Adam Sanchez has a 3-year-old daughter and twin 1-year-old sons, so he has loads of experience with raising babies.

It could come in handy with his new job as the boys basketball coach at Cedar Rapids Washington.

Sanchez, 29, was officially named to the post Friday morning. He inherits a program that finished 0-and-21 this past season, so he'll have to raise these young Warriors and perhaps change a few diapers as he tries to rebuild the program.

"It begins immediately. But yeah, it will be a challenge," Sanchez said Friday afternoon, adding it's a challenge he gladly accepts.

Sanchez replaces Brad Metzger, who resigned March 23 after compiling a 48-45 record in four years with two trips to the Class 4A state tournament.

Sanchez grew up in Hudson and played basketball at Wartburg College. He began his coaching career as an assistant at Wartburg before moving to Drake University, where he was the director of basketball operations for Tom Davis, Keno Davis and Mark Phelps.

Sanchez has been an assistant coach at Grand View University in Des Moines the last three years. He has no head coaching experience, but impressed his new bosses at Washington.

"Adam Sanchez quickly rose to the top of the list because of his rich basketball experience and his engaging personality," Washington principal Ralph Plagman said Friday in a news release. "Our players will really enjoy playing for Coach Sanchez."

The Warriors had trouble scoring points last season and averaged just 42.4 per game. They had two games where they scored in the 20's and five others where they scored in the 30's, so there wasn't much firepower on the club.

Sean Bredl, Cybryan Moa and David Tann were the leading point-producers this past season as seniors, with Bredl leading the way at 7.1 points per game. Juniors Peter Holmes, Jason Oney and Brock Butterfield all averaged approximately 5.0 points.

Washington reached the Class 4A state tournament in 2010 and 2011 with Josh Oglesby and Wes Washpun, but the Warriors went into a steep decline this past season after Oglesby and Washpun left for college. They went through the entire season without winning a game, rarely coming close.

"Nobody can exactly put their finger on why or exactly what happened," said Sanchez.

Sanchez will continue to work at Grand View through the end of May, then make the full transition to Washington. He plans to meet with the Washington players next week and will run a summer camp that begins June 4 at Washington.

"Obviously this summer is going to be a big summer for us in building confidence and building that winning mindset," he said. "I definitely have an idea of what I'd like to do. I have to make sure all the pieces fit that puzzle."

Sanchez noted Washington has a rich tradition in boys basketball and said he hopes to build on that legacy. His new bosses are confident he will.

"Coach Sanchez will bring much enthusiasm, vast experiences and a great work ethic to Washington," said Paul James, Washington's athletic director.

Sanchez had two interviews with Washington school officials, the second time last Friday when his wife, Abby, accompanied him to Cedar Rapids. He accepted the job this week.

His teaching assignment has not been finalized.