Brandeis Alumni in the News: Figueroa '98, DeLuca '08, Curtin '84 make headlines
WALTHAM, Mass. -– While Brandeis students and teams have been largely dormant over the winter break while recharging for the spring semester -– women's basketball 63-46 win over Husson on New Year's Eve excepted -– it's a good time to catch up with successful Brandeis Athletic alumni.
Nelson Figueroa '98, the longtime professional
pitcher who spent the 2010 season with the Philadelphia Phillies
and Houston Astros, had his finest campaign in Major League
Baseball last season. He went 7-4 with a 3.29 earned-run average
overall and 5-3 with a 3.22 ERA after joining the Astros in July.
For his efforts, Figueroa earned his first offseason major-league
contract just after Thanksgiving. The Astros are Figueroa's sixth
major-league organization. Read more from the Houston
Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/7319408.html.
Steve DeLuca '08, the men's basketball program's fifth all-time leading scorer and a National Association of Basketball Coaches All-American in 2009 as a graduate student, is in his second season as a professional in the Premier Basketball League. DeLuca plays for the Saint John Mill Rats in New Brunswick, Canada. The franchise started in fall 2009 in Manchester, N.H., DeLuca's home state, and moved to Saint John this season. He moved into the playing rotation last season with a 40-point performance in March and continued to light it up this past preseason. A preseason look at DeLuca appeared in the Dec. 15 Saint John Telegraph Journal: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/sports/article/1350897
Finally, Kevin Curtin '84, a Brandeis
All-American and captain of the 1983 national championship
cross-country team, was named head coach of the cross-country and
track teams at Bentley University on December 21. Curtin, who was
inducted into the Brandeis Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009, had
served as head coach of the New Balance Boston Track Club since
2003. He succeeds 19-year head coach Ed Lyons at the Falcons' helm.
Curtin served as an assistant track and cross-country coach at his
alma mater in 1986-87. Read the Bentley press release at http://bentleyfalcons.com/sports/mtrack/2010-11/releases/20101221ikqqzb.