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Murphy resigns as ASU baseball coach
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Arizona State baseball coach Pat Murphy resigned during a meeting with athletic director Lisa Love on Friday.
Murphy, the Pac-10 coach of the year four times in his 15-year stint at the school, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The reason for the resignation is unclear, and Love declined to give specifics from today’s meeting.
“I wouldn’t want to break that confidentiality,” Love said.
There is an ongoing, two-year investigation into the ASU baseball program stemming from allegations of academic fraud and recruiting violations, but Love said the resignation has nothing to do with that.
“Those NCAA issues are ongoing,” Love said. “This is a separate subject from that.”
Love said it was Murphy’s decision to resign, and that she wasn’t too surprised by the news.
“We’ve been through a lot these past few years,” she said.
Assistant coach Andy Stankiewicz also quit to take a job with a professional organization, leaving two spots to fill on the coaching staff.
Love said Arizona State’s top priority will be finding an interim coach.
Assistant coach Ken Knutson would be a logical choice because of his experience, Love said, but it is too early for that decision. Knutson previously coached at Washington.
Softball coach Clint Myers could be a candidate to replace Murphy, but Love said, “It’s premature to venture down that road.”
Murphy took Arizona State to the College World Series four times, most recently last season. His 1998 squad finished runner-up to champion USC, when Murphy was named the national coach of the year.
Murphy replaced Jim Brock in 1994 and went 629-284-1 at ASU.
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