Former Cub Named Assistant At Rice

[BrenhamFan]

[b]Former Cub named assistant at Rice[/b]

HOUSTON - Former Brenham High School baseball and football player Clay Van Hook has joined the Rice baseball coaching staff, Rice head coach Wayne Graham announced on Tuesday.

“Clay has been coaching a few years and he’s from a baseball family who has been a student of the game his whole life,” Graham said in a statement from Rice University. “His work-ethic is off the scale. He’s been able to get the most out of his own ability and he will be able to do the same with the players around him.

“His father (former Blinn College head coach Kyle Van Hook) was an assistant coach for me at San Jacinto for two years, and we won the national championship in both years (1989 and ‘90). The Van Hook family and I are 2-0 in winning national championships,” Graham quipped.

While an assistant at McNeese State, Van Hook worked with infielders, helped with the team’s hitting, and served as the Cowboys’ third base coach. He had a role in recruiting and helped MSU post its first winning record in four years in his very first season with the program in 2010.

He played one season at Navarro College before becoming a three-year letterman at the University of Texas. Van Hook earned second team all-Big 12 honors and was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the major league draft. He earned his degree at Texas in 2008 while serving one season as a student-coach. In addition to his on-field duties at Rice, Van Hook will take over the administration of the Owls’ Youth Baseball Camps.

The Owls (42-21) won the C-USA Tournament title and regular season co-championship, the 16th straight year for Rice baseball to claim a league championship. The program also posted its 17th consecutive season with at least 40 wins and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 17th straight year.