Southern Arkansas University Men's Basketball

Coach Rutledge enters his second season in Magnolia after having been the Angelo State Men’s Basketball Associate Head Coach the past year and on staff for the Rams the last two seasons. The native of Tulsa, Oklahoma is the eleventh Mulerider Men’s Basketball head coach since 1950 while also becoming the seventh leader in the program’s near 30-year association with the NCAA. Under his lead, the men finished thier 2024-25 season with a 12-16 overall record and a 9-13 conference record. At the end of the season, Rutledge had four players named to the All-GAC awards including BJ Daivs honorable mention All-GAC, Anthony Igiede, Zac Pennington, and Nevi Tell also being named to the GAC Academic Honor Roll Team. Under his leadership two athletes were also named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District teams.  While at his post at Angelo State, Rutledge aided the Rams in earning 45 wins with just 18 losses. The Sooner State native has been a huge aid for the Rams in Lone Star Conference and national play as the group has gone 33-11 against LSC competition and has been selected to the NCAA DII South Central Tournament each of the two years with Rutledge.   During his time with the Rams, Rutledge helped in the production of seven All-LSC honorees as well as an LSC Defensive (2022-23) and Newcomer (2023-24) of the Year. Rutledge was a part of a coaching staff at ASU that accomplished a lot of firsts in his second-year in San Angelo, Texas. While at Angelo State, Rutledge and the Rams made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, defeated two ranked teams in the same season (first time since 2014-15 | #15 Fort Lewis & #6 West Liberty), and ranked as high as #10 in NCAA DII (highest ranking since Jan. 3rd, 2017).   The Rams during Rutledge’s year as Associate Head Coach sat amongst the top four of many statistical categories in the Lone Star. Those being assists per game (14.4 | 4th LSC), blocks per game (3.2 | 4th LSC), fastbreak points per game (12.8 | 4th LSC), field goal percentage defense (43.4% | 4th LSC), three-point percentage (38.7% | 3rd LSC | 15thnationally), and three pointers per game (9.1 | 3rd LSC).   The Tulsa native during his first season with Angelo State assisted in coaching a Rams squad that ranked first in the LSC for defensive field goal percentage (42.2%) and rebound margin (4.6). That was not all though as the club ranked within the top three of the league for four other categories such as rebounds per game (35.39 | 3rd LSC), scoring defense (65.3/gm | 2nd LSC | 21st nationally), scoring margin (7.1 | 2nd LSC), and steals per game (8.2 | 2nd LSC). Rutledge presents no shortage of experience at the DII level, especially in the Great American Conference. Just prior to his time at ASU, the Tulsa descendant was on the coaching staff for four years at Henderson State, in which he served his last two campaigns in Arkadelphia, Arkansas as the Reddies’ Associate Head Coach.   While with the Reddies, Rutledge helped lead the charge for Henderson State to claim its first and only Great American Conference Tournament championship title in the 2019-20 season, which was also the first conference title in 17 years. The Oklahoman coached up the top defensive field goal percentage team in the conference for three consecutive seasons (2019-22) as well as aided in the development in nine all-league selections that he also recruited. Winning on the court is always great, but the most elite part of Rutledge’s time in Arkadelphia was the 100 percent graduation rate in the classroom during his occupancy. Rutledge could include himself in that statistic as he acquired his Masters of Sports Administration at the Henderson State.   The place where Rutledge got his coaching career started is the same place he will call home as the Sooner State native began his distinguished career at Southern Arkansas University. A graduate assistant coach for the Mulerider Men’s Basketball team was Rutledge’s start as he worked under SAU great Andy Sharpe in the 2017-18 campaign that saw the Muleriders go 15-14 and finish at the GAC Tournament.   Rutledge came to Southern Arkansas after spending time as a student assistant at the University of Central Arkansas as he completed his Bachelors of Science degree in Health Education. Prior to his time as a student assistant, Rutledge played his final two seasons on the hardwood for the UCA Bears, where he started 56 of 57 games across the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. Over his two-year career at UCA, Rutledge averaged 8.7 points per game and was a 43% shooter overall from the floor. Before his time as a Bear, Rutledge played for the Connors State College Cowboys for the 2009-10 season and claimed honors for second-team all-region and all-conference.   Following his collegiate career, Rutledge took his talents to Battle Creek, Michigan where he played for the Independent Basketball Association’s (IBA) Battle Creek Knights which are now known as the Battle Creek Flight since 2014. Rutledge then took his playing career to Europe as he went on to play for the Shoqata Tirana of Albania Superliga.

