UCLA Baseball Adds A New Assistant Coach: Rex Peters

The last we heard from the UCLA Baseball program, Bruin assistant coach Rick Vanderhook had left Westwood to become the head coach at Cal State Fullerton. Rick did a great job in his 3 years with the Bruins in the role of hitting and outfield coach, as well as in his previous two-plus decades as an assistant coach, most of those seasons coming at Fullerton. While Morgan Center has yet to make an official announcement, Baseball America and the LA Times have reported that UC Davis Head coach Rex Peters will be making the move down The 5 to take Vanderhook's spot on John Savage's staff. Baseball America seems to like the hire:

UCLA took its time replacing Rick Vanderhook on its coaching staff after he left to take the head job at Cal State Fullerton, but the Bruins have finally found their man, and it was worth the wait.

Like Vanderhook, Rex Peters is a Cal State Fullerton alum, and he later went on to play in the Dodgers farm system before starting his coaching career at Chapman University. Peters served as an assistant his first year coaching the Panthers, then spent the next 9 seasons as their head coach, compiling a 248-131-2 record with 3 D-III College World Series appearances. In the summer of 2002, Peters was hired to become UC Davis's head coach, as they began the transition from D-II to D-I sports. His first season at Davis ended with the program's first postseason berth in nearly a decade, while the Aggies first full D-1 season in 2008 ended with a spot in the NCAA regionals

Notable from that 2008 season is that it ended with 7 of his players being drafted. Seven players... from UC Davis? That has to say something about either his eye for talent, ability to coach players up, or a bit for both. Seems like a solid hire by Savage. Welcome to Westwood, Rex.