2011 - 2012 ODU Athletics

HEAD COACH First Season CHRIS FINWOOD Chris Finwood, who guided Western Kentucky the past six years as head coach and the 2009 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, is in his first year ODU's new head coach. In six seasons, the Hilltoppers witnessed unprecedented success under Finwood, a Hampton, Va. (Hampton High) native. Magical postseason runs in 2008 and 2009, both in the Sun Belt and NCAA Tournaments, highlighted the Finwood era, as he compiled a 190-154 record at the Bowling Green, KY. school. His 2009 squad reached the Regional final in Oxford, MS. "Obviously I have great admiration and respect for Coach Finwood having hired him at WKU six years ago while spending five of those years working together to grow WKU baseball," said Selig. "Coach Finwood and success are synonymous. His teams represent themselves exceptionally well academically, athletically, and within the community. "He preaches defense and plays a scrappy and exciting brand of baseball that will be very popular among baseball fans. Coach Finwood and his family will quickly become visible and vital members of our community and we look forward to welcoming them back home to Hampton Roads. This is an exciting day for ODU baseball and baseball in general throughout our region of the Commonwealth." WKU captured the 2008 Sun Belt championship and in 2009, en route to notching the program's first 40-win season in 21 years and fifth overall, Finwood's club earned a share of WKU's first-ever Sun Belt Conference Regular Season Championship that same season. WKU also achieved more "firsts" with back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament, including the program's first at-large invitation (2009). "I am so excited and proud to be the head baseball coach at Old Dominion University," said Finwood. "I want to thank President Broderick and Dr. Selig for their confidence in me and I will work tirelessly to make everyone associated with the Old Dominion baseball program proud. I am really looking forward to working with Dr. Selig again. I see great things in our future here and am extremely excited to be a part of it." Under Finwood, Western Kentucky has had 17 players drafted in the last three years, the most in the Sun Belt Conference, including the school's first - first round draft pick. Throughout his career, Finwood has coached more than 55 players who have gone on to sign professional contracts, which includes three Major Leaguers. Academics have also been a priority for Finwood's student- athletes at WKU. In 2009-10 71 percent of his players recorded a GPA of at-least 3.0 and four earned a perfect 4.0. In 2011, the Hilltoppers catcher, Matt Rice had a perfect 4.0 GPA in Mechanical engineering and was named the Capital One (CoSIDA) Academic All-American of the Year, and was also a first team All-Sun Belt catcher. The Hilltoppers team had the highest GPA of any WKU men's squad at 3.12 this year. Prior to his stint at Western Kentucky, Finwood served as an assistant coach for five seasons and helped lead the Tigers to three NCAA Regionals in his first four seasons. In his five seasons at Auburn, he oversaw a defense that posted the two best fielding percentages in school history, finishing at .970 in 2002 and .968 in 2003. The 2002 fielding percentage also ranked second in the SEC and 12th nationally. Prior to joining the staff at Auburn Finwood spent six seasons at Virginia Commonwealth -- four seasons as an assistant (1995-98) before serving as the Rams' associate head coach in 1999 and 2000. Finwood helped guide VCU to a 219-139 record in six years in Richmond. In his six seasons, VCU claimed Colonial Athletic Association regular-season titles in 1997 and `98. The Rams also earned trips to the NCAA Tournament in 1998 and `99, winning 40-plus games each season including a school-record 46 victories during the `98 campaign. Finwood began his coaching career at his alma mater -- Virginia Military Institute -- serving as an assistant for three seasons before taking over the head coaching duties from 1992-94. After inheriting a VMI team that had won just two games the year before, Finwood led the Keydets to a school-record 21 wins in `93 and `94 and a berth in the 1993 Southern Conference Tournament championship game. "My wife, Annette and myself are really looking forward to getting back to the Hampton Roads area where we grew up and there are so many people who we can't wait to see again," said Finwood. "The support and love for baseball in Tidewater Va. is one of the things that makes this such a great job." Finwood is 13th head baseball coach in ODU history. He and his wife Annette have two children -- a daughter, Riley, and son, Greyson.

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