Kennesaw State University Athletics

Former Owl catcher and coach Derrick Tucker has returned to Kennesaw State as the first assistant for new head coach Ryan Coe.

Possessing a resume highlighting his elite college recruitment and evaluation skills, Tucker has a history of building championship rosters. 

In his first six-year stint in college baseball, Tucker coached and recruited 25 players that would go on to be drafted and signed in the MLB Draft. 

Since 2013, he has been an amateur scouting supervisor for Texas Rangers covering Georgia, northern Florida and Tennessee. 

Tucker teamed up with Ryan Coe once again in the Rangers organization, signing 15 players in the MLB Draft including two big-leaguers. One of his last actions in his role was to draft Vanderbilt standout Jack Leiter as the No. 2 overall pick. 

In his position under Coe at Kennesaw State, Tucker will oversee recruiting, supervise offensive development, and coordinate defensive development with catchers and infielders. The Georgia native emphasizes an aggressive approach to offense and has successfully developed power and production at the collegiate level. 

Before his career scouting for the pros, Tucker served as both a recruiting coordinator and assistant coach for Kennesaw State from 2010-13. In his short tenure, he coached and recruited 21 MLB draft picks for the Owls. The former KSU backstop would add his influence at the catching position at his alma mater, overseeing three more draft picks including fifth rounder Ronnie Freeman, Johnny Bench award-winner and first-rounder Max Pentecost and 24th-round pick Brennan Morgan.

Tucker played a similar role for North Georgia prior to returning to Kennesaw, focusing on recruitment and improving the Nighthawks' hitting and catching. Under his management, the team set a single-season school record for total home runs in a season (65 in 2007 and 72 in 2008). UNG had three catchers drafted in Tucker's short time including Daniel Petite, current Houston Astros hitting coach Troy Snitker, and Eason Spivey. He also had the opportunity to recruit and sign All-American and MLB left-handed pitcher Chris Rearick.

The Woodstock High School alum impressed in both baseball and basketball during his high school days before getting signed by then assistant coach Ryan Coe to play at Kennesaw State. Tucker became known as one of the best defensive catchers in the program's history, displaying a tremendous arm and athleticism behind the plate. As a junior, he caught 18 baserunners attempting to steal and picked off three additional runners for a combined 21 putouts and a .429 caught-stealing percentage; these ratios place him among the statistical leaders in the program's history. 

With Tucker behind the plate, Kennesaw State won the Peach Belt Conference Championship in 2002, competed in the NCAA Regionals in three of four years, won the region title in 2003 and finished third in the NCAA Division II College World Series. 

Graduating from North Georgia College and State University, Tucker received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history with a minor in business in 2007.

Married to former KSU women's golfer and former KSU assistant golf coach Laura Lindsey Tucker, Tucker currently resides in Atlanta, Ga. with his wife and their son, Tatum.