Old Dominion made a splash this week by hiring Chris Finwood away from Western Kentucky to be its head coach. The Virginian-Pilot originally reported the news Tuesday night, and WKU confirmed it in statements issued Wednesday.

Finwood, a native of Hampton, Va., played and coached for three years at Virginia Military Institute, and the opportunity to take a job close to home was too good to pass up.

"This is just a unique opportunity for our family that we cannot turn down," he said in a statement issued by WKU. "I am very proud of all that we accomplished in the last six years. We did some special things, and none of it would have happened without a tremendous assistant coaching staff, players who bought into the right way to do things, and a loyal and hard working support staff."

Fiinwood went 190-154 in six years at Western Kentucky, including a 42-20 season in 2009, when the Hilltoppers reached a regional final. He is a respected identifier and developer of talent, and WKU produced six MLB draft picks this spring, including supplemental first-rounder Kes Carter and three other top-10-rounds picks. According to the Virginian-Pilot, he beat out Nate Goulet (who guided the Monarchs to a 30-26 record and the No. 2 seed in the CAA tournament as interim head coach in 2011) and long-time Virginia Wesleyan coach Nick Boothe for the job.

ODU athletic director Wood Selig also hired Finwood when he served as AD at WKU in 2005.