Kevin Cooney's Hall of Fame induction part of big baseball weekend
By Marcus Nelson
FAU baseball is taking center stage this weekend.
Not only is this year's team playing its first home series, but long-time baseball coach Kevin Cooney will be inducted into the FAU Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday.
With Cooney on campus and the team off to a great start that is garnering national attention, it seems like old times.
Cooney said earlier this week he was happy the team was able to pull off the sweep of Alabama and gave FAU coach John McCormack his 100th career victory just a few days before his induction.
“It's something to be really proud of,” Cooney said. “It's not my team any more, but it's my school and I always hope that they do well and I'm really happy for John.”
Cooney and McCormack, who was Cooney's assistant before becoming the head coach in 2009, will each be honored before Saturday's game, a day after Cooney is inducted into the Hall of Fame.
When I talked to Cooney on Wednesday, he was still working on his speech and he is sure to mention his seven Division I regional appearances, the 34-game winning streak that put the owls on the map in 1999 and the relationship he had with his players.
“There were tremendous, tremendous kids that we had through the years,” Cooney said. “I got as much dealing with them as I hope they got dealing with me."
Congratulations to Cooney and women's basketball player Shontavia Willians, who also joins the Hall of fame tonight.