Bio

Glen Oaks Community College welcomed Tucker Waddups as the seventh head baseball coach in Viking baseball history in 2023.

Waddups comes to Glen Oaks after spending the 2023 season as the pitching coach at Reinhardt University in Waleska, Georgia (NAIA – National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics), under head coach Jonathan Burton. In Waddups’ only year at Reinhardt, they posted a 34-20 record while finishing second in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) and capturing a postseason bid into the NAIA Opening Round. The Eagles pitching staff featured an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American and AAC Pitcher of the Year, Andrew Herbert, as well as a Second Team All-AAC Pitcher, Ethan Foley.

Prior to Waddups' time at Reinhardt, he spent the 2022 season as the pitching coach at Mount Vernon Nazarene University (NAIA), under legendary head coach Keith Veale. Mount Vernon Nazarene posted a record of 39-19 and captured the regular season Crossroads League Championship, granting them a birth to the NAIA Opening Round. Waddups’ pitching staff was anchored by Honorable Mention All-American and First Team All-Crossroads League closer, Cruz McFadden, who led the entire NAIA in saves. Two other hurlers, Jake Glover and Jarin Bertke, also earned Second Team All-Crossroads League honors. The Cougars finished with a league leading team ERA of 4.97 while striking out 432 batters, breaking the school record for strikeouts in a single season. Their team earned run average (ERA) was over half of a percentage point better than any other team in the league.

Waddups currently serves as an associate scout for the Kansas City Royals organization. He has served in the prestigious Northwoods League as a pitching coach in each of the past three years as well, spending seasons with the Kokomo Jackrabbits (2021), the Traverse City Pit Spitters (2022), and the Kenosha Kingfish (2023). While coaching in the Northwoods League, Waddups coached many players who moved on to play professional baseball. Waddups also spent two years coaching at the high school level with the Indiana Chargers and Indiana Nitro travel baseball organizations.

In college, Waddups pitched for current Indiana University pitching coach Dustin Glant, while attending Anderson University as a freshman. With Glant’s departure from Anderson, Waddups transferred and finished his playing career at perennially strong Taylor University for head coach Kyle Gould’s Trojans from 2018-2021. While at Taylor, Waddups logged 127 innings on the mound for pitching coach Justin Barber and finished with a career ERA of 4.01. While at Taylor, he was part of teams that qualified for the NAIA Opening Round and were regularly ranked top 25 in the country. Waddups also pitched for the Kokomo Jackrabbits in the summers of 2018-2019.

Originally from Logansport, IN, Waddups graduated from Pioneer High School in 2016. There, as team captain, he earned area accolades all four years as an infielder and pitcher. In his senior season, he was named an Indiana North All-Star and set numerous Pioneer baseball records, including ERA (0.33 in 2016, 0.86 in career), home runs (17), wins (11 in 2016, 31 in career), amongst other school bests.

Waddups graduated from Taylor University in 2021 with a Bachelor's degree in Sport Management and Coaching. He will graduate from Mount Vernon Nazarene University with a Master’s degree in Organizational Management in the fall of 2023. Waddups resides in Centreville, MI, with his wife Brooke-destinee and their two dogs."