FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Reno, Nev. – University of Nevada head baseball coach Gary Powers has added Kevin Tucker to the staff for the 2010 season. Tucker will serve as the volunteer assistant working with the Wolf Pack outfielders and hitters.
"Kevin brings a vast amount of division one coaching experience to our staff," said Powers. "His time as a coach in two very competitive conferences will blend well with our coaching staff and provide another quality resource for our players to learn from. We are extremely pleased to have Kevin as part of our 2010 coaching staff."
"I’m really excited to be apart of The University of Nevada and the baseball program" said Tucker. "I’m grateful for the opportunity Coach Powers has given me and I look forward to continuing the progams success that he has built here with the Wolf Pack"
Prior to joining the Pack, he was an assistant coach at the University of Kansas from 2005-2008. During that time he served as the team’s hitting and outfield coach. The final two years he was the Jayhawks recruiting coordinator.
In 2006, he helped the Jayhawks to one of the best seasons in school history as the team captured the Big 12 title, won 43 games and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the fist time in 14 seasons. The 43 wins are second in school history. The 2006 team set school records for home runs (75) and hits (698) in a season, while leading the Big 12 in doubles and ranked second in home runs. During his four years at KU the team hit .291 and ranked in the top five in the conference in home runs and doubles each season.
KU won thirty or more games in three of his four seasons coaching the Jayhawks. The team produced one All-American, 28 All-Big 12 selections, more than 25 Big 12 Academic team selections and had 23 players sign professional contracts during his coaching tenure.
Prior to coaching at Kansas, Tucker was an assistant coach at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, from 2001-2003 primarily working with the outfielders and hitters. During his stint, he helped the Mustangs to a pair of thirty win seasons and coached 12 players who earned All-Big West honors, while nine players signed professional contracts including Kevin Carrier (Padres) and Garrett Olsen (Mariners).
Before coaching at Cal Poly he served as an assistant coach at Hancock College in Santa Maria, Calif. (1999-2000) and San Luis High School (1997-98). He was also the head coach of Nipomo High School in 2009.
Tucker has coached extensively during the summer throughout the United States, Canada and overseas. In 2008, he was the head coach of the Seaside Wildcats in Seaside, Ore. and the team won the league championship posting a record of 29-15. In 2006 he coached the Little Falls Diamond Minors in the New York Collegiate League to a third place finish and in 2005 led the Lawrence Raiders American Legion team to the Kansas State Championship as the squad finished 38-8.
In 2003, he was an assistant coach for the Anchorage Glacier Pilots of the Alaskan League where he worked with current major leaguers Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox), Mike Pelfrey (Mets), John Bowker (Giants) and Hector Ambriz (Diamondbacks). In the summer of 2002, he was the head coach of the Kelowna Falcons in B.C., Canada where he worked with current Washington Nationals center fielder Nyjer Morgan.
He was a player-coach in Sweden in 1995-96 and served as a Major League Baseball Envoy coach, who promoted and coached national teams in Africa (1999), France, (2000), and Germany (2001).
Tucker played at Cal Poly for two seasons (1993-94) and helped the Mustangs to a pair of conference championships and a runner-up finish in the NCAA Division II World Series in 1993. The squad won 39 games his first season and followed that with 31 wins his final year. Before playing at Cal Poly he was an all-conference outfielder at Hancock College (1990-91)
He is a 2004 graduate of La Verne College (Calif.) with a degree in organizational management. In August he will marry Emily Zenisek, Kan. and the couple will reside in Reno.
