Prado,
in turn, announced his first hire. Former New York Yankee and Tampa Bay Devil
Ray Tino Martinez, who played at
Tampa
while Prado was an assistant coach there, will be the Bulls’ volunteer
assistant coach.
Martinez
also played for
Seattle
and St. Louis in his 16-year MLB career.
“Lelo Prado is the absolute perfect fit for USF Baseball,” said Woolard. “We
couldn’t be more pleased to bring home a local hero with such a strong track
record of success. We were looking for the absolute best candidate who would
offer the strongest partnership with our baseball student-athletes, and there
is none better than Coach Prado.”
Prado,
43, joins USF from the
University
of
Louisville
, where in 11 seasons he became that school’s all-time winningest coach with
320 victories. In 18 seasons as a head coach, including seven at
Tampa
and 11 at
Louisville
, Prado is 598-425-2 with his two national championships (1992, 1993), eight
NCAA appearances and three Division II World Series appearances. At
Louisville, he took the program to its first-ever NCAA appearance in 2003 and
he was the 2002 Conference USA Coach of the Year, the same year he won USA
Baseball Coach of the Year.
In
his seven seasons at
Tampa
, Prado compiled a 278-124-1 record and took all seven teams to nothing short
of the NCAA South Region Finals. He was named the ABCA National Coach of the
Year in 1992 and 1993, and he was the South Region Coach of the Year in 1990,
1992 and 1993. He also won Conference Coach of the Year in 1989, 1990
and
1995 and was inducted into the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame in 1995.
His number “1” jersey is retired at
Tampa
, but he will return to the number as head coach at
USF.
His
success in
Tampa
predates his days as the Spartans head coach. As a sophomore
catcher
at
Tampa
Catholic
High School
, he helped the Crusaders to a state title. In his senior season of 1981,
Prado hit .504 en route to
all-Hillsborough
County
honors.
He
went on to play two seasons at Hillsborough Community College (HCC) in
Tampa
before a two-year playing career at the
University
of
Tampa
, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in adult fitness in 1985. He worked
the 1985 Fall as an assistant at HCC before he re-joined
Tampa
as an assistant from 1986-88 prior to being named head coach.
His
accomplishments extend to the USA National Team, where he was the head coach
in 2002 and an assistant in 2000. Additionally, he was a member of the USA
Baseball Selection Committee from 1995-98, including the 1996 Olympic Team
Selection Committee.
Prado
and his wife, Pam, have three sons, Jason, Tyler and Zach.
PRADO
YEAR-BY-YEAR
UNIVERSITY
OF
TAMPA
Year
Record
Postseason
1989
37-18-1
NCAA South Region Finalist
1990
45-14
3rd NCAA Division II World Series
1991
34-17
NCAA South Region Finalist
1992
42-19
NCAA National Champion
1993
43-21
NCAA National Champion
1994
36-18
NCAA South Region Finalist
1995
41-17
NCAA South Region Finalist
UNIVERSITY
OF
LOUISVILLE
Year
Record
Postseason
1996
18-36
1997
23-32
1998
31-24
1999
37-19
2000
17-37-1
2001
32-29
2002
39-18
NCAA Regional
2003
34-23
2004
26-30
2005
32-24
2006
31-29
18-YEAR
TOTAL: 598-425-2