Smith officially adds Greenspan to baseball staff

Tracy Smith has made his first assistant coach official.

Cal Poly assistant coach Ben Greenspan will join Michigan's new coaching staff as the Associate Head Coach.

"We are thrilled to welcome Ben to the Michigan Baseball program," Smith told MGoBlue.com. "In addition to being an outstanding coach, Ben has earned his reputation as one of the top recruiters in the country. He has been instrumental in attracting and developing top-10 recruiting classes to programs from the Midwest to the California coast."

Maize & Blue Review first reported the news on Monday.

Greenspan was an automatic candidate to join Smith's staff in Ann Arbor. The duo has 13 years of experience coaching together at Indiana and, most recently, Arizona State. Greenspan originally played for Smith at IU and was a captain in 2007.

While Smith took a year away from coaching in 2022, Greenspan was an assistant at Cal Poly, where he coached two All-Americans, and the Mustangs were ranked as high as No. 18 nationally. The New York native served as the recruiting coordinator and coached the catchers.

Smith made Greenspan the team's third-base coach at Arizona State, so it's expected we see him serve in the same role and running point in the recruiting department.

During their stint in Tempe, the two assembled the nation's No. 1 recruiting class in 2016, the No. 7 class in 2017, the No. 4 class in 2018, the No. 8 class in 2020, and the No. 10 class in 2021.

Greenspan is a widely versatile assistant coach.

He's an exceptional recruiter, and that's how he's risen the ranks to a Power Five associate head coach. Still, it's hard to overlook a lineup of hitters he's worked with, which includes Kyle Schwarber (IU), Spencer Torkelson (ASU), Alex Dickerson (IU), Josh Phegley (IU), and Gage Worman (ASU).

Additionally, he was an academic liaison, and under his watch, 34 players earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors. He also organized the scouts, analysts, and MLB coaches who attended games at ASU helped oversee equipment, and advised on non-conference scheduling.

Greenspan is Smith's right-hand man, and he should stay in that role at Michigan, where the 38-year-old has his highest title yet.

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