June 16, 2009

• Courtesy of WakeForestSports.com

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Tom Walter, who returned the New Orleans baseball program to national prominence after the school was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, was selected to lead the Wake Forest baseball program, as announced on Tuesday by Director of Athletics Ron Wellman.

"I'm thrilled to be at Wake Forest and there are many reasons for that," Walter said. "The ACC is the best baseball conference in the country. Having sent five teams or more to the NCAA Tournament each year this decade speaks volumes about the competitiveness in the conference."

The 39-year old Walter comes to Wake Forest with a 428-331 record during his 13-year coaching career.

Walter joins Wake Forest after spending the last five seasons at New Orleans. He compiled a 153-147 record at UNO, including leading the Privateers to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 2007 and 2008.

New Orleans also boasted one of the best offenses in college baseball under Walter. The Privateers set school records for home runs in both 2007 and 2008 with 97 round-trippers in '08. In 2008, the team also set school records in hits (743), runs (581) and RBIs (524). The offense, which ranked in the top 10 nationally in eight offensive categories throughout the year, helped UNO record its most wins (43) since 1996.

New Orleans also had seven players drafted in the 2008 MLB Draft and a total of 10 Privateers signed professional contracts.

Walter's players have also had success in the classroom as all but one of his student-athletes who spent all four years at UNO graduated.

Walter came to New Orleans after a successful eight-year coaching stint at George Washington, which included leading the Colonials to the 2002 NCAA Tournament and an appearance in the Winston-Salem regional, which was held at Wake Forest Baseball Park.

Walter averaged 39 wins a season at GW and is the school's all-time wins leader with a 275-184 record. In the five seasons prior to Walter's arrival, the Colonials averaged 21.5 wins a year.

Before going to GW, Walter spent two years as an assistant general manager with the Greensboro Bats. He performed various duties for the then-New York Yankees Class A affiliate.

Walter played his college baseball at Georgetown University and started all four seasons either behind the plate or in the outfield. He served as team captain in 1990 and 1991 and was named to the 1991 Big East Conference All-Academic Team.

Walter graduated from Georgetown in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in finance. He later went on to earn his MBA at George Washington in 1994, while serving as an assistant coach for the Colonials.