COLLEGE JOB: Mike Russo just completed his first season as an assistant coach for the Princeton University baseball team. Russo, a former Hun School standout who was a Division 3 All-American pitcher at Kean University, coached for three years at Hun before joining the Tiger program last fall. (Photo Courtesy of Princeton’s Office of Athletic Communications)

While Mike Russo was thrilled to start his college baseball career with Division 1 powerhouse N. C. State, he realized that D-3 Kean University would be a better fit.

“I loved the atmosphere at NC State; I loved the school,” said former Hun School standout pitcher Russo, who played two seasons for the Wolfpack.

“I wasn’t developing as much as I thought I could at N.C. State. I didn’t have an established role. The opportunities were limited, based on performance. Neil Ioviero at Kean was a well known pitching coach. They were in the top 5 in D-3 and in the College World Series a lot. It was definitely a good move on my part.”

Russo enjoyed a very good two-year stint at Kean, going 10-2 with a 1.93 ERA as a junior in 2011, earning D-3 All-American honors and getting named as the NJAC Pitcher of the year. As a senior, he went 7-1 and helped pitch the Cougars to a second straight College World Series.

But more importantly than his success on the mound, his experience at Kean changed the course of his future as he caught the coaching bug.

“Neil is one of the reasons I got into coaching; I liked his style, he inspired me,” said Russo.

“He is very hands-on, has a routine, an organization. There is always a practice plan, a drill progression and bullpens. He works with every pitcher individually. If a pitcher was committed to him, he was committed to the pitcher.”

Upon graduating from Kean, Russo returned to Hun to serve as an assistant coach for its baseball program.

Moving up the ladder after serving on the Hun staff from 2012-14, Russo went across town to Princeton University where he joined the baseball program as an assistant coach last fall.

“I was really getting into coaching, I wanted to get to a higher level,” said Russo.

“I e-mailed 15 college coaches looking for a volunteer job. There is usually a lot of movement in May and June. Scott (Princeton head coach Scott Bradley) got back to me, he said a guy was leaving a staff to go back to grad school and that there was an opening. I met with him, he said he had followed me over the years and he basically offered me a job on the spot.”

Russo’s experience at Hun under longtime head coach Bill McQuade helped him become a more well-rounded coach.

“It was great, McQuade always had respect for me,” said Russo. “I ran ideas by him. He would say what do you think. He valued my opinion. He let me take control of some things. I was hands-on. I started out with the pitching staff. I called pitches and took charge of the pitchers and was then doing a little bit of everything. pitching BP, working on team defense, and pickoffs.”

In joining the Princeton staff, Russo was able to take a similar approach under Bradley.

“I said I wanted to work with all of the pitchers individually and he was happy with that, he said do it,” said Russo.

“He wanted to have another pitching guy on the staff, sometimes it helps to have someone say different things to the pitchers, put some different words in their minds.”

While the Tigers endured a rough spring as they posted a record of 7-32, Russo believes that he helped lay a foundation for future success.

“The guys liked the organization, they got better as the season went on,” said Russo, who is running the Robbinsville Baseball Camp for players ages 7-12 from July 27-31 with former Steinert High pitching coach Bryan Rogers.

“We struggled with depth and injuries. The biggest thing is for them to be more accountable with their actions. It was a little bit of a challenge, towards the middle of the season. It was tough to go to the park, you don’t want to go and be losing all the time. They were excited and happy when they went to the ballpark. I think they learned how we have to practice and go about our business.”

Excited to still be going to the ballpark on a daily basis, Russo sees himself as a lifer in the coaching business.

“I definitely love it; I want to keep moving up, I want to become a head coach some day,” said Russo, who is planning to start working on a masters in athletic administration this fall.

“Scott is a big pro guy, he spent nine or 10 years in the big leagues. It is good to be around him. I am always bouncing things off of him. He knows Greg (fellow assistant Greg Van Horn) and I want to be head coaches. He is good role model. I look up to him and have a lot of respect for him.”