Keegan Cook

Last updated
Keegan Cook
Current position
TitleHead coach
Team Minnesota
Conference Big Ten
Record16–12 (.571)
Annual salary$425,000
Biographical details
Born (1985-07-09) July 9, 1985 (age 38)
Pleasanton, California, U.S.
Alma mater Saint Mary's (CA)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2005–2012 Saint Mary's (assistant)
2013–2014 Washington (assistant)
2014–2015Washington (beach)
2015–2022Washington (indoor)
2023–presentMinnesota
Head coaching record
Overall198–56 (.780)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
4x Pac-12 (2015, 2016, 2020, 2021)
Awards
  • Pac-12 Coach of the Year (2020)
  • 3x AVCA Pacific North Region Coach of the Year (2015, 2020, 2021)

R. Keegan Cook [1] (born July 9, 1985) is an American volleyball coach.

Contents

He began his coaching career at his alma mater, Saint Mary's, where he was on the staff in various assistant coaching roles for eight years (2005–2012). He served as an assistant coach for the University of Washington in 2013 and 2014 before assuming the head coaching role from 2015–2022.

On December 12, 2022, Cook was named the eighth head coach at the University of Minnesota, to begin in the 2023 season, succeeding former coach Hugh McCutcheon.

Personal life

Cook is a native of Pleasanton, California. In 2007, he graduated from Saint Mary's with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics with a minor in religious studies. He has done work for statistical analysis as a Volleyball Information Supervisor (VIS) for the FIVB. [2] In January 2022, he was named as the president of the board of directors for the American Volleyball Coaches Association, a position he will serve through the end of 2023. [1]

He is married to Sarah Ammerman, a former professional volleyball he met while on a foreign tour in 2017, and they have a son, born in 2021. [2] [3]

Coaching career

High school club

Cook was the head coach of the NorCal Volleyball Club for ten years. His teams qualified for the Junior Olympic Championships over his last five years and his 16-Under team won the 2008 Junior Olympic gold medal. [2]

Saint Mary's (CA)

Cook began his collegiate coaching career while still a student at Saint Mary's, starting as a volunteer student assistant coach in 2005 and working his way up to the top assistant coach. Cook helped the team to its first West Coast Conference title in 2009 and advanced to the NCAA tournament three times, including a second round appearance in 2012. [2]

Washington

Cook was an assistant coach at Washington in 2013 and 2014 under Jim McLaughlin before being named the head coach in 2015. In his eight seasons at Washington, he led the team to four Pac-12 conference titles and one final four appearance in 2020. [2]

In addition to coaching indoor volleyball at Washington, he also was the head coach for the beach team in 2014 and 2015, going 8–0 during the first full season in 2015. [4]

Under Cook, twelve players earned a combined 18 All-American Award and 37 all-Pac 12 selections, with 2 players earning a combined 3 Pac-12 Player of the Year honor. He was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2020 and the AVCA Pacific North Region Coach of the Year in 2015, 2020, and 2021. [5]

Minnesota

On December 12, 2022, Cook was named the eighth head coach at Minnesota, succeeding Hugh McCutcheon who stepped down from the role at the conclusion of the 2022 season. [6]

USA national teams

In addition to collegiate coaching, he has also worked with USA Volleyball. In 2016, he was the head coach for the U.S. Collegiate Women's National Team for its tour of China, and in the summer of 2018 Cook led the U.S. Junior Women's National Team to compete in the NORCECA Championships in Mexico. He was named the head coach for the U.S. Girl's Youth National Team at the NORCECA Continental Championships in 2020, before the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic In the summer of 2022, he was an assistant coach for the U.S. Girl's U19 Team that won the gold medal at the Pan American Cup. [2]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Washington Huskies (Pac-12)(2015–2022)
2015Washington 31–318–2T–1st NCAA regional final
2016Washington 29–516–41st NCAA regional final
2017Washington 25–814–62nd NCAA second round
2018Washington 20–1310–106th NCAA regional semifinal
2019Washington 27–715–52nd NCAA regional final
2020Washington 20–417–31st NCAA final four
2021Washington 26–517–31st NCAA regional semifinal
2022Washington 20–1112–8T–5th NCAA first round
Washington:198–56 (.780)119–41 (.744)
Minnesota Golden Gophers (Big Ten)(2023–present)
2023Minnesota 17-1312-85th NCAA second round
Minnesota:17–13 (.567)12–8 (.600)
Total:215–69 (.757)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Logan Tom</span> American volleyball player

Logan Maile Lei Tom is an American former indoor volleyball and beach volleyball player, and is the current head coach of the Israel women's national volleyball team. She is a four-time Olympian at the outside hitter position. At age 19, Logan became the youngest woman ever to be selected for an American Olympic volleyball team when she competed at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. She is a skilled all-around player who brings stability to the American serve receive and defense, while also providing the team with a solid attack and block at the net. She had been a huge part of the national team from 2000 to 2012. At the 2008 Olympics, Tom helped Team USA win a silver medal and was named Best Scorer, she won another silver medal at the 2012 Olympics with the national team. She was also awarded the Most Valuable Player of the 2004 FIVB World Grand Prix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball</span> American college volleyball team

The Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball team is the NCAA Division I women's volleyball team for the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. They are a member of the Big West Conference and are led by head coach, Robyn Ah Mow-Santos. The Rainbow Wahine volleyball program remains a large source of financial income for the University of Hawaii athletic department, notwithstanding even what football and men's basketball generates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foluke Gunderson</span> Canadian-American-Nigerian indoor volleyball player

