Clay Van Hook

Biography

Clay Van Hook was named the Owls’ Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator on July 15, 2025, returning to South Main where he coached under Hall of Fame head coach Wayne Graham from 2012-17. Van Hook will work with the Owls’ hitters and outfielders in addition to heading up recruiting efforts. In his first stint at Rice, Van Hook served as Rice’s volunteer assistant coach during his first year with the program before being promoted to a full-time position prior to the start of the 2013. Rice advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of his six years and advanced to the Super Regional in 2013. Rice's offense was nationally recognized in 2014 and 2015, finishing in the top 40 in the NCAA both seasons. During the 2014 campaign, Rice led Conference USA and had the 13th-most hits in the nation, averaging 10.2 per game. During his tenure with Rice, the Owls claimed 11 All-Americans, 31 all-conference selections and had 28 players selected in the MLB Draft. Prior to spending last season as an assistant coach at Houston, Van Hook spent two seasons as the head coach at Texas-Arlington. In two seasons in Arlington, Van Hook guided the Mavericks through one of the hardest non-conference schedules in the nation, facing off against nine 2023 regional qualifiers and mentored an offensive resurgence in 2022 where they smashed 56 home runs, the 3rd most in program history. Van Hook helped guide his UTA squad to the semifinals of the 2023 WAC Championship, just one game away from the cha