July 23, 2004
LAS VEGAS - Scott Malone has been hired as an assistant coach for UNLV's baseball program, head coach Buddy Gouldsmith announced Friday.
Malone comes to Las Vegas after spending the last two seasons at Texas-Arlington as an assistant coach and two seasons prior to that at Texas-San Antonio.
In three of his four years in the Southland Conference, Malone produced the league's batting champion in his work as hitting coach. He guided the UTA hitters as they set eight single-season offensive records in 2003 including team batting average (.324), hits (715), doubles (139), extra-base hits (22) and total bases (1,074). It was the first time a SLC school tallied 1,000 total bases.
At Texas-San Antonio, Malone guided the Roadrunners to the SLC batting crown with a .311 average in 2002.
"Scott brings a wealth of baseball experience to our staff," Gouldsmith said. "His passion for the game as well as his passion for the student-athlete experience will make him a fine recruiter. I am excited and energized by his positive attitude and I know our players will respond well to him."
Malone played four years under his father, Andy, at Abilene Cooper High School, where together they helped lead the Cougars to back-to-back 5A state championships in 1987-88. His father is among the winningest coaches in Texas High School baseball history, amassing over 800 wins in his career.
Following a standout prep career at ACHS, Malone played at TCU. He was named the Southwest Conference Freshman of the Year in 1990 and claimed the league's individual batting championship. He was also SWC Player of the Year and in 1992 he earned All-America honors.
Following his junior campaign, Malone was drafted in the ninth round of the 1992 draft. He played four full seasons in the Rangers' organization, reaching as high as Class AA. In the fall of 1992, Malone was selected as one of the top first basemen in the country and was invited to the USA Olympic Team trials.
Malone played one season with the Abilene Prairie Dogs of the independent Texas/Louisiana League in 1996 before completing his education where he became a student assistant coach under Lee Driggers at McMurry University from 1996-98.
In the summer of 1998, Malone was an assistant coach for the Arlington Senators of the Clark Griffith Summer League. The team was made up of Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and Southeastern Conference (SEC) players and captured the AAABA National Championship.
In the fall of 1998, Malone returned to where his career began as he became a volunteer assistant coach under Lance Brown at TCU. Following one year at TCU, Malone moved to the SEC and spent one season under Keith Madison at Kentucky as a volunteer assistant coach.
Malone received his bachelor's degree in exercise and sports studies from McMurry University in 1998.
