Ken Jacome Position: Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Experience: 9th Year

Ken Jacome is in his ninth year at New Mexico, joining the staff in the summer of 2004. Jacome was the head coach at El Paso Community College for six seasons and handled the Lobo pitching staff before shifting to infield coach/recruiting coordinator following the 2008 season. Under Jacome, the Lobos' defense has set school records for fielding percentage three times out of the last five years, with their best percentage of .976 coming in 2009. Under the tutelage of Jacome the Lobo defense led the Mountain West Conference in 2009 in fielding percentage for the first time since the 2005 season. No Lobo infielder committed more then 10 errors over the course of the 57-game season. Outfielders Brian Cavazos-Galvez and Max Willett posted perfect fielding percentages and were the Lobos' top two fielders. In 2008, the pitching staff posted an ERA of 5.67, the lowest at UNM since 1996. Jacome placed a Lobo pitcher on the All-Mountain West Conference team during his four seasons as pitching coach - Danny Ray Herrera (2005, 2006) and Bobby LaFromboise (2007). In 2008, LaFromboise and relief pitcher Clinton Cox garnered second team All-MWC honors. In 2006, he guided Herrera to All-America status, marking just the second Lobo hurler in program history to earn that recognition. Herrera also was named Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Year that season. In June 2006, two of Jacome's starting pitchers, Herrera and Nate Melek, were selected in the Major League Baseball draft. Two years later, starters LaFromboise and Stephen Smith moved up to the pros. Jacome led the Tejanos at EPCC to three Western Junior College Athletic Conference titles (2001, 2002, 2004) and the 2002 NJCAA Region V Championship. He collected an impressive 207-122-2 record (.628) during his six years at the helm of the program, and was named the WJCAC Coach of the Year on four occasions (1999, 2001, 2003, 2004). Jacome also earned NJCAA Region V Coach of the Year honors in 2002. Prior to arriving at EPCC to become the head coach, Jacome was a volunteer assistant at the University of Arizona in 1997 and 1998. Jacome's first coaching experience came at Pueblo High School in Tucson, Ariz., where he was the head coach in 1995 and 1996. He was also the pitching coach for the USA Junior National Team that won the bronze medal in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada in 2002. The team consisted of seven future first-round picks in the Major League Draft - Delmon Young (1st, 2003), Chris Lubanski (5th, 2003), Ian Stewart (10th, 2003), Lastings Milledge (12th, 2003), Jeff Allison (16th, 2003), Chad Billingsley (24th, 2003), and Ian Kennedy (21st, 2006). Jacome graduated from Oklahoma City University in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in Health and Physical Education after playing two years of baseball for the Stars. Jacome, a pitcher, played baseball his freshman season at New Mexico State and his sophomore season at Scottsdale Community College. He received his master's degree in Education from Northern Arizona University in 1997. Jacome, 42, and his wife Elizabeth, have three children, Jacob, 13, Isabella, 11, and Alexandra, 6.

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