June 15, 2004

George Mason University head baseball coach Bill Brown has announced the hiring of Ken Munoz as an assistant coach, effective immediately. Munoz joins assistant coach Shawn Stiffler in filling out the coaching staff.

Munoz is a former Patriot, having played for George Mason in 1990, '92 and '93. He played shortstop for the Patriots and he comes to the program after a four-year stint as head coach at nearby West Springfield High School. Munoz was previously a volunteer assistant coach for the Patriots during the 1998 and 1999 seasons.

"Ken is a great addition to our staff," Brown said. "He's someone we've always wanted in our program as a coach. Timing-wise, it worked perfectly."

Munoz, a native of Suffern, N.Y., will be responsible for hitting, base running and the infielders. "It feels great to be back at George Mason," Munoz said. "I'm very excited to be back and I'm looking forward to working with the team."

Munoz has a talented group of hitters to work with. This past season's team broke school records for hits, runs, RBI and at-bats and the Patriots return 67 percent of their home runs, 65 percent of their RBI and five every-day players from that squad.

"It's nice that there's a lot of talent and there are quality players," Munoz said. "Hopefully we can take what they do well and keep working on that."

Munoz graduated from Suffern High School in 1988 and spent a year at Rockland Community College before transferring to George Mason. He started all 142 games he played while a Patriot and compiled a .303 career batting average. His first season with the team, he played 41 games, batted .264 and stole 11 of 11 bases. In 1992, he hit .311 with seven homers, 38 RBI and 56 runs scored. He also stole 19 bases that year. In 1993, he hit .323, had 15 doubles, 41 RBI and scored 46 runs. He had a .500 slugging percentage that year and stole 15 of 16 bases. Not once in his three seasons did he strike out more than he walked. He finished his career with 108 RBI, 129 runs, 82 walks, 60 strikeouts and he was successful on 45 of 52 stolen base attempts.

Munoz graduated from George Mason in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in physical education. He spent three seasons as an assistant coach at West Springfield High School before returning to the Patriots as a volunteer assistant coach for two seasons. In 2000, he returned to West Springfield as an assistant coach and was promoted to the head coach's position for the 2001 season.

Munoz and his wife, the former Tiffany Haddock, reside in Centreville, Va.