Ritch Price scoffs at those who say Kansas University cannot win in baseball.

“Six years ago they were saying the same thing at Nebraska,” said Price, Cal Poly’s eighth-year head coach who on Monday was named Bobby Randall’s successor at KU. “Look at what coach (Dave) Van Horn has been able to do at Nebraska  build a program that is special.”

The 47-year-old Price, who had a 217-228 record at Cal Poly while taking the program from NCAA Div. II to Div. I and an overall college head coaching record of 501-403-1, believes he can resurrect KU’s program, which went 166-203 the last seven years under Randall.

“I think the Kansas baseball program is an absolute sleeping giant,” Price said.

Price was the only person offered the job, beating out finalists Mitch Thompson (Baylor assistant), Wilson Kilmer (KU assistant) and Lindsay Meggs (Div. II Chico State head coach).

Price impressed KU search committee members and athletic director Al Bohl by mapping a plan for success here.

“I think I have a really good handle on how to divvy up 11.7 scholarships  how to maximize those dollars so we can compete in every phase of the game,” Price said.

He already has a commitment from one of the best players in California  his son Ritchie, a switch-hitting shortstop who hit .458 last season at San Luis Obispo High. The younger Price on Monday received a release from his letter of intent to Cal Poly and is free to join his father at KU.

“We will divvy them (scholarships) up not just offensively and defensively, but also on the pitching side of the ball,” the elder Price added.

KU baseball search committee chair Richard Konzem said Price would receive a one-year contract worth $70,000. All KU Olympic sports coaches are on one-year deals.

“He wants to get ‘Friday, Saturday and Sunday starters,'” Konzem, KU’s senior associate athletic director, said of Price’s plan to get three quality starting pitchers for Big 12 weekend play, “get lefty and righty middle relievers and a closer. Those players might take five to six of the scholarships.

“In baseball there are different ways to go about it. He is coming in with a plan we like. He is energetic and known as a tireless recruiter. Everybody we talked to had great things to say about him.”

Price, a Sweet Home, Ore., native who played second base at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., will recruit more than just the West Coast.

“We’re going to roll our sleeves up with Wichita State and Kansas State and see if we can win the in-state recruiting battles and then throughout the rest of the Midwest, and branch out on a national basis and recruit the players it takes to get it done,” Price said.

He said he preferred signing high school players, but would fill in with junior college players where necessary.

Price coached at De Anza Community College in Cupertino, Calif., nine years and Menlo College in Atherton, Calif., three years. He started his coaching career at Phoenix (Ore.) High and Jasper (Tex.) High.

Price took over at Cal Poly in 1995, the year the Mustangs switched from Div. II to Div. I.

Price went 21-29 his first year, 30-23 in 1996 and 37-21 in 1997. After that, the Mustangs dropped to 16-42 and 21-34 before rebounding with records of 32-24, 30-26 and 30-29 the final three years.

“You look at my coaching record  I am very proud of that,” Price said. “I took over at Cal Poly when we were making the transition (to Div. I). We went into play in the WAC (Western Athletic Conference) immediately and had to play San Diego State, Hawaii, Fresno State  those type of national powers right out of the gate with 6 1/2 scholarships.

“My first recruiting class was predominantly junior college players. When those guys graduated in 1997 (after 37-21 year) we lost 13 seniors from that team and had four top recruits sign in the professional draft. We took a step back and I told the athletic director we were going to go back to high school recruiting. We got our rears kicked during that transition. Now we’ve won over 30 games each of the last three years.”

Also, Price helped raise funds for a new baseball facility and has the school up to full scholarship limits.

As far as ties to KU, Price has none. His teams have faced Fresno State many times in the past but he did not meet KU athletic director Bohl, former AD at FSU, until the interview process.

“I’m really pleased and excited to have Ritch Price as our head baseball coach,” Bohl said. “He is committed to building a top-25 baseball program. He will emphasize excellence in both athletics and academics. He will be a team player in the athletic department.”