Buchanan joined the UTA softball coaching staff in 2018 with years of experience on the diamond, including most recently serving as the head softball coach for Louisiana College.
In his first season with the Mavericks, Buchanan played an instrumental role in the development of the 2019 NCAA hits leader, Laura Curry. Curry finished the season with 91 hits, breaking the previous UTA record by 15 hits. As the outfield coach, he also saw two of his three fielders earn all-conference nods, as Curry and Krista Rude both landed on the All-Sun Belt Team.
At Louisiana College, Buchanan led a squad that finished fourth in the American Southwest Conference - its best finish in eight seasons, as well as featuring 10 on the all-conference list for a feat not achieved since 2010.
Prior to Louisiana College, Buchanan was the Associate Head Coach at Southern University and assistant coach at the University of North Dakota, working primarily with the pitchers. In his lone season at Southern, the Jaguars saw a 3.59 point drop in their team earned run average, and finished second in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) in team ERA and opponent's batting average.
In his first year working with UND’s pitchers in 2016, red-shirt sophomore Kaylin VanDomelen was named the program’s first ever All-Big Sky First Team honoree. Under Buchanan’s guidance, VanDomelen led the conference with 151 strikeouts, marking the sixth most in a season in UND history.
The 2016 pitching staff also saw a drastic improvement during Buchanan’s first year, as the team’s earned-run average was nearly halved from 7.84 in 2015 to 4.72 in 2016.
Buchanan also served as an Assistant Coach at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi during the Islanders 2015 season, where he worked mainly with the infield and catchers and helped to bring the Islanders back to a Southland Conference Tournament appearance.
Prior to his stint in Corpus Christi, Texas, Buchanan served as an Assistant Coach for Texas State from 2011-14. During his time in San Marcos, Texas, he worked with the pitching staff and catchers and assisted with game-day analysis. He was part of the 2012 team that won the Southland Conference title.
A native of Lytle, Texas, Buchanan earned his bachelor's degree in exercise and sports science from Texas State in 2014.
THE BUCHANAN FILE
Began at UTA
2018
Past Experience
Louisiana College: Head Softball Coach (2018)
American Softball Association: Head Softball Coach (2017)
Southern Universit: Associate Head Coach (2016-17)
University of North Dakota: Assistant Softball Coach (2015-16)
Texas A&M Corpus Christi: Volunteer Assistant (2015)
Texas State University: Volunteer Assistant (2011-14)
Education
Texas State University: B.S. Exercise Sports Science (2014)
Hometown
Lytle, Texas
Favorite Quote
"There may be people who have more talent than you, but there's no excuse for anyone to work harder than you."
Organization Affiliations / Accolades
National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA)
American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)
