Cooper to Penn State confirmed

The Wright State University Athletics website confirmed on Aug. 9 that former Raiders baseball coach Rob Cooper will go to University Park, PA to lead the Nittany Lions.

Cooper had nearly 300 wins and 9 years of coaching experience.

The announcement was confirmed on the Penn State Athletics website the same day through a press release.

“I’m extremely thankful for the opportunity that Bob Grant, Dr. Hopkins and the WSU community has given me and my family for the last nine years,” Cooper said Friday on wsuraiders.com.  “Wright State will always be a special place for us, and I will always look back fondly on my time here."

WSU Athletic Director Bob Grant, who grew close to Cooper and his family during Cooper’s coaching tenure, said Wednesday that Cooper has set the Raiders baseball team up for future success.

“Rob is a great baseball coach and a better person,” Grant said. “I’m sad to see him go, but I’m happy for him personally. He (Cooper) left the program in great shape and I expect it to be in great shape for years to come.”

Though Grant was not able to divulge who Cooper’s replacement will be, a report by Dayton Daily News Staff Writer David Jablonski indicated current assistant head coach Greg Lovelady will become the new head coach at WSU.

“We cannot make a formal announcement yet,” Grant said. “We have protocol we have to adhere to and steps to follow. Hopefully we will be able to do something in the next couple of days.”

Both Lovelady and Cooper are graduates of the University of Miami (FL). The Hurricanes won two National Championships in 1999 and 2001 when Lovelady was a catcher for the team.