Keenan Wiley, Chris Rusin and Chris Wade.
To the average UK baseball fan, those names don’t resonate like Colin Cowgill, Sawyer Carroll and Scott Green did last year. Yet Wiley, Rusin and Wade boast just as many accolades: One’s an All-American, one’s an All-Southeastern Conference player and the other is a Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star.
But a change in personnel isn’t a new thing in college athletics—especially baseball, a sport in which players often earn a professional contract before they earn a bachelor’s degree. But UK isn’t just facing a change in player personnel.
The man that convinced players such as Cowgill, Wade, Rusin and others to attend UK is gone.
And the major question on everyone’s mind is how life in UK baseball can continue to rise without former coach John Cohen.
The answer is simple. Even though UK lost the man responsible for the rebuilding, they promoted his partner in crime, former Cats pitching coach and now head coach Gary Henderson.
Henderson is why the Cats held onto the No. 4 recruiting class in the nation, despite Cohen leaving during the recruiting season. Henderson is the reason why freshman sensation Alex Meyer turned down the millions thrown at him by MLB teams.
“(The transition) has been extremely smooth,†Henderson said during media day on Feb. 11. “Brad (Bohannon) and I recruited the club. The benefit of being here for five years is that everyone has seen you at your best and your worst. There is no pretending here.â€
For five years, Henderson proved that he could recruit and be a great assistant coach. The only thing left to prove is his meddle as the top guy.
And don’t worry about how the returning players view him; even though he was an assistant, he recruited most of them to the Bluegrass.
“All the returning guys know him, know what he wants,†said Wiley, a redshirt junior who will take over the center field duties. “He’s not someone new just telling you what to do. And we really enjoy that.â€
It’s not often, if ever, a team is looking up after a coach of Cohen’s stature leaves a program. But the Cats are in better shape.
Still, the Cats will feel the effects of Cohen’s departure this season. Cohen, one of the greatest hitters the SEC has ever seen when he played at Mississippi State, was a fan of big power hitters who would knock a team senseless with a huge power inning.
Every hitter that came to the plate could be expected to get the big hit at the right time, and no lead was ever safe for opposing teams.
But at media day, Henderson and several players focused on a different offensive mindset, one that is mainly lost in baseball, especially in the aluminum-bat-clanging college realm: small ball.
That’s right. Instead of swinging for the fences, expect hit-and-runs, steals and a little bit of National League-style run manufacturing at Cliff Hagan Stadium … at least at first with this season’s personnel, though Henderson did admit he is a “huge fan of the three-run home run.â€
And don’t expect Henderson to roar out of the dugout, throwing caps or turning them around backwards to argue with an umpire. Cohen’s trademark isn’t lost on Henderson. Despite common thought, the two aren’t polar opposites — Henderson may be a little more reserved when it comes to arguing a call.
Small ball and reservation? Definitely not the John Cohen way.
But UK is OK without the John Cohen way. Sure, Cohen did a lot for both UK as a whole and the baseball program. He made the squad a perennial NCAA regional team, a feat that shouldn’t be overlooked. The Cohen way worked and laid a foundation for years to come.
That doesn’t mean the Cohen way is the only option.
It finally looks as if UK has the pitching staff to compete with fellow SEC teams and highly ranked non-conference opponents. Chris Rusin is one of, if not the best pitcher in the SEC. Defensively, the Cats are better and UK will always be able to hit the skin off the baseball. The depth is better, too.
Position battles will rage across the outfield and at spots in the infield. The bullpen is wide open, with veterans and freshmen looking to solidify their positions.
Starting Friday, UK is ready for the Gary Henderson way. The road is tough, among the talent-crammed SEC. But Henderson’s outlook is fearless.
Much like the Cohen way was.
Kenny Colston is a journalism junior. E-mail kcolston@kykernel.com.
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