Oct. 29, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Head baseball coach Rob Cooper earned one of the highest honors of his profession on Tuesday, as he was announced as the Rod Dedeaux USA Baseball Coach of the Year. Cooper becomes the 16th individual in the award's history to receive the honor.
"I am extremely humbled and honored to be named USA Baseball Coach of the Year," said Cooper. "To receive an award named after a coaching legend, such as Rod Dedeaux is a once in a lifetime honor. I am so thankful to USA Baseball, Brant Ust, and Dr. Joyner for the opportunity to represent our country."
The honor is bestowed annually in conjunction with the U.S. Olympic Committee. The USA Baseball Coach of the Year award is given to the National Team manager or coach who expects excellence out of his players; a coach who not only strives for his players to succeed but to become better human beings as well. The award was first presented in 1996.
Cooper steered the 18U National Team to an 8-1 record in World Cup play, including seven consecutive victories to finish out the gold-medal run. Cooper will be presented with the Rod Dedeaux USA Baseball Coach of the Year Award on July 17, 2014 at the Rod Dedeaux Foundation Dinner hosted at the downtown Jonathan Club in Los Angeles.
"Coach Cooper and the 18U National Team continued the high-level of success that program has come to expect the last couple of years," said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball's Executive Director/CEO. "We had a remarkable summer across all our amateur programs and have a well-deserving group of winners being honored.
The 18U National Team that Cooper coached received many of the USA Baseball top awards. To go along with Cooper's Rob Dedeaux USA Baseball Coach of the Year accolade, the 18U National Team was recognized as USA Baseball's Team of the Year and a member from the team captured the International Performance of the Year.
"I want to thank the twenty young men and my coaching staff who made this all happen. It was a truly special group of young men... a Band of Brothers!"
Cooper was named Penn State's head baseball coach on August 19, 2013, becoming the 14th coach in the 125-year history of the Nittany Lion baseball program. Cooper came to Happy Valley after a successful nine year stint as the head coach at Wright State.