Rice baseball head coach David Pierce has started to assemble his coaching staff, including a former Rice assistant who is heading back to South Main.
First reported by Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball, the first additions to the Rice baseball coaching staff under David Pierce are taking shape. Rogers reports that Clay Van Hook, who spent the last two seasons across town as an assistant with Houston, will join the Owls’ staff. The report also says Pierce intends to hire J.J. Altobelli to his staff.
Van Hook served as an assistant at Rice under Wayne Graham from 2012-2017, arriving on South Main as Pierce was leaving following the 2011 season. While Van Hook was at Rice, the Owls had six consecutive postseason appearances and was part of the team that won the 2013 Oregon Regional.
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Altobelli is the son of legendary Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, who passed away in 2020 when the helicopter he was traveling on crashed in Calabasas, California. That was the same accident that led to the death of former NBA star Kobe Bryant.
After a playing career at Oregon, Altobelli joined the coaching ranks and is currently serving in the Boston Red Sox organization.
