|
|
Karl Kuhn
Associate Head Coach - Recruiting Coordinator
Florida, 1992
Seventh Season at UALR
|
During his seven-year tenure as the associate head
baseball coach and recruiting coordinator for the University of Arkansas
at Little Rock, Karl Kuhn has left his mark on the Trojans baseball
program.
Kuhn was head coach Brian Rhees' first hire at
UALR, when he arrived for the 1997 season.
Players recruited by Kuhn have set 52 individual school records and
11 team records including the most wins in school history.
Kuhn recruited the first All-American in school history and has had
13 players sign professional contracts.
In addition to his recruiting duties, Kuhn manages
all aspects of the Trojans pitching staff.
“I feel very fortunate to have Karl as a part of
our staff,” UALR head coach Brian Rhees said. “He is an excellent
instructor of pitching and combines his wealth of knowledge with an
unparalleled enthusiasm. He is also establishing himself as one of the
premier recruiters in college baseball.”
2003 saw the Trojans reach 30 wins for the second
time in four seasons. All three members of the Trojans who earned
all-conference honors were newcomers recruited by Kuhn.
Catcher Rick Guarno was the highest draft pick in the
state of Arkansas when the Colorado Rockies selected him in the fourth
round after earning first-team All-Sun Belt honors.
Joining Guarno on the all-conference team were Chris Julo, who's
61 RBI's set the UALR single season record and Aaron Haefele who also
earned Sun Belt Player of the Week honors.
Kuhn also successfully converted Brad Cherry, one of
the best closers in the Sun Belt, into a starting role.
Cherry set a school record with 108 strikeouts during the season
and was named Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week twice.
Kuhn's efforts in 2002 helped transform Cherry into
one of the top closers in the Sun Belt Conference.
Cherry earned All-Sun Belt Conference honors and set a school
record by recording 13.05 strikeouts per nine innings.
Kuhn also signed Kevin Kouzmanoff who would go on to set the UALR
single season RBI record and become the Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of
the Year.
The 2001 season saw four of Kuhn's recruits sign
contracts with Major League Baseball teams.
Derin McMains (11th round) and Miguel Miranda (21st
round) were both drafted by the San Francisco Giants, Michael Johnson (17th
round) was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chris Hall signed with
the St. Louis Cardinals as an undrafted free agent.
The 2000 season was the most successful year ever for
UALR baseball. This breakthrough year saw associate head coach Karl
Kuhn's pitching staff break 23 school records. The pitching staff had
two pitchers named as conference pitchers of the week for the first time
ever as well as having two pitchers set new school records for most wins
in a season. The 2000 staff also had the second-best ERA in the
conference, trailing only Louisiana-Lafayette, which ranked fifth-best ERA
in the nation.
Among the pitching records broken during the 2000
Trojan campaign:
Most wins in a season, individual – 9, by Jacob
Anderson and Carl Rowland;
Most strikeouts in a season, team – 356
Most strikeouts in a season, individual – 94,
Rowland
Most career strikeouts – 286, Rowland
Most appearances in a season – 33, Ryan McMains
Most innings pitched, season – 113.2, Rowland
Most career innings pitched – 391.1, Rowland
Five pitchers, all seniors, combined to throw 81
percent of the innings in 2000.
Three of those seniors went on to play professional
ball in the summer. Ryan McMains was named Rookie of the Year for the
Madison Black Wolf of the Northern League. Carl Rowland pitched at Johnson
City in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, and Jacob Anderson joined
McMains on the Madison squad.
“Karl Kuhn is one of the best young pitching minds
in collegiate baseball today,” said Tom House, a former Major League
pitching coach.
Besides his duties handling the pitching staff, Kuhn
also oversees recruiting for the Trojans. Five of Kuhn's recruiting
classes have been ranked in the top 100 nationally by Collegiate Baseball
magazine.
The 1997 recruiting class included five players who
were chosen in the Major league draft, and marked the highest-ranked
recruiting class ever at UALR at 35th in the country. The 1998 and '99
classes ranked 61st and 67th respectively. Recently, the 2000 recruiting
class was ranked 87th and the 2001 class was ranked 75th by Collegiate
Baseball.
Before coming to UALR, Kuhn spent three years as
pitching coach at Charleston Southern University. Under his leadership,
the pitching staff led CSU to its first baseball conference championship
in school history. The staff finished with a 4.53 ERA, which was second in
the conference, and led the conference in strikeouts per game and fewest
walks per game.
CSU pitchers also broke 17 school records during
Kuhn's tenure there, including most team strikeouts with 404 in 1996.
Four of Kuhn's players were also named Pitcher of the Week during the
season, a first in the school's history.
Kuhn also worked at Valencia Community College in
Orlando, Fla. Prior to that, he was pitching coach for two years at
Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Fla.
The Kuhn File
BORN: January 16, 1969
HIGH SCHOOL: Buchholz High School, Gainesville, Florida,
1987
COLLEGE: University of Florida, 1992
PLAYING CAREER: Valencia Community College, 1987-89;
University of Florida, 1990
COACHING CAREER: Assistant Coach, Buchholz High School;
Assistant Coach, Valencia Community College; Assistant Coach, Charleston
Southern University; Head Coach, Winchester Royals (Virginia Valley
League); Assistant Coach, University of Arkansas-Little Rock; Associate
Head Coach, University of Arkansas-Little Rock.
