In his final year with the Beavers, he posted an 11–1 record, earning conference and national honors and a 21st round selection by the Boston Red Sox in the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft.
The Highlanders claimed their first Big West Conference championship in his final season and ranked highly in several national statistical pitching categories.
[2][3] Following the 2011 season, Checketts was named as the ninth head coach in UC Santa Barbara history.
[4] The Gauchos were coming off a sixth-place finish in the competitive Big West Conference and had not appeared in the NCAA tournament since 2001.
[6] In Checketts' first recruiting class he brought in Dillon Tate, who later became the 4th overall pick in the 2015 Major League Baseball draft.