Jon Palmieri Hometown: Melville, N.Y. Position: Assistant Coach Experience: Fifth Season at WFU Alma Mater: Wake Forest, 1999

A former Demon Deacon All-American, Jon Palmieri enters his fifth year as a member of the Wake Forest coaching staff. Palmieri works primarily with the hitters and the outfielders.

"Jon is a natural and perfect fit for this staff and university," head coach Rick Rembielak said. "He had an outstanding playing career, helping Wake Forest to back-to-back ACC Tournament Championships. He understands what this program is all about and what it takes to be successful in the Atlantic Coast Conference."

Palmieri had an immediate impact with the Deacon hitters in his first season in 2005. Catcher J.B. Tucker batted .252 with five home runs and 34 RBIs in 2004. Under Palmieri's eye, Tucker exploded in 2005 batting .322 with 13 home runs and 65 RBIs. The same was the case for Ryder Mathias. Mathias batted just .269 with three home runs and 22 RBIs in 2004 but hit .316 with 12 home runs and 58 RBIs in 2005. In all, Wake Forest scored more runs, had more hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs and recorded a higher on-base percentage in 2005 than in 2004.

The Deacon hitters continued to improve under Palmieri in 2006. Matt Antonelli more than doubled his home run total from the year before with 11 homers in 2006. Under the watch of Palmieri, Antonelli hit .333 with 18 doubles and 38 RBIs. Allan Dykstra hit .324 with 15 home runs and 56 RBIs in his first season with Palmieri. Dykstra was named the ACC Rookie of the Year after leading the ACC in slugging percentage and OPS and finishing second in home runs.

Palmieri once again tutored a strong stable of hitters in 2007. He continued to help turn Dykstra into one of the top offensive threats in the country. Dykstra, who was named second team All-ACC and a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist, tied for the ACC lead with 18 home runs and finished in the top five in the conference in on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

Willy Fox, after transferring from Arizona State, had a breakout year under Palmieri in 2007. Fox hit .306 with six home runs and 59 RBIs in 100 games over two seasons at ASU. In 48 games at Wake Forest, Fox hit a team-leading .332 with five homers and 42 RBIs. Fox finished second in the ACC with a .430 batting average in conference games.

Brett Linnenkohl also improved with Palmieri's tutelage last season. Linnenkohl entered the year as a career .259 hitter with six home runs and 50 runs scored. In 2007, Linnenkohl hit .292 with eight homers and 50 runs scored.

The 2008 season again showed improvement from several Deacon hitters. Dykstra continued to put up solid offensive numbers, hitting .323 with 16 home runs and 50 RBIs. After a successful junior season, Dykstra was drafted in the first round of the 2008 MLB Draft as the San Diego Padres selected him with the 23rd pick.

Along with Dykstra, a total of five Wake Forest players hit over .300 during the 2008 season. Fox hit .317 during his senior season with six home runs and 44 RBIs. Dustin Hood enjoyed his best offensive season in a Wake Forest uniform, hitting .306 with two home runs and 33 RBIs. Mike Murray increased his batting average by 100 points during the 2008 season, finishing the year with a .302 average at the plate.

Prior to returning to Wake Forest, Palmieri spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech where he worked primarily with the Yellow Jacket hitters and outfielders. He helped the Jackets capture a pair of ACC titles and advance to the NCAA Super Regionals each year, highlighted by Georgia Tech's appearance in the 2002 College World Series. The Yellow Jackets won a school-record 52 games in 2002. Georgia Tech hit .330 as a team, including six regulars who batted .340 or higher and averaged more than eight runs per game. Georgia Tech was the top hitting team in the 2002 College World Series with a .392 team batting average.

Palmieri joined the Tech program after a three-year career in professional baseball with the Anaheim Angels and Montreal Expos. He spent the summers of 2001 and 2002 as an assistant coach in the Cape Cod League, first with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox then with the Chatham A's. In 2003, Palmieri was the head coach of the Riverpoint Royals of the NECBL in West Warwick, R.I.

A two-time All-America selection, Palmieri was a standout first baseman with the Demon Deacons from 1998-99. In 1998, Palmieri was named a third-team All-American and made the first-team All-ACC squad after batting .438 with a school-record 30 doubles. As a senior, he earned first-team All-America and All-ACC honors after batting .412 with 18 home runs, 94 RBIs and a school-record 112 hits.

Following his senior campaign, Palmieri was selected in the 14th round by the Angels in the 1999 MLB Draft.

One of the top hitters in ACC history, Palmieri finished his career with the second highest batting average in ACC history (.395) at that time, while becoming just the fifth player in ACC history to collect at least 300 hits, 200 runs and 200 RBIs in his career.

With 112 hits in both 1998 and 1999, he became just the second ACC player to record back-to-back seasons of 100 hits or more. Palmieri finished his career with an ACC record 82 doubles, while also ranking among the conference's top-five all-time in hits (338) and RBIs (241). Palmieri still holds Wake Forest career records for doubles, hits and runs scored (230).

In 2003, Palmieri was selected to the Atlantic Coast Conference's 50th Anniversary team -- a list of the 50 greatest players in the history of the league.

Palmieri earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Wake Forest in 1999. Palmieri is married to the former Amanda Saylor, also a Wake Forest alum (1999). They have a son, Clete, who was born in August 2008.