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• Recruited/coached 4 of the 5 highest-drafted position players in Illinois history (Chris Robinson, Lars Davis, Kyle Hudson, Brandon Wikoff)
• Recruited/coached Big Ten Players of the Year in 2005 (OF) and 2007 (C), and All-Americans in 2005 (OF), 2007 (C), 2008 (OF) and 2009 (SS)
• Recruited/coached Freshman All-American 1B in 2000, OF in 2002, SS in 2003, OF in 2008 and OF in 2009
• Recruited/coached 48 All-Big Ten selections and 12 first-teamers
• Recruited/coached 23 position players who signed professionally
• Coached Illinois to .300+ average in 9 of 13 seasons and a .960+ fielding percentage in 12 of 13 seasons
• Coached Illinois to 100+ stolen bases in 2007, 2008 and 2010
 Eric Snider with Justin Parr  |
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Snider has led the Illini offense to batting averages of better than .300 in nine of his 13 seasons, including a .335 mark in 2008. Illinois has hit better than .315 as a team in three of the past five campaigns. He also has coached the Illinois defense to fielding percentages of better than .960 in 12 of his 13 years and marks over .965 in seven campaigns, including a school-record .973 mark in 2011. In addition, the Illini's 2008 offense broke school records for hits, runs, RBIs, doubles and walks in a Big Ten season, and fell just three stolen bases short of breaking that record in a conference season.
Snider has been instrumental in Illinois' aggressive offensive approach that includes a large number of stolen bases. The 2007 squad posted the most steals in a season in 25 years and third-most in school history, swiping 109-of-143 bags, and the Illini stole 101 bases in 2008. The Orange and Blue followed that with 114 steals in 2010, topping 2007 as the third-most in school history, led by Willie Argo's school-record 41 steals. Prior to Argo's monster year, the school stolen bases record had been broken or tied in consecutive seasons, with Shawn Roof breaking it in 2007 by stealing 40-of-48 and Kyle Hudson tying Roof's mark in 2008 with 40-of-49 steals. For their careers, Hudson and Roof rank 2-3 in steals in school history with 66 and 65 steals, respectively.
Overall during his tenure, Snider has guided five Illini to base-stealing seasons that rank in the school's top-10: Argo's 41 in 2010, Hudson's 40 in 2008, Roof's 40 in 2007, Ryan Rogowski's 31 in 2005 and Roof's 25 in 2006. Four of the top five career marks and the top three single-season steals totals have been set under Snider, and he has overseen 10 of the top 13 single-season efforts in conference play.
Snider began his Illini tenure by recruiting three Freshman All-Americans in four years in Andy Schutzenhofer (2000), Drew Davidson (2002) and Eric Eymann (2003). Schutzenhofer was a four-time All-Big Ten honoree, finished in the career top-10 in 11 offensive categories, won the 2003 Big Ten Medal of Honor and signed a free agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. Davidson was the 2005 Big Ten Player of the year, ranks third on the career homers and sixth on the career total bases lists and was drafted by the San Diego Padres. Eymann hit .359 with a team-high 15 doubles and 71 hits en route to Freshman All-America and All-Big Ten second team honors in 2003.
Another member of the 2003 class who Snider recruited was not as heralded initially, but catcher Chris Robinson, a native of London, Ontario, Canada, became the highest-drafted position player in Illinois history when he was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the third round in 2005. He has since gone on to play for Canada in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and the 2008 Olympics, and currently plays for the Iowa Cubs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.
Snider has hit paydirt with his recruiting again recently, as Illinois has had outfielders earn Freshman All-America honors in 2008 and 2009. In 2008, Snider brought in Casey McMurray, who hit .331 on the way to becoming a Freshman All-American, while Snider landed Willie Argo, who became Illinois' most recent Freshman All-American in 2009 when he hit .355 with 12 homers, 47 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.
Snider struck gold once again with a catcher from north of the border when he brought in Alberta native Lars Davis to replace Robinson behind the dish. Davis exploded in the 2007 season, hitting .400, earning All-America honors by three organizations and being selected as the Big Ten Player of the Year. He then followed in Robinson's footsteps, being drafted in the third round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Colorado Rockies.
In total, 23 position players have made the jump to professional baseball since Snider joined the Illinois staff. That list includes Jon Anderson, Chris Basak, Dan O'Neill, Craig Marquie and D.J. Svihlik. Patrick Arlis joined that group after being drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 11th round of the 2002 draft. Three Illini position players signed as free agents in 2003, as center fielder Brandon Cashman inked a deal with Texas, Sean Patrick signed with Baltimore and Schutzenhofer joined the Cardinals.
However, 2005 was the most fruitful for Illini in the draft during Snider's tenure as five position players were either drafted or signed free agent contracts. Robinson, Davidson and shortstop Toby Gardenhire had their names called in the 2005 draft, while first baseman Dusty Bensko and left fielder Ryan Rogowski inked free agent deals later in the summer.
In 2007, two Fighting Illini position players were drafted and one more Illini signed a professional deal. Davis and Roof were selected during the two-day draft, while Mike Rohde signed a free agent contract. Hudson made the jump in 2008 as he was drafted in the fourth round by the Baltimore Orioles. Shortstop Brandon Wikoff was a fifth-round draft pick by the Houston Astros in the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft, third baseman Dominic Altobelli was taken in the 16th round by Colorado and center fielder Joe Bonadonna was a 43rd-round pick by the Texas Rangers.
Most recently, catcher Adam Davis was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 11th round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft and shortstop Josh Parr was taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 12th round.
Prior to joining the Illini, Snider was the head coach and general manager of the Waterloo Bucks, a summer collegiate league team that competes in the Northwoods League, from 1995-98. He compiled a record of 163-90 (.644) over the four years and was twice named Northwoods League Manager of the Year. Snider was honored in 2004 for his contribution to the NWL by being named to the NWL All-Decade team.
A two-year letterwinner at Northern Iowa, Snider finished his playing career with a .411 career batting average and 69 stolen bases in 72 attempts on the way to being a two-time All-Missouri Valley Conference selection. Snider transferred to Northern Iowa from Kirkwood Community College where he was a junior college All-American shortstop.
Snider resides in Savoy with his sons, Jacob (13) and Noa (11), and daughter, Jenna (11).
Professional Players Snider Recruited/Coached
Illinois (23)
John Anderson (SS)
Chris Basak (SS)
Dan O'Neill (OF)
Craig Marquie (3B)
D.J. Svihlik (2B)
Pat Arlis (C)
Brandon Cashman (OF)
Sean Patrick (C)
Andy Schutzenhofer (1B)
Chris Robinson (C)
Toby Gardenhire (SS)
Drew Davidson (OF)
Dusty Bensko (1B)
Ryan Rogowski (OF)
Shawn Roof (SS)
Mike Rohde (IF)
Lars Davis (C)
Kyle Hudson (OF)
Brandon Wikoff (SS)
Dominic Altobelli (3B)
Joe Bonadonna (CF)
Adam Davis (C)
Josh Parr (SS)
Austin Peay (5)
Chuck Abbott (SS)
Wes Sims (2B)
Scott Quade (SS)
Nate Manning (3B)
Bryan Link (1B)
