Dave Schrage (2023) - Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame

Dave Schrage

Induction:
2023
Class:
1983

Dave Schrage was a standout outfielder for Creighton from 1980-83, then started a 38-year coaching career that saw him win more than 800 games before retiring in 2022. He hit .358 in his Bluejay career (eighth in CU history), leading the Missouri Valley Conference in 1982 when he hit .400. He closed his career by hitting at a .433 clip, which ranks fourth in CU's single-season record book, when he earned Second Team Academic All-America honors. That makes Schrage one of two men to hit .400 in multiple seasons, joining 1991 National Player of the Year Scott Stahoviak. Schrage also swiped 62 bases, a figure that remains tied for fifth-best in program history. In 2007 Schrage landed a spot as one of nine outfielders on the MVC's All-Centennial Team. He started his coaching career in 1984, then returned to Creighton as an assistant coach in 1985 and 1986. The Oak Park, Ill., native became a head coach for the first time in 1988 at Waldorf (Iowa) Junior College, where in 2008 he was inducted into their Hall of Fame. Schrage won 803 games while serving as head coach at six Division I schools, Northern Iowa (1991-99), Northern Illinois (2000-02), Evansville (2003-06), Notre Dame (2006-10), South Dakota State (2011-16) and Butler (2016-22). He ranks 11th in MVC history with 125 league wins and is one of six men to be a three-time MVC Coach of the Year (1995, 1997, 2006). When he won his initial honor, he became the first baseball player in league history to be named Coach of the Year after being named All-Valley as a player, something done by only two men since.