UNO names Dean head baseball coach

The University of New Orleans Department of Athletics officially welcomed Blake Dean as the university’s new head baseball coach in a press conference held on campus Tuesday afternoon.
Dean spoke in the Lakefront Arena in front of an audience consisting of media members, Privateer Department of Athletics staff, friends and family.
“It’s such an honor for me to take this job,” Dean said in a university release. “I’m truly humbled and excited for this opportunity. I anticipate picking up where coach (Ron) Maestri left off and making him proud. I want to put up a fence around New Orleans and keep the best kids at home, and I promise to work hard and bring in high-caliber student-athletes. What we want to do is develop an excitement and a culture here at the University of New Orleans.”
Dean, who was named interim head coach following Ron Maestri’s retirement at the end of the 2015 season, has spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach for the program.
He is the university’s seventh head baseball coach.
“It’s an exciting day for us to welcome our new head coach,” UNO Director of Athletics Derek Morel said in a news release. “Our newest leader was mentored by two of the most successful head coaches in college baseball in Paul Mainieri and Ron Maestri. He understands our university, he understands our state and he understands our community. We couldn’t be happier with Blake at the helm.”
The former LSU standout and 2009 College World Series champion helped bring the Privateers double-figure win totals in each of his two years as the squad’s hitting coach.
During his playing career, Dean quickly rose as one of LSU’s premier hitters and was named MVP of the 2008 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament as well as garnering All-American honors multiple years.
Following his tenure in Baton Rouge, Dean was drafted in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft in the summer of 2010 by the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he spent two years in the minor league system.
After his two years of pro ball, the Crestview, Florida, native spent one season as a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater where he earned his degree in sports administration before joining the Privateer coaching staff in 2014.
Dean begins his duties as head coach effective immediately.