August 31 2005

FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood University softball head coach Kathy Riley has announced the recent appointment of Mickey Dean as a new assistant coach. Dean currently serves as co-head coach of the Chicago Bandits, a national pro-fastpitch team, and is the softball pitching coach for the Venezuelan National Team.

"Mickey will elevate our program in several ways," stated Riley. "I look forward to his expertise at practice, games and also on the recruiting trail. Expect Longwood to get some strong international players to go along with our already diverse roster."

Dean, who has been on the staff of the Venezuelan National team since 2002, helped lead the team to the Gold Medal at the Central Olympic Games in his first season with the team. He was also on the coaching staff in 2003 when Venezuela played in the Olympic qualifying tournament.

"I am excited to work with Coach Riley because of our past history together and similar coaching philosophies," said Dean. "The fact that Kathy does hitting and fundamentals and I do pitching and infield strategy should make us a good combination for the team."

Prior to the Chicago Bandits, Dean spent two seasons (2002-2004) as an assistant coach at Indiana University, a member of the Big Ten Conference. His duties included coaching the pitchers, planning and coordinating practice, recruiting, and helping maintain the budget. Dean helped guide the Hoosiers to their first winning season since 1997, finishing 2004 with a 32-31 record. The 2004 pitching staff also ranks second all-time in strikeouts in a season at Indiana.

Before joining the staff at Indiana, Dean was an assistant with the University of Akron from 2001-2002, where the Zips won the Mid-American Conference (East Division) Championship in 2002. He was also an assistant coach for Lake City Community College (Fla.) (LCCC) in the spring of 2000, before being promoted to head coach in the fall of the same year. As head coach of LCCC he led the team to a NJCAA National Championship with a 65-5 record. Dean began his softball coaching career as the head coach at Orange County High School in Orange, Va., from 1996-1999, winning two Virginia AA State Titles.  

Dean earned his bachelor’s degree in 1987 from Elon University in public administration. He was a four-year member of the baseball team which participated in the NAIA College World Series in both 1985 and 1987.    

Longwood will compete during 2005-06 in the third year of its four-year NCAA Division I Reclassification.