Aug. 2, 2001

LAS VEGAS - UNLV head baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle has announced the hiring of Darin Spassoff as the team's second assistant and pitching coach. Spassoff begins his first season with the Rebel baseball program after serving as the pitching coach at UNC-Greensboro last season.

A native of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Spassoff had a stellar pitching career at the University of Miami where he captained the Hurricanes for three seasons. He pitched in two College World Series, earning a victory over Alabama in 1997.

As a senior in 1999, Spassoff helped lead the Hurricanes to a National Championship. That same year, he was selected as the recipient of the Bob Werner Award for showing exemplary qualities of a "winner".

"I am extremely excited that Darin Spassoff has chosen to join us at UNLV," said Schlossnagle. "He was one of the most sought after pitching coaches in the country this past summer, and his addition to the staff will make us better quickly, both on the field and in recruiting. He has had great experiences at the highest level of college baseball at a young age, and hopefully we can work together to earn what he already has . . . a national championship ring."

Prior to coaching at UNC-Greensboro, Spassoff served one season as an assistant coach at Barry (Fla.) University and spent two summers coaching Bourne of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Spassoff is a 1999 graduate of Miami with a bachelor's degree in business sports management.