The NCAA knew how important the 2001 Division I Baseball Tournament was to Louisiana. 
The Super Regional series between host Tulane and then-LSU coach Skip Bertman’s five-time national champion dynasty had plenty of intrigue. The Green Wave, losers of only 10 games that season, had a prime opportunity to thwart its big brother in Baton Rouge on the biggest stage. 
So big, in fact, the NCAA moved the series from Tulane’s home of Turchin Stadium to Zephyr Field in Metairie, Louisiana, to accommodate the larger-than-normal crowd. 
At the center of Tulane’s 2001 roster was a standout senior shortstop — current LSU hitting coach and recruiting
coordinator Andy Cannizaro. 
“I had four awesome years at Tulane and so many great battles against [LSU],” Cannizaro said. “[I] wanted to beat them more than anybody in the country at that time. But in that same mindframe, though, I completely respected everything that they did here at LSU.”
Cannizaro, a Louisiana native, has always been dedicated to baseball. While other Tulane students may have been enjoying a night on the town, he and his former roommate and teammate Matt Groff were watching “Baseball Tonight” at home, talking about their dreams of making it to the MLB.
Cannizaro, a player who hit for an average near the top of the order, was a model of consistency and, as Groff called him, “relentless” for a program he loved growing up. 
Groff described Cannizaro as an aggressive hitter who had a slight hitch in his stride, but his fundamentals and mechanics are what made him successful at the plate.
“He leads by example,” Groff said. “The guy on the field was a tutor … He helped me all the time if he noticed something in my swing [or] my approach to the field.  He was always very open to suggestions. If I saw something that could help him, he was a sponge, which were all qualities of a leader.
“When he talks, you listen because the guy has just a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the game of baseball.”
In Game 2 of the 2001 Super Regional, Tulane had its back against the wall. Despite Cannizaro’s 3-for-6 performance at the plate in Game 1, the Green Wave fell to the Tigers, 4-3, in 13 innings. 
It was a crushing loss to a team searching for its first trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. But Cannizaro’s leadership shone through when his team needed it most.  
Cannizaro’s 3-for-5 day with a double and a solo home run was a Game 2 best as Tulane took down LSU, 9-4. The Green Wave was even better in Game 3 with Cannizaro going 2-for-4 in a 7-1 victory. The game was sealed on a fly ball to right field, snagged by Groff. 
“When I caught the final out, one of the first guys I looked to and ran to, obviously, after we got out of the scrum, was Andy,” Groff said. “We had been through so many personal things together, baseball struggles and baseball highs and lows. He was one of the ones, if not my best friend, that I wanted to celebrate that last out with. It was, literally, a once in lifetime opportunity.” 
That was then. 
Cannizaro, one of premier players from what was a bitter LSU-Tulane baseball rivalry in the late ’90s and early 2000s, is now wearing purple and gold. Not only is he excited to be a part of Tigers program, but his Tulane family gave him its vote of confidence. 
“The minute I told [my family] what was going on, they were extremely happy because they knew this is what I wanted to do,” Cannizaro said. “There’s not a better place in the country to do it at than LSU.”
As the Tigers’ new recruiting coordinator, Cannizaro is no stranger to evaluating talent. Joining the Tigers meant leaving a job as a scout for the New York Yankees.
But the job at LSU was too good to pass up, and it wasn’t just about returning to his home state.
“It wasn’t necessarily coming back home, but it was the opportunity to coach at a program of this magnitude,” Cannizaro said. “I really believe that when you think of college baseball, you think of LSU. That’s what I thought of. If I was going to leave the New York Yankees — a job that I loved — then it was going to have to be a job of equal magnitude.” 

Unlike the “gorilla ball” era of college baseball, which 
Cannizaro remembers as a home run waiting to happen at any given at-bat, Cannizaro tries to keep things simple for guys like sophomore infielder Kramer Robertson.
“[I’ve been focusing on] not trying to do too much,” Robertson said. “Understanding what I do and what I do well … [Cannizaro] really helped me improve my average. [He’s told me] when I make outs, make quality outs. Not just hit a fly ball to center field or a pop up somewhere.”
As for his former team, Cannizaro expects Tulane, which recently replaced long-time head coach Rick Jones, to return to national prominence after a seven-year postseason drought. The two schools still meet twice a year, but the Tigers have won 11 of the last 14 meetings. 
Despite the fond memories of his glory days in New Orleans under Jones, the new Tigers’ assistant is focused on what’s in front of him, including getting high school prospects from the state to come to Baton Rouge. 
“If we can get the best players in the state of Louisiana to come here, play for LSU, represent their home state university and win national championships here, I can’t think of anything better,” Cannizaro said. 
 You can reach James Bewers on Twitter @JamesBewers_TDR.