Foluke Atinuke Gunderson is an indoor volleyball player who plays as a middle blocker for Japanese club Hisamitsu Springs. Born in Canada, she represents the United States internationally. Gunderson won gold with the national team at the 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix, 2014 World Championship, the Rimini Volleyball Nations League, and the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, silver at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, and bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Her 2020 Olympics win allowed her to complete the trifecta of winning an Olympic bronze, silver, and gold medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Volleyball Coaches Association</span>

The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is an organization of over 9,000 members, incorporated as a private non-profit educational corporation in 1981, as the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association. It is currently headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh McCutcheon</span> New Zealand-American volleyball player and coach

Hugh Donald McCutcheon, a native of Christchurch, New Zealand, is a former volleyball coach. He previously coached the US men's and women's national volleyball team, and was the head coach for the University of Minnesota's women's volleyball team from 2012–2022. Starting in January 2023, McCutcheon is the assistant athletics director/sport development coach at Minnesota, after announcing his resignation from the volleyball team at the conclusion of the 2022 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nebraska Cornhuskers women's volleyball</span> Womens volleyball team of the University of Nebraska

The Nebraska Cornhuskers women's volleyball team competes as part of NCAA Division I, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten. Nebraska plays its home games at the Bob Devaney Sports Center and has sold out every home match since 2001. The team has been coached by John Cook since 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cook (coach)</span> American volleyball coach (born 1956)

John G. Cook is an American volleyball head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball team, who is in his 24th season as head coach in 2023. He has led the Huskers to four national championships, in 2000 by defeating Wisconsin, in 2006 by defeating Stanford, in 2015 by defeating Texas, and in 2017 by defeating Florida. He is a three-time winner of the AVCA National Coach of the Year award. Prior to becoming head coach at Nebraska, Cook served as head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers, compiling a 161–73 record over seven seasons. On September 23, 2022 he earned his 800th career coaching win, a feat only 29 other coaches in NCAA volleyball history have achieved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim McLaughlin (coach)</span> American volleyball coach (born 1960)

Jim McLaughlin is an American volleyball coach. He was most recently the head coach of the women's volleyball team at Notre Dame. McLaughlin was selected to be inducted into AVCA Hall of Fame in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnesota Golden Gophers women's volleyball</span> Womens volleyball team of the University of Minnesota

Played in Spring 2021*

Taras "Terry" Liskevych ; born October 14, 1948, in Munich, Germany) served as the United States women's national volleyball team head coach from 1985 to 1996. During his tenure Liskevych posted over 300 international victories.

Leslie Gabriel is the head women's volleyball coach at the University of Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Huskies women's volleyball</span> American college volleyball team

The Washington Huskies volleyball team is the intercollegiate women's volleyball team of the University of Washington in Seattle. They compete in the Pac-12 Conference and play their home games at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, which was built in 1927 and renovated in 2000. Prior to 1988, the Washington volleyball program had seen Huskies' victories, but it has now emerged as a perennial power. The Huskies have reached the NCAA Final Four on five occasions with one national title (2005), and won multiple Pac-10/12 championships.

Megan Norma McNamara is a Canadian beach volleyball player. Along with her twin sister, Nicole McNamara, Megan has competed in many beach volleyball events around the world. From the fall of 2015 until the spring of 2019, Megan competed collegiately for the UCLA Bruins, leading the team to its first Pac-12 and NCAA titles in the sport during the 2018 season, and a second NCAA championship in the 2019 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicole McNamara</span> Canadian beach volleyball player (born 1997)

Nicole Carol McNamara is a Canadian beach volleyball player. Along with her twin sister, Megan McNamara, Nicole has competed in many beach volleyball events around the world. From the fall of 2015 until the spring of 2019, Megan competed collegiately for the UCLA Bruins, leading the team to its first Pac-12 and NCAA titles in the sport during the 2018 season, and a second NCAA championship in the 2019 season.

Jerritt Kurt Elliott is an American volleyball head coach of the Texas Longhorns women's volleyball team since 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krista Vansant</span> American volleyball player

Krista Vansant is a volleyball player and coach who played collegiately for Washington. In 2022, she was the assistant coach for the University of Illinois volleyball team after spending 3 seasons as an assistant coach at Indiana.

John Craig Skinner, known as Craig Skinner, is an American collegiate women's volleyball head coach at the University of Kentucky. He is the winningest coach in Kentucky volleyball history and led Kentucky to their first-ever NCAA volleyball national championship in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Wilhite Parsons</span> American volleyball player

Sarah Grace Wilhite Parsons is an American professional volleyball player who plays as an outside hitter for Japan professional club NEC Red Rockets and the United States women's national volleyball team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karissa Cook</span> American volleyball player

Karissa Kellie Cook is an American professional beach volleyball player and former indoor volleyball player.

J. Brent Crouch is an American volleyball coach, professor, and former indoor and beach volleyball player. He has been the head coach of Auburn women's volleyball team since 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 "R. KEEGAN COOK IS THE NEW AVCA BOARD PRESIDENT". AVCA.org. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Washington Bio". gohuskies.com. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  3. "The 'unbelievably fulfilling' tale of Keegan Cook's volleyball career". uwtyeeclub.com. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  4. "UW Huskies beach volleyball record" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  5. "Minnesota Bio" . Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  6. "Keegan Cook Named Head Volleyball Coach at Minnesota" . Retrieved 2022-12-13.