Stankiewicz talks GCU on national radio

Grand Canyon head coach Andy Stankiewicz was a guest on the Perfect Game College Baseball radio show on ESPNU radio on Monday night. Joining hosts Daron Sutton and Mike Rooney, Stankiewicz talked about the growth of the university and program, as well as the development of some of the Lopes' key players.

Highlights from the interview are below. To listen to the interview in its entirety, click here and search for "Perfect Game College Baseball."

Daron Sutton: "And not only is that university exploding – probably more than any college in the nation... but it's exploding on the sports side as well. On the baseball side, they are fearless with regard to scheduling and they are eligible for the postseason and they are really excited about it this year.

"GCU Ballpark is open, Brazell Field certainly still bears its name. But that gorgeous ballpark and the man at the helm is another former player at the highest level.

"You guys had a great weekend winning three in a row. You played TCU so tough early in the season. With the student body supporting your team as they do, with the student body coming out, I would imagine it's like just a giant cup of coffee every day when you go to work without having to even drink coffee."

Coach Stankiewicz: "It's been exciting... Tim Salmon came out and threw out our first pitch on Opening Night against TCU. Man, it was a great crowd. It was a great night for the university, for our program. I'm really grateful to our administration and our athletic department for obviously putting such a nice ballpark together so quickly. To do it in, basically, less than a year, and let us open up with TCU. We feel like – we know we have a long way to go but we certainly feel like we're moving in the right direction."

Mike Rooney: "Is that always going to be a part of the DNA of your program, playing a ferocious schedule before the WAC?"

Stankiewicz: "Well I think so. Number one, I think it helps in recruiting. And number two, our goal is to get better. I think the only way we're going to get better is to challenge ourselves early to help us become stronger."

"I'm not happy about being 6-8, and I'm not sure any coach would be. We've got to get better. We've got to play more consistent baseball. Obviously, we've got Riverside on Wednesday and then we go into Fullerton. Two real good teams on the West. Fullerton's history is unmatched. We know we're in for it, but at the same time—the guys, I've asked them, 'Who do you want to play? You want to play these teams?' And they're like, 'Yeah coach. This is who we want to play.'

"I'm proud of the weekend. A Big Ten ballclub in Penn State that's good to put three games together and get three on the weekend was a huge deal for us. Hopefully we can just kind of ride that momentum into this week."

Rooney: "The stadium is insane. I saw the pictures online, and they were beautiful. But seeing it in person, it's just insanely nice. They did such a great job with it.

"But Jake Wong, your Friday night guy, it's amazing if you look at it, if the draft were tomorrow, he'd be the first college player drafted [out of Arizona] I bet you. Not an ASU player or an Arizona player, and that's no offense to those guys. But your Friday night guy, and he was dynamite against TCU. What have you seen from Jake Wong this year, the junior right-hander?"

Stankiewicz: "In the past, he's got a hard fastball and it's heavy and he's aggressive with it. And so he's just kind of had to live and die on that. And obviously, good college ballclubs that can hit, they start to recognize fastball and they put some good swings.

"But now he's got a changeup that he can throw to lefties. He's got a nice—he was kind of flirting with a slider and now it's more of a true breaking ball, more of a 12-6 curveball. I think now he's starting to learn how to put pitches together and put a plan together.I think he's just maturing as a pitcher. He's learning how to pitch.

"Obviously from our standpoint, it's been fun to watch his development. Coming out of high school—he went to Hamilton High School, it's a great program, but he wasn't really 'their guy.' We brought him over as a guy—this is a projectable kid because he had some physicality to him and he had a good fastball. And it's been fun watching him develop into a pitcher."

Sutton: "I'd like to ask you about Quin Cotton because certainly that OPS is incredible. And the Rockies thought enough of him to draft him out of Regis Jesuit... Tell me the kind of baseball player he is."

Stankiewicz: "Well he's get a really big upside. He's a strong, physical young man. He went out to the Alaska League this past summer and he was MVP of the league out there. I think he gained some confidence out there. He really took off.

"He's just a young guy. He's got really good hands, Daren. He lets the ball get deep. He works right-center really well, just stays inside the ball. He's developed into a really nice right fielder as well. He's really turned into a nice right-handed hitter in the middle of our lineup that can give us consistent at bats.

"I really feel like he's got a real bright future in front of him. Some teams in the Cape have asked about him. It looks like we're going to be able to send him to the Cape Cod this next summer. So that's going to be interesting and fun for him and challenging. But he's a super, super young man, he works at it, he's got a great attitude. He's been a pleasure to coach."

Sutton: "Your program, athletically, men's and women's, one of the great stories in the nation... That's not hyperbole, is it Roons? With regard to growth? Here's a coach saying the season ended, they didn't just put up a new wall, they didn't just put up a new scoreboard, they built a brand new stadium after the last season ended. Their momentum is crazy."

Rooney: "As a school, as an athletic department, it is—I'm telling you, we're saying Dallas Baptist West, if you follow college baseball. They are building a monster college baseball program. Really cool to watch."

Grand Canyon University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Quin Cotton

Jake Wong

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