Winthrop hires Clemson assistant for baseball

Winthrop offered and Tom Riginos accepted. Riginos will be introduced as Winthrop's next baseball coach at a press conference 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Winthrop Coliseum's Eagle Room.

Riginos has been a member of the Clemson baseball coaching staff the past eight years under coach Jack Leggett. As the Tigers' associate head coach and recruiting coordinator he also served as the team's hitting and outfielders coach.

Winthrop will be Riginos' (pronounced rih-JEEN-uhs) first college head coaching job. Prior to Clemson, he spent nine years at his alma mater, Stetson University (1994-2002) in DeLand, Fla. He also served as Stetson's recruiting coordinator and worked with the hitters and outfielders.

"We had a very strong pool of candidates for our head baseball coaching position, and in Tom Riginos we believe we have hired one of the top coaches on the collegiate level," Winthrop athletic director Tom Hickman said. "Coach Riginos has had tremendous success in attracting talented players to both Stetson and Clemson and then developing those players into championship caliber student-athletes. We believe he will continue to bring that success to Winthrop."

Riginos could not be reached for comment Friday night.

Success has followed the 42-year-old Clearwater, Fla., native throughout his 17-year coaching career. While at Stetson, Riginos helped guide the Hatters to five NCAA Regional appearances. During his Clemson tenure, the Tigers advanced to two NCAA Regional tournaments, three NCAA Super Regionals and two College World Series berths. The combined record of Stetson and Clemson during Riginos' 17 years of coaching stands at 671-393-3 (.630).

While serving at Stetson and Clemson, those teams averaged 39 wins per season, winning 40 or more games nine times.

In his two years as Clemson's recruiting coordinator (2008-10), Riginos brought in top-20 recruiting classes both years. The 2009 class was ranked No. 9 by Collegiate Baseball while the 2010 class was ranked No. 20 by Baseball America. At Stetson, he recruited eight classes that gained national recognition and he recruited six All-Americans and 10 freshman All-Americans while with the Hatters.

Winthrop's hiring of Riginos puts an end to a 29-day search. Joe Hudak was relieved of his baseball coaching duties July 1. Hickman laid out a timeline soon after the Hudak decision was announced. Hickman said the school would accept applications until July 21 and then the pool of candidates would be trimmed to a small group to be interviewed. Aug. 1 was a target date to hire a new coach.

The future of Winthrop assistant coach Mike McGuire is unknown. McGuire could not be reached for comment Friday night.

McGuire recruited most of the Eagles' current players. McGuire sent out a text to his players saying: "Riginos is the coach. Thanks for all your support."

Some players weren't content to sit back and let the decision take place without their input. Matt Pierpont, a rising sophomore, said he was among those who sent e-mails to school president Anthony DiGiorgio to support McGuire.

"There is nothing more we could have done. Obviously, our whole team was very close to coach Mac," Pierpont said. "The AD (Hickman) and the president had their own views. I trust they made a good decision. I'm looking forward to getting back to school and going to work."

Some players are upset McGuire was not hired, and, at the same time, excited about next season.

Cam Walters, projected to be a starter in the outfield in 2011, called McGuire's snub a "sad loss for Winthrop."

On the other hand, Walters said, "We (the players) are the ones that play the game and control the outcome of the game. We will have high expectations. I don't think we will let a coaching change keep us from improving how last season went."

Pierpont said he knows Riginos comes from a winning program at Clemson. "I'm sure he knows his stuff," he said.

Current Clemson shortstop Brad Miller weighed in late Friday on Riginos being hired. Miller was recruited by Riginos and is playing for the USA National Team in Tokyo.

"I'm going to miss TR (Riginos), but it's his turn to get a chance to lead his own team," Miller said in a text message to The Herald. "He's a great guy and coach. I wish him nothing but the best."

Ryan Hinson, a former Northwestern High School standout, pitched for Clemson until being drafted by the San Diego Padres after the 2009 season. Hinson talked about Clemson assistants that have gone on to become successful head coaches. He rattled off the names as though they were written on his hand: John Pawlowski is now at Auburn. Tim Corbin is at Vanderbilt, and Kevin O'Sullivan is the head coach at Florida.

"Leggett has a track record of assistants becoming good head coaches," Hinson said. "They learned how to win at Clemson; anything else is unacceptable. I'm sure he will be a great fit at Winthrop and do well in Rock Hill."

This story was originally published July 31, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Winthrop hires Clemson assistant for baseball."