 Southern Arkansas University Director of Athletics Steve Browning has announced that James Bowlin has been named the Mulerider Track & Field and Cross Country Head Coach; effective immediately. The official announcement was made at 5 p.m. on Monday July 22. Bowlin brings seven years of coaching experience to Magnolia.   "We are super excited for Coach Bowlin to join our family here in Mulerider Country! After spending time with him," Browning notes, "and visiting with other top coaches in the region that know Coach Bowlin, it didn't take us long to realize that he would be a great fit here at SAU.  He will bring a ton of energy and a modern training approach that will be very beneficial to our student-athletes within our programs.  Great days ahead for our cross country and track programs!"   "I'm thrilled to be accepting the position of head cross country and track & field coach here at Southern Arkansas University," states Bowlin. "I want to thank Coach Browning for this opportunity to lead the team and work with a talented group of student-athletes. I'm also excited to compete against some strong competition within the Great American Conference."   Bowlin arrives to Magnolia after just capping off his first year as head coach of Moundbuilder Indoor/Outdoor Track & Field and Cross Country at NAIA affiliate Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. His responsibilities consisted of training the development of those in distance, jumps, sprints, vaults, and multi events.   "It'll be an honor to bring my experience and expertise to this role," Bowlin added. "I have coached at two other conferences within the Central Region of NCAA Division II and am well aware of how competitive it can be. Stepping up to those challenges and growing from those experiences have built me up to where I'm at today and trained me to coach at a higher level. I am thankful to my mentors that have helped me along the way to this point, and I can't wait to apply those lessons and mentor the next generation of student-athletes here at SAU!"   In his time at Southwestern College (2023-2024), Bowlin was host to two home meets including the Mid-States Classic (Cross Country) and the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) championship meet.   While Bowlin's head coaching experience comes from the NAIA level, he has plenty of exposure to the competitiveness of the NCAA Division II degree. Prior to his stint with the Moundbuilders, Bowlin was an assistant coach at the University of Central Oklahoma (2021 -2023) where he trained event areas such as distance, middle distance, jumps, and pole vault.   During his time with the Bronchos, Bowlin aided in setting four new program records, multiple all-conference cross country honors, many top-ten program marks, two NCAA DII national provisional marks, 3x Team USTFCCCA All-Academic honors, individual regional scholar awards, and various All-MIAA Academic honors.   To begin his coaching career, Bowlin started out at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference's Wayne State College (2017-2021) in Wayne, Nebraska. The events he was responsible for training were those of distance and middle distance races. His highlights as an assistant coach for the Wildcats included yearly NSIC conference scorers, multiple top-ten program marks, 4x Team USTFCCCA All-Academic honors, and many All-NSIC Academic honors.   Bowlin earned his Associates of Science and Arts at Johnson County Community College to then go on and acquire his Bachelors of Science in Business & Entrepreneurship at Emporia State University, and then finally obtain his Masters degree in Organizational Management: Sports and Recreation during his time at Wayne State College.   His certifications are listed as follows: • USA Track & Field Level 1 • CPR, AED, and First Aid Certified • USTFCCCA Endurance Specialist • USTFCCCA Strength & Conditioning • USTFCCCA Technical Basics   In his own collegiate career, Bowlin competed in both the NJCAA and NCAA DII in events such as the 800m up to the 8000m. His honors included KJCCCA All-Conference, All-Region, 2012 Team Indoor Region VI Champions, NJCAA national qualifier, and NJCAA All-American. Bowlin also received the Cavalier Leadership Award while making the Dean's and President's List with All-MIAA Academic Honors at Emporia State University.   Career History Head Track & Field/Cross Country Coach at Southwestern College (2023 – 2024) Assistant Track & Field/Women's Cross Country Coach at the University of Central Oklahoma (2021 – 2023) Assistant Track & Field/Cross Country Coach at Wayne State College (2017 – 2021)   Education History Wayne State College (Masters of Science in Organizational Management: Sports and Recreation) Emporia State University (Bachelor of Science in Business & Entrepreneurship) Johnson County Community College (Associates of Science and Arts)  

Waller returned to his alma mater after a lengthy and successful run as a prep basketball coach at Village, Emerson, and Magnolia High Schools. During a career that spanned 25 years, Waller guided his teams to four state championships while also averaging over 20 wins per year and amassing a winning percentage of 75%.   11 times Waller was named the District Coach of the Year, and four times he was honored as the Arkansas Basketball Coach of the Year. Additionally, Waller received the Lowell Manning Award as the Arkansas Coach of the Year for all sports. Capping his list of coaching accomplishments, Waller was named to the Arkansas High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2000.   Outside of coaching, Waller has served as superintendent of Genoa Central School District (Texarkana, Ark.) and as the Director of Guidance and Counseling at Haynesville High School (Haynesville