Hugh McCutcheon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hugh McCutcheon (born October 13, 1969), a native of Christchurch, New Zealand, is the current head coach of the US men's national volleyball team and was a New Zealand national team volleyball player. He played on the New Zealand junior and senior national teams from 1988-90 before coming to the United States and lettered in Volleyball and field hockey at Shirley Boys' High School. He was also a member of New Zealand’s national team in 1996 and represented his country on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour in 1997.
Contents |
[edit] College
McCutcheon played for Brigham Young University from 1991-1993 after transferring from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.
- 1991 - Played in 40 games, had 87 kills while averaging 2.2 per game, had 47 digs and 39 total blocks, added six assists and three aces.
- 1992 - Earned Academic All-Conference honors from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Played in 72 games ... was third on the team in kills with 218 while averaging 3.0 per game, hit .312 on the season, placed fourth on the team in digs with 113, added 48 blocks and 17 aces, had 19 kills and hit .485 in a three game match against UC Santa Barbara and had a season high 21 kills against Ball State.
- 1993 - Earned honorable mention All-America honors as a senior. Led the Cougars in kills with 476 and was 13th in the nation with a 5.53 per game average, hit .337 on the season, was third on the team with 130 digs and 107 blocks and had 28 assists and 19 aces. Had 39 kills in a match against the University of Hawaii.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in physical education from BYU in 1993, McCutcheon played professionally for two years in Finland and Japan before returning to BYU to complete his master’s degree in exercise science in 1998. In 1999, McCutcheon received an MBA from BYU’s Marriott School of Management.
[edit] Coaching History
McCutcheon was the top assistant coach and recruiter under head coach Carl McGown for BYU from 1995-2001. During that time the Cougars posted a record of 138-44 and captured two NCAA men’s volleyball championships (1999 and 2001).
After leaving BYU, McCutcheon was the head coach of the Vienna Hotvolleys in Austria for two seasons. In his first season there, the Hotvolleys won the 2001-02 Inter-Liga, Austrian Cup and Austrian League championships, and he had the opportunity to work with USA national team players Rich Lambourne, Dave McKienzie, Adam Naeve, Reid Priddy and Brandon Taliaferro. He also coached the first Austrian team to ever beat an Italian A1 opponent.
McCutcheon also served as a volunteer assistant coach for the men’s national team, helping out during the 2001 Volleyball World League, the 2002 World Championships and on five international tours. He has also served as the head coach of the USA Boys Youth National Team in 2000 and 2001. he joined USA Volleyball as a full-time assistant coach for the men’s national team program in April, 2003.
On February 3, 2005, USA Volleyball announced that McCutcheon was selected to become the new head coach of the USA men’s national volleyball team. He took over the position from long-time head coach Doug Beal, who resigned to become the new Chief Executive Officer of USA Volleyball.
[edit] USA Volleyball Men's national Team Head Coach
The team went 27-6 in McCutcheon's first year as head coach and won five medals in five tournaments. They earned a silver medal at the USOC International Sports Invitational in San Diego, California, gold medals at the America's Cup in Brazil, the FIVB World Championship Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico and the NORCECA Continental Championship in Canada and another silver medal at the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup in Japan.
The squad posted wins over the 2004 Olympic gold and silver medalists during the year (Brazil and Italy, respectively), registered the highest winning percentage of any men’s national team since 1988 (.818) and recorded the most wins by a men’s team since 2000 (27). The Americans finished the year by winning 18 of their last 19 matches, including 14-straight at one point and ranked fifth in the world.
