   |
Jim Ricklefsen is entering his 10th season as an assistant coach at Lamar University Having built a reputation as one of the top recruiters in the area, Ricklefsen continues to bring quality players to Beaumont year after year that has Lamar in the hunt for a conference championship on a regular basis. Ricklefsen posted an 81-79 record in his three seasons at McNeese before coming to Lamar. He guided the Cowboys to a 41-16 record in his first season at the helm, which tied the school record for most wins in a season and set the school record for best winning percentage. The Cowboys finished second in the Southland Conference standings and second in the tournament. McNeese sent 10 players from that squad to the professional ranks, the highest number for any school in the nation that year. "Jim did an outstanding job at McNeese," said Gilligan. "He is an excellent recruiter and a good judge of talent, and brings a strong work ethic to our program." In addition to coaching third base for the Cardinals, Ricklefsen works with the infielders, defensive alignment and hitters and is also the recruiting coordinator. Ricklefsen began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at McNeese in 1987. He quickly moved up to the top assistant the next season, seven seasons (1988-94) before being named head coach for the 1995 season. McNeese posted a 275-149 record during that time and won one Southland Conference title, one SLC tournament title and made two NCAA tournament appearances. McNeese had 32 players sign professional contracts during his tenure at the school and he was directly responsible for recruiting 23 of those players. Ricklefsen played collegiately at McNeese. He was a three year starter as both an infielder and outfielder. He posted a career-best .333 batting average his senior season. He twice led the team in stolen bases and hit 11 career home runs. Ricklefsen played for current Rice University head baseball coach Wayne Graham at San Jacinto Junior College before attending McNeese. Graham guided the Owls to the 1997 NCAA College World Series in Omaha. He served three years on the NCAA's Southern Region At-Large Search Advisory Baseball Committee, which recommends at-large teams to be selected to play in NCAA Regionals. A native of Houston, Texas, and an avid fisher, Ricklefsen prepped at Northbrook High School. He and his wife Andrea have one daughter - Lauren. |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
