Ritchie Price took the Jackrabbit baseball team as far he could before he received an offer too good to pass up.
The head coach announced Thursday that he is moving on to his alma mater — the University of Kansas — to become an assistant to his father and head coach, Ritch.
“It is a difficult time for me having to leave the players I have grown to have so much respect for,” the 26 year-old Price said in a release. “They gave me a chance at a young age and listened and bought into what our staff was trying to do. Along the way, we accomplished some great things and there is no doubt South Dakota State Baseball is in as high a place as it has ever been.”
Price totaled a 102-71 record for the Jackrabbits, going 56-27 in the Summit League and reaching the conference championship each year after taking over in the summer of 2008.
While Price has decided to move on from SDSU and the athletic program wishes that weren’t the case, there is a mutual understanding that this is a unique opportunity.
“I honestly believe it was one of very few, if not, only opportunities Ritchie would have taken to leave South Dakota State,” SDSU athletic director Justin Sell said on Friday.
Price will coordinate recruiting and become the Jayhawks’ third base coach in his new role. Sell said that a preliminary search for a replacement has already begun.
SDSU Director of Athletics Justin Sell
“We do a lot of work ahead of time, just in case something like this takes place and we’re pretty well prepared in all of our sports. We’ve got a list of people that we’re interested in and hopefully they’ll apply.”
Sell Speaks
With the news of Price leaving, Sell said that he’s not worried about having SDSU’s coaches cherry-picked from them, calling it “the nature of being a Division I, FCS school.”
“For a school our size, we have some real longevity among our coaches. Hopefully, you can hire some folks who really appreciate South Dakota State and the career opportunity,” Sell said. “At our level of Division I, we tend to get a lot of coaches who are in the upswing of their career and are a little bit younger. We hope [SDSU] can be known for hiring and developing young talent.”
Of the 21 sports in 2010-11, six will have new coaches in 2011-12 (baseball, equestrian, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, volleyball) but Price is the only one who left SDSU with the intent of moving up the coaching ranks.
“I hope people want to stay for a while but when you get guys like Ritchie Price, who win on a consistent basis, if they leave after four or five years and our program is in a better place and the coach knows they left a winning program,” Sell said.
Upgrades Ahead?
With this week’s approval of the preliminary facility upgrade plan by the Board of Regents, SDSU can finally make that long awaited “next step” on how to fund an indoor practice facility and human performance facility, along with a new 22,000-seat football stadium.
The Watson and Tressel Training Site (WATTS) is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2011 at Youngstown State
Part of the work is learning just how much the project will cost and how will the university be able to afford the improvements. Along with the cost estimate, SDSU will conduct market research and look at potential revenue streams for the school, including premium seating, suite sales, and naming rights opportunities for the new stadium. The professional planning will cost between $250,000 to $350,000 for the indoor facility and $400,000 to $600,000 for the new football stadium.
“It’s really exciting to be able to go and put something together and have the potential to go out and put it in front of some people who might want to help us fund it,” Sell said.
News of potential facility upgrades adds SDSU to the list of conference opponents working on improvements, too. Fellow Missouri Valley Football Conference member Youngstown State is the midst of working on a $12.3 million indoor facility that would be similar to what SDSU is planning. Both plans include a 300-meter track, an indoor football field, athletic training and sports medicine areas and room for other outdoor sports to practice inside during the winter.
MVFC member
A look at the Indoor Practice Facility and New Football Stadium, as shown in the 2025 Athletic Master Plan
Southern Illinois completed a 15,000-seat stadium in 2010 that cost $29.9 million dollars and was funded by a half-cent sales tax in Carbondale, Ill., along with the increase of student fees. Private donations are expected to be a main part of SDSU’s plan.
Forget the Fatigue
Sell is confident that donors will be ready to contribute to the projects, even though SDSU alumni foundation raised over $200 million last year for the university.
“We’re fortunate that a lot of our alumni are season-ticket holders and they know the importance of providing a quality experience to our students. [The new facilities] are symbols of a Division I institution and I think they can help have an overall impact on not just the university, but the state of South Dakota, as well.”
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Just FYI, the $200 million is a goal over a 6-year period, and the amount raised so far is about $155 million I think. The yearly amount raised by the foundation is generally under $40 million a year.