May 24, 2012

Riginos takes over at Winthrop

Winthrop introduced Tom Riginos as its new head baseball coach Wednesday.  Riginos is replacing Joe Hudak as the Eagles head coach.  He has spent the past eight seasons working under Jack Leggett at Clemson.  He was the Tigers recruiting coordinator the past two years.

You can listen to Riginos introductory news conference below, courtesy of SCRN affillaite WRHI in Rock Hill.

Tom Riginos press conference

tom riginos 8-4

Winthrop hires Clemson’s Riginos

The Associated Press is reporting that Winthrop has hired Clemson assistant Tom Riginos to become their new head baseball coach.

An initial announcement was made this morning that Winthrop had offered the position to Riginos, but the school has since announced that he is accepting the job.  Riginos has spent the past eight seasons working under coach Jack Leggett with the Tigers.  He was the team’s recruiting coordinator and associate head coach.  He also helped work with batting and play in the outfield, and helped lead the team to two College World Series appearances.

This will be the first head coaching opportunity for Riginos, but Winthrop athletic director Tom Hickman is confident Riginos will have no problem attracting high caliber recruits to the program.

Hickman fired former head coach Joe Hudak after 19 seasons with the Eagles.  They were 27-30 overall during his final season, while posting a 13-14 record within the Big South Conference.

Clemson’s Riginos offered Winthrop job

Tom Riginos

Tom Riginos

Clemson associate head baseball coach Tom Riginos has been offered the head coaching job at Winthrop.  Riginos said this afternoon that he is weighing whether or not to accept the Eagles offer. He could have a decision in the next couple of days.

Riginos is 42 years old and has been at Clemson for the past eight seasons.  He has been the Tigers recruiting coordinator for the past two years. Clemson’s recruiting classes have been ranked in the top 25 each of those two years.

Winthrop is searching for a replacement for Joe Hudak, who was fired after 19 seasons in the Eagles dugout.  Current USC associate head coach Chad Holbrook was also a candidate for the Eagles job until he pulled his name out of consideration last week.

SportsTalk Rewind 06.09.09

In case you missed them or want to hear them again, here are some of Tuesday night’s highlights.