Baseball

Coach Paul Stevens will retire at the end of the 2015 season after 31 years, Athletic Director Jim Phillips announced Thursday.

“We are incredibly grateful that Northwestern has been blessed with a tremendous leader like Paul Stevens,” Phillips said in a news release. “His contributions to this place are simply immeasurable.”

Stevens served as an assistant for three seasons from 1985 to 1987 before taking over as head coach in 1988. During his time at the helm, he’s amassed 663 total wins and 311 in Big Ten play, both program records.

The coach also has three Big Ten Coach of the Year awards despite his teams finishing second or better in the conference just once during his tenure.

Perhaps his most impressive accomplishment has been developing talent that has gone on to play at the Major League level, including New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi, Seattle Mariners pitcher J.A. Happ and San Francisco Giants pitcher George Kontos. In all, 65 players coached by Stevens have been drafted or signed to professional contracts.

No announcement has been made about Stevens’ replacement.

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Twitter: @BobbyPillote