Sammy Esposito Joins Houston as Assistant Coach
6/26/2019 2:30:00 PM | Baseball
Esposito brings 15 years of coaching experience with stints at Wichita State, South Carolina and Georgia Southern
HOUSTON -- Sammy Esposito has joined the University of Houston Baseball program as an assistant coach, Head Coach Todd Whitting announced Wednesday afternoon.
"I am very excited to announce that Coach Esposito and his family are joining our staff at Houston," Whitting said. "Sammy is very well respected throughout the nation as a very talented coach and recruiter. His track record of recruiting, player development and winning championships made him an obvious choice for this position.
"Coach Esposito's duties will include serving as the hitting and catching coach, coach third base and assist Coach (Terry) Rooney with our recruiting efforts."
Esposito is a familiar name in The American Athletic Conference, coming over from Wichita State, where he spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator.
In two seasons with the Shockers, Esposito tutored four players who were All-American Athletic Conference selections, two All-Americans and seven MLB draft picks, including third baseman Alec Bohm, who became second-highest drafted player in WSU history when he was selected third overall by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018. Bohm, a consensus All-American and semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and the Golden Spikes Award that season, is the highest drafted player in The American's history.
In 2018, the Shockers led The American in on-base percentage (.380) and were second in batting average (.289), slugging percentage (.437), home runs (57), RBI (347), runs scored (375) and tied for second in walks (266).
Before WSU, Esposito spent five seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at South Carolina from 2013 to 2017. He was a volunteer assistant coach for the Gamecocks from 2007-2012.
While an assistant at USC, he coordinated all on- and off-campus recruiting and roster management of incoming classes. He collected scouting reports and reviewed them with the coaching staff and team. He also served as hitting coach and third base coach and was the position coach for the catchers and infielders.
Four of his recruiting classes were ranked in the Top-10 nationally, and he was a part of two national championships (2010, 2011) and one national runner-up finish (2012).
He helped guide the Gamecocks to eight NCAA Tournament appearances during his tenure, and he had 21 recruited players drafted while at South Carolina.
From 2005-07, Esposito was the volunteer assistant coach at Georgia Southern. He served as the catching instructor and assisted with hitting instruction and infield while being the first base coach for a team that finished in the Top 3 of the Southern Conference standings.
In the summer of 2007, he was an assistant coach for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in the Cape Cod League. Y-D won the Cape Cod Championship that season following a league-best record of 31-12-1 in the regular season.
He lettered as a catcher at NC State from 1999 to 2002, while serving as team co-captain in both 2001 and 2002. He is the son of former NC State Head Coach Sam Esposito, who coached the Wolfpack from 1967-87 and finished with a career record of 512-253-4.
Esposito earned a bachelor's degree in sociology/criminal justice from NC State in 2005.
He attended Broughton High School in Raleigh, N.C., where he was a two-time All-Conference selection in baseball.
Esposito is married to the former Neal Webb. The couple has one son, Sam, and two daughters, Olivia and Lily.STAY CONNECTED
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