New Mexico St. baseball coach hired by WSU

PULLMAN, Wash. — Brian Green has been named the 17th baseball coach in Washington State history, Director of Athletics Patrick Chun announced Monday. Green will be introduced at a press conference Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the Rankich Club Room on the third floor of the Martin Stadium Press Box.

Green comes to WSU after five seasons as the head coach at his alma mater, New Mexico State, where he led the Aggies to a 2019 Western Athletic Conference regular-season championship and an NCAA Regional appearance in 2018. Green led the Aggies to 34 or more wins in each of the last four seasons and also signed four-straight nationally recognized recruiting classes along the way. Green has appeared in nine NCAA Regionals as a head coach or assistant coach at the Division I level.

“Coach Green is an exact fit for Washington State baseball,” Chun said. “He is focused on family, recruits to his core values, develops the entire student-athlete and has proven to be an extraordinary builder of teams. We welcome the Green family to the WSU family and are ecstatic to work together to add to our storied history.”

In his five years at NMSU, Green produced nine All-Americans including three 2019 first-team selections, 26 All-WAC honorees, a pair of Player of the Year selections, one Pitcher of the Year, one Freshman of the Year, and 22 WAC All-Academic selections. Since 2016, Green has helped send 12 players to the professional ranks, including a trio of top six round picks the last three years.

“It’s hard to find the words to describe my excitement level of being named the 17th head coach in Washington State baseball history!” said Green. “With the leadership team that Pat Chun has put together, the facility upgrades about to break ground, and the fact that it’s Washington State and the Pac-12, this is unbelievable. We can’t wait to immerse ourselves into this great community and get this program fired up. What a great day! Go Cougs!”

Green’s arrival follows a rough season for Cougar baseball. Four-year coach Marty Lees was fired in May, just prior to the end of a season which saw Washington State go 11-42-1 and 3-26-1 in the Pac-12.

Among the players Green will inherit are former Lake City baseball standouts Kyle Manzardo and Kodie Kolden, both of whom saw significant playing time during their freshman seasons in Pullman.

Manzardo started 45 games and appeared in seven others, batting .272 with 11 doubles and a team-best 31 RBIs. He hit two home runs this season.

Kolden started 39 games and appeared in four others. He batted .217, scored 14 runs and had 20 RBIs this season. Kolden, who primarily played at third base, made one appearance as a pitcher for the Cougars, striking out two in an inning of work.

Prior to making a return to New Mexico State, Green was an assistant coach at Kentucky for six seasons (2009-14) where he transformed the Wildcat offensive attack as UK’s offensive coordinator and infield defensive coach. Green’s dynamic offense was paced by one of the best players in the history of college baseball in 2014, two-way star and Golden Spikes Award Winner, AJ Reed. The first pick of the second round in the 2014 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros, Reed was named the Dick Howser Trophy Award winner, the Baseball America College Player of the Year, and the John Olerud Award, given to the nation’s top two-way player.

A native of Temecula, Calif., Green, 45, was a four-year assistant coach at UCLA (2005-08) before going to Kentucky as one of the top hitting instructors in college baseball. Green helped lead the Bruins to three consecutive NCAA Regional appearances and to the Super Regionals in 2007. He graduated from New Mexico State with a degree in business management in 1995 and earned his master’s degree in education from National University in 1997. He is married to the former Becki Francis and they have two daughters, Emily and Zoe.