Former Indiana Baseball Player Ben Greenspan Hired as New Northwestern Coach

Ben Greenspan, a former baseball player and assistant coach for the Indiana Hoosiers, has been hired as the new head coach of the Northwestern baseball team. Northwestern's previous head coach, Jim Foster, was relieved of his duties in July.

Who would have thought that one of the chapters of Northwestern's messy, dramatic summer would end with an Indiana Hoosier in charge?

Ben Greenspan, who played for IU in the 2006 and 2007 seasons after transferring in from Connecticut, has been hired as Northwestern's new head baseball coach. 

The Wildcats' previous coach, Jim Foster, was relieved of his duties on July 14 following claims of cultivating a toxic culture on the team, making inappropriate comments about a female staffer and, to boot, guiding the team to a dismal 10-40 record in his lone season at the helm. 

Following his playing days for Indiana, Greenspan worked as an assistant coach for the Hoosiers for six years, and as a recruiting coordinator for one. Prior to being hired as the head coach in Evanston, he also spent time as an assistant coach at Arizona State, Cal Poly and Michigan. 

During his two seasons in Bloomington, Indiana finished with records of 21-31 and 19-35. As for Greenspan himself, he finished his two IU seasons with 47 total hits, two home runs and 26 RBI. 

“I am honored and humbled to be selected as the next Head Baseball Coach at Northwestern,” Greenspan said in a statement. “My personal and professional beliefs align with the mission and values of Northwestern University, where academically oriented student-athletes strive for excellence on the field and in the classroom. My playing and coaching experience in the Big Ten has provided me with a knowledge of the fierce competition and excellence of the Conference. This is a challenge that I welcome.”

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