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Entering his second season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Arizona State baseball team is former Oklahoma State All-American and Academic All-American Josh Holliday. Holliday will begin his 10th season as an assistant coach at the Division I level, having spent the past three years at Georgia Tech.
Holliday's impact at ASU is already being felt, as the 2009 recruiting class was ranked #1 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball.
In his first season at Georgia Tech, Holliday helped the Yellow Jackets win the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and tournament championships (2005). Tech led the ACC and ranked fifth in the nation with a .333 team batting average, and the Yellow Jackets ranked second nationally by averaging 9.3 runs per game. He was a part of Georgia Tech's 2006 College World Series team, and had at least one player earn All-America honors in each of his three years with the Yellow Jackets.
Holliday, who comes from a baseball family, brings a wide and impressive array of coaching and playing experience to the Arizona State program. The son of former Oklahoma State head coach and current N.C. State University pitching coach Tom Holliday, Josh had a distinguished playing career at Oklahoma State from 1996-99, and then coached with the Cowboys from 2000-03 and spent one season (2004) on the coaching staff at NC State.
Holliday capped his four-year playing career at Oklahoma State by batting .290 with 15 homers and 65 RBIs and leading the Cowboys to the 1999 College World Series. He was drafted in the ninth round by the Toronto Blue Jays in June 1999 and played professionally for two seasons before retiring in the summer of 2000. He served as a student assistant coach at Oklahoma State in 2000 and was named a full-time coach in the fall of 2001.
Holliday ranks among Oklahoma State's career leaders in numerous categories, including home runs, runs, walks and hit-by-pitches. He fared well off the field as well, receiving conference academic and athletic honors after each of his four seasons in Stillwater. He was named Oklahoma State's Male Student-Athlete of the Year in 1999 for his achievements on and off the baseball diamond.
In 1998 Holliday was named first-team All-Big 12 after hitting .309 with a team-leading 18 homers and 60 RBI. He was named to the NCAA Midwest Regional All-Tournament team and earned second-team National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Super Team plaudits. He was an Academic All-Big 12 honoree with a sparkling 3.69 GPA in the classroom. In 1997 he was a second-team All-Big 12 selection after batting .323 with 14 homers and 60 RBIs.
In his first season at Oklahoma State in 1996, Holliday was the Big Eight Freshman of the Year and also earned Mizuno Freshman All-America and Academic All-Big Eight honors. For the season, he batted .320 with six home runs and 52 RBI.
Following his career with the Cowboys, The Daily Oklahoman named Holliday to the Oklahoma State University All-Century team. In 2003, he was elected to the Oklahoma State University Baseball Hall of Fame.
Holliday was the USA Today Gatorade Player of the Year for Oklahoma and a Mizuno/Collegiate Baseball High School All-American in 1995, and was drafted in the 14th round by the Minnesota Twins in 1995. He was co-valedictorian of his graduating class.
In 1994, Holliday played in the U.S. Olympic Festival, and in 1997 he competed in the senior Team USA trials.
Holliday's younger brother, Matt, is an All-Star outfielder with the Colorado Rockies, while his uncle, Dave, is a scout with the Rockies. Holliday, 30, married to the former Jenny Moore on Dec. 21, 2002. The couple have two children, Olivia and Brady.
