July 1, 2008

BOCA RATON, FL - Florida Atlantic University named John McCormack as the new head baseball coach during a press conference held today in the Tom Oxley Athletic Center's Founders' Lounge, located on FAU's Boca Raton campus.

"This is a tremendous opportunity and one that I'm excited to take on," said McCormack. "Florida Atlantic baseball has a strong history, but not one that can be rested upon. I assure our fans, alumni and the community that my staff and I will work tirelessly to provide a great collegiate experience for our players and those who come to watch us play."

McCormack has been with FAU for 18 seasons, serving as the recruiting coordinator the last 16 seasons and as the associate head coach/recruiting coordinator the last 10 seasons. During that time span, 73 players have continued their baseball careers as professionals, seven earned All-America honors, six have been named Freshmen All-American and three were conference Player of the Year selections. The program has also won 658 games, appeared in seven regional tournaments, captured a Regional Tournament Title in 2002 and advanced to the Super Regional.

During his tenure, he has developed relationships with local baseball scouts, allowing players to sign with professional teams. Four have made the major league rosters. Twelve players have been drafted in the first 10 rounds, including three third-round selections and two fifth-round selections.

More importantly, in many cases a player's talent was evident only to McCormack. FAU's baseball program has been built around the premise that he would find athletes, build a program and win. That philosophy has proved successful to both the individuals who have honed their skills and to the program that has reached national acclaim.

Before joining FAU, McCormack played baseball for nearby Lynn University, where he received his bachelor's degree in business administration in 1990. At Lynn, McCormack earned All-Conference honors his junior (catcher) and senior (third base) seasons and All-Area Team MVP honors his junior season. Prior to Lynn, he attended Indian River Community College and Pope John Paul II High School.

"John is a young man who has proven his commitment to building FAU into a winning baseball program," said FAU Athletics Director Craig Angelos. "His life-long ties to the community are assets to the program, but the respect of past players, as well as high school and junior college coaches is sure to pay dividends as we grow this program into a national contender. I believe he will take us to the next level and that means Omaha."

McCormack's complete bio is available by clicking here. For photos, contact Nick Mirkovich at 561-297-3063 or nmirkovi@fau.edu. A streaming video of the press conference will be shown in its entirety following the press conference at www.fausports.com.