced countless professional players, most notably Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.

Rice

Graham took over at Rice in 1992 and, as at San Jac, turned the program into a national powerhouse. A program that had never before qualified for the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament has made 13 consecutive tournament appearances (1995-2007) and won 12 consecutive conference championships (1996-2007) in three different conferences (Southwest Conference, Western Athletic Conference, Conference USA). Rice has also been to the College World Series seven times (1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008). Graham's crowning achievement was the 2003 College World Series, in which Rice won its first national championship in any sport. Not one to rest on his laurels, Graham quipped during a post-game interview, "We want to do it again."

One year later, Graham once again presided over history, as three Rice pitchers were drafted in the first eight picks of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft, the only time three teammates have ever been selected in the first round.

Graham's Rice teams have produced first-round picks Jose Cruz, Jr. (1995), Matt Anderson (1997), Lance Berkman (1997), Bubba Crosby (1998), Kenny Baugh (2001), Jon Skaggs (2001), David Aardsma (2003), Philip Humber (2004), Jeff Niemann (2004), Wade Townsend (2004, 2005) and Joe Savery (2007). Eight of those players have been pitchers, and Graham is known for developing players that went undrafted out of high school, such as Niemann and Townsend.

Graham was also largely responsible for Rice's on-campus baseball stadium, Reckling Park, being built in 2000. The facility seats more than 5,000 fans and is one of the finest in the country.

Now in his 70s, Graham is one of the most distinctive and most quotable coaches in baseball. He won his 700th Division I game during the 2007 season and has more than 1,300 wins as a collegiate head coach.

Head Coaching Records

References

*cite web
url=http://riceowls.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/graham_wayne00.html
title=Wayne Graham
publisher=Rice Owls
accessdate=2007-06-19