Print Story | Email Story

Issued: January 16, 2006

VETERAN DIVISION I COACH TO TAKE OVER WOMEN'S GOLF PROGRAM

EAU CLAIRE - A veteran NCAA Division I men's golf coach has been chosen to take over the UW-Eau Claire women's golf program, Director of Athletics Scott Kilgallon has announced.

John Means (pictured to the right) will fill the vacancy left when John Rawdon resigned for personal reasons last September. He will inherit a Blugold team that has won back to back Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and gone to the NCAA Division III nationals five straight years.

NCAA championships are no stranger for this highly successful coach. In 1990, Means took over a beleaguered University of Minnesota program that was a perennial cellar dweller in the Big Ten and had not been to the NCAA championships since 1972. After only three years, the team went to the NCAA championship and proceeded to do so for eight straight years. The team he recruited and worked with until his departure from the Gopher program won the NCAA Division I Championship in 2002.

During his 11-year tenure at Minnesota, Means had a .726 winning percentage and the Gophers were ranked among the top 20 teams nationally in his final eight seasons. He coached nine All-Americans, four Academic All-Americans, 14 All-Conference players and 27 Academic All-Conference selections. He coached two-time All-American James McLean who was the 1998 NCAA medalist and who currently plays on the pro tour. He also helped Minnesota host the 2000 NCAA Golf Championship at the Hazeltine National Golf Club.

Minnesota was not the first place where Means tasted success. During an 11-year stint at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, he won 11 conference championships and led the Cadets to eight straight appearances in the NCAA championships. There he produced three All-Americans, 27 All-Conference players and four Academic All-Americans.

After coaching collegiate golf for nearly 25 years, he exited the coaching profession in 2002 to pursue a dream of building a world class golf learning center. He was the Director of Golf and Consultant for the Mulligan Masters Golf Learning Center in Lake Elmo, Minnesota for the past three years.

Among his many honors was being runner-up for NCAA Coach of the Year in 1998. He was a four-time NCAA District Coach of the Year. He is past president of the Golf Coaches Association of America and also the Big Ten Coaches Association. He has received the National Golf Foundation's Distinguished Teacher Award and was the team manager for the 1994 USA-Japan Collegiate All-Star team.

A Minnesota native, he earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Oklahoma and his master's degree from Colorado State University. While doing his master's work at CSU, Means led the Rams to the highest conference finish in the university's history.

After stepping down as men's golf coach at Minnesota, Means was the Assistant Athletic Director for fundraising and scheduling. He was involved in raising over three million dollars for endowment of the golf program as the head coach.

Means' daughter Deb won the Minnesota State High School championship, then went to Wake Forest on a scholarship and was the Demon Deacons' captain as a senior. Through his daughter, he has worked with a number of collegiate women golfers.

"As impressive as John's credentials and honors are on paper, he was even more impressive in person during the interview process," said Kilgallon. "We had some great candidates interview for the position, but the search committee was clearly very excited for John to take over the women's golf program."

While pointing out that Means has the qualities to improve the program, Kilgallon said that he was most impressed with "his ability to relate with people and more importantly how well he relates with student-athletes." He called that attribute "essential to motivate players to reach their potential and in the recruiting process."

"There is no question that John will be a great addition to a tremendous athletics staff that we have here at UWEC," concluded Kilgallon.

- TP -

Go Back