Assistant coach Curtis chosen to succeed Gould

Jeff Curtis, an assistant coach at UTA the past two seasons, was named the University's fifth head baseball coach in July. He succeeds Clay Gould, who died June 23.

Curtis had served as the team's pitching coach and recruiting coordinator since joining the staff before the 2000 season. Under his direction, the Mavericks lowered their earned run average from 5.88 in 1999 to 4.15 last year. He was instrumental in helping UTA secure the 26th best recruiting class in the nation for 2000 as rated by the Collegiate Baseball newspaper.

Before coming to UTA, Curtis coached at Garden City (Kan.) Community College and Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College. He led Garden City to two Western Sub-Regional championships and a berth in the Junior College World Series in 1999. He produced two All-Americans and three players who were selected in the Major League Baseball draft.

At Fort Scott, he coached the 1997 team to a 46-14 record-the best in school history. His record as a junior college head coach was 231-156.

Curtis, 34, earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Kearney and a master's from Pittsburgh State University.

UTA also promoted assistant coach Darin Thomas to associate head coach. Thomas, who joined the Mavericks' staff before the 2001 season, was the team's third base coach and assisted with catching, base running and hitting responsibilities. He served as an assistant coach at Seward County (Kan.) Community College for nine seasons.