New University of Akron Baseball Coach Gets Montrose Welcome

University of Akron Baseball Coach Rick Rembielak was hired a month ago, and has spent the time since getting organized for the coming season. Last night he took a little break from those tasks to attend a party at  put on by new friends and a few old fans.

Rembielak is no stranger to the area. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Akron in 1988 and a master's degree in sports administration from Kent State in 1992. At KSU, Rembielak won four MAC regular season championships and three league tournament titles. He remains the all-time winningest coach of any KSU sport. He left the Flashes in 2004 to become head coach at Wake Forest and most recently spent the 2010-2011 volunteer assistant coach at Georgia Tech.

At the reception, Rembielak said he's happy to be home. "I'm an inner city guy, and my wife grew up in Perry Township."

The move wasn't planned, he said. "I knew this would be a great opportunity to get back here to where my roots are. I've known (Montrose Auto Group owner) Mike Thompson for years -- his son played for me at Kent.  Mike decided to get me here to meet people."

Rembielak is a member of the Greater Akron Baseball Hall of Fame, the Stark County Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Central Catholic High School Hall of Fame. He was inducted in the Kent State Varsity "K" Hall of Fame in 2009.

He and his wife of 27 years, Sharon, have a son Matt (18), and two daughters - Nicole (24) and Megan (21).

Watch the attached video of Rembielak's remarks at the reception.