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Rice Baseball: “Dreams do come true” for Jose Cruz Jr.

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Rice baseball officially welcomed Jose Cruz Jr. as its 22nd head coach, a moment that sparked hope and excitement in the Owls’ fanbase.

Flanked by his family, Jose Cruz Jr. was officially welcomed as the 22nd Rice baseball head coach on Tuesday evening. Donning a No. 22 jersey just like his playing days, the newest Owl coach flashed a familiar smile, delivering a confident, almost whimsical remark: “Hey, dreams do come true.”

In his introductions, athletic director Joe Karlgaard was crystal clear regarding the significance that Cruz has already had on South Main, calling him “one of the architects” that built Rice baseball into an Omaha-caliber program. Cruz didn’t stray far from his roots in his return to Houston, and in Karlgaard’s own estimation, “there weren’t many people who’d seen more Rice baseball games over the past five or six years than Jose.”

Cruz will have a much closer view the next time he walks through the gates of Reckling Park. For the time being, he’s been on the phone with his team. He already knows a good portion of the roster from his time around the ballpark. Now he’s going deeper, sharing his vision and talking about what he intends to build at South Main.

As for his coaching style, Cruz tipped his cap to former Houston Astros’ manager and current Detroit Tiger skipper, AJ Hinch for his teaching in recent months, saying he’s learned a lot from Hinch and others over his career in baseball.

More: Roost Podcast – Rice baseball to hire Jose Cruz Jr.

When it comes to how Cruz intends to run the ship, he plans to draw from several of those lessons learned along the way. “There’s some old school to it.” Cruz said of his coaching philosophy, “but it’s more of a modern style.” He went on to add that he’s “not going to be a big yeller about stuff”, stressing instead that he’ll focus on development and giving his players “the best possible opportunity” for success.”

With the pleasantries exchanged and opening remarks nearly finished, Cruz still wore his resolute smile. “We’re going to be closer to what we’re talking about being here at Rice,” he said, looking expectantly toward the future. A day both Jose Cruz Jr., and the Rice baseball family, are eager to embrace.

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BREAKING: Jose Cruz Jr to be named Owls Rice baseball head coach

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A fan-favorite and productive player for the Owls many years ago, Rice baseball is expected to hire Jose Cruz Jr. as their next head coach.

A little more than two weeks from the start of their search, Rice baseball has a new head coach. The Owls will tab Jose Cruz Jr. to run their program.

Rice had options when it came to its coaching search. The Owls could have sought out an established assistant and were linked to some noteworthy candidates in recent weeks. Instead, Rice will return to its roots. Cruz. Jr checks both boxes given his relationship with the program’s past and present as well as experience playing and coaching at the highest levels.

Cruz Jr. returns to South Main where he first made his name for himself on the diamond. A three-time All-American with the Owls, Cruz Jr. went on to be selected as the No. 3 overall pick in the 1995 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners. He went on  to play for several teams in his 12 year MLB career, spending most of his time with the Toronto Blue Jays.

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He most recently accepted a job as a hitting coach with the Detroit Tigers in December of 2020 where his son, Trei Cruz, was recently selected as a third round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.

In addition to his time as a player at Rice, Cruz Jr. has been a fixture around Reckling Park in recent seasons. His sons Trei and Antonio Cruz were both members of the Owls’ team in recent seasons, giving Cruz Jr. ample reason to frequent campus and stay in touch with the program that he’ll now take over full time.

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Conference USA Football: Unpacking the Transfer Portal in 2021

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Each Conference USA Football program has approached the Transfer Portal in different ways. Here’s the latest snapshot following the 2021 class.

The Transfer Portal never had anything near the level of discretion that might have been intended when it was launched a few short years ago. Players that enter and exit the portal are tracked publicly, with sites like 247 Sports and Rivals keeping tabs on their movements.

With data on the 2021 cycle nearly complete and offseason programs approaching, now seemed like an appropriate time to take stock of that latest from Conference USA football programs and the Transfer Portal.

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Rice Baseball moves on from Matt Bragga after three seasons

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Rice baseball has parted ways with head coach Matt Bragga after three seasons, the school announced on Monday.

When it comes to the coaching profession, there’s a saying that rings particularly true today. “You don’t want to be the guy who follows a legend, you want to be the guy who follows the guy who follows the legend.” Three seasons removed from the end of the Wayne Graham era, Rice baseball has announced they are moving on from his successor, Matt Bragga.

Bragga took over the program prior to the 2019 season after a successful run at Tennessee Tech that ended one win shy of a trip to the College World Series in 2018. He then arrived at South Main where he went 51-76-1 over the three years that followed, including a 23-29-1 record in 2021. The Owls missed the Conference USA Tournament this season for the first time since 1993.

Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard issue this statement on the decision:

“Matt Bragga is a dedicated coach who brought a track record of success with him to Rice,” Karlgaard said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t seen enough improvement in our program for us to move forward together. We thank him for his efforts to bring Rice baseball back to the postseason and wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”

In his media session following the announcement, Karlgaard detailed further why the decision to move on from Bragga had been made. “It has more to do with the approach that we think we need to take,” Karlgaard said, “We just felt like we needed to make that decision now so that we could change the trajectory and get things headed in the right direction as quickly as possible.”

Karlgaard indicated the beginnings of a search had not yet begun but estimated the hunt for the Owls’ next skipper will be swift. “It’s certainly possible we could be done in 10 days” Karlgaard divulged, setting the longer, and more probable bound, at three or so weeks “depending on who emerges from our candidate pool and whether or not they’re still playing.”

Bragga was hired in the midst of the 2018 postseason in between the Super Regional round and the College World Series. Hiring someone in the midst of a postseason run would be well within the realm of possibilities. But, as indicated by the lower bound Karlgaard himself gauged, those currently free to interview would also be on the table.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Where are 2018 decommits now?

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There were a host of decommitments in the 2018 Rice Football recruiting class. Where are those players now? Did the Owls miss out or luck out?

The 2018 Rice football recruiting class was impacted by the biggest transition Rice had seen in more than a decade. On November 27, the Owls dismissed head coach David Bailiff. The Owls lost several commits after that decision and a few in the months and weeks before.

According to 247 Sports, Rice had nine decommitments during the cycle. Where are those players now?

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