Stanford men's volleyball coach set to retire Stanford men's volleyball coach set to retire (December 02, 2005)

Paly grad Timi Wusu named first team on All-Pac-10 football squad

by Rick Eymer

Don Shaw, who helped guide the Stanford women's volleyball program into national prominence from relative obscurity, announced Tuesday he would retire from coaching following the current men's volleyball season, which he has coached the past four years, and six overall.

"It's been a great ride," Shaw said. "I'm extremely thankful for the opportunity Stanford has given me to work with so many outstanding student-athletes. "It was a difficult decision, but I believe it's time to explore some new avenues."

Hindered by fewer scholarships than any other school in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Shaw still managed to guide the Cardinal men into postseason play in three of the past four years

As a men's coach - which includes a two-year stint in 1984-85 - Shaw has compiled a 90-79 record.

As a women's coach, Shaw owns the best winning percentage (.863) in the history of the NCAA with a 440-70 mark.

Long-time Stanford assistant John Kosty was named to replace Shaw. Kosty begins his 16th year at Stanford. He was the assistant when Stanford won the 1997 national championship.

Shaw, an accomplished athlete in volleyball, basketball and baseball, began at Stanford as an assistant to Fred Sturm, who coached the U.S. men's Olympic team in 1992, in 1980 for both men and women.

The 1980 women's team reached postseason play (pre-NCAA sponsorship) for the first time in school history, and Stanford, which has never suffered a losing season in the sport, hasn't looked back since. This year the Cardinal make their 26th straight trip (25 under the auspices of the NCAA).

Stanford reached the NCAA championship match for the first time in 1984, Shaw's first year as co-coach. The next season Stanford again lost in the NCAA title match -- to the University of Pacific and its first-year coach John Dunning.

Stanford won the first of its six national titles in 1992, beating UCLA in the final match. Shaw led Stanford to four national titles in a six-year span. His teams won six consecutive Pac-10 titles (10 conference titles overall) before he took a leave of absence in 2000.

During his tenure, the women's volleyball media guide grew from eight pages to 52 pages (it's currently at 72 pages), representing a growing interest in the sport.

He returned to take over the men's program in June of 2001.

"Don helped build our women's volleyball program into a national powerhouse," Stanford Athletic Director Ted Leland said. "And he has done an outstanding job with the men's program as well. We want to thank him for his years of dedicated service and we wish him well in his future endeavors."

Shaw will remain with the Athletic Department as a physical education instructor.

"I'm grateful to have been provided with an environment for success by Dr. Leland as well as all of the coaches, administrators and support staff behind the scenes throughout these 25-plus years," Shaw said.

During Shaw's tenure, 21 players have earned 45 All-American awards, and 18 went on to play for the U.S. National team, including Olympians Jon Root, Scott Fortune, Kim Oden, Bev Oden, Kristin Klein, Nancy Reno, Barbara Fontana, Kerri Walsh and Logan Tom.

"I'm happy that John Kosty will get the opportunity to be the next head coach," Shaw said. "He is an outstanding teacher and tactician and an even better person. He's paid his dues and Stanford is lucky to have him."

Kosty has been at Stanford since 1990, working with former coach Ruben Nieves for 11 seasons and Shaw for the past four years. In addition to the NCAA title, Kosty has helped lead the Cardinal to three conference titles.

Football

Palo Alto High grad Timi Wusu was one of four Stanford football players to be named to the all-Pac-10 team.

Wusu was named to the first team as a special teams player, the only Cardinal selected first team. Senior cornerback T.J. Rushing was named to the second team as a kickoff returner, while senior linebacker Jon Alston and senior defensive end Julian Jenkins were honorable mention choices.

Wusu recorded 24 tackles, and was part of the special teams group which ranked third in the Pac-10 in kickoff return coverage. Wusu completed his Stanford career with 47 tackles and played in 21 of the last 22 games.

Rushing ran back a pair of kickoffs for touchdowns, one in Stanford's first game against Navy and then again in Stanford's final game against Notre Dame. He finished his Stanford career ranked third on the school's all-time list for both kickoff return yards (1,421) and kickoff return yard average (26.8). Stanford finished in a fourth-place tie in the conference.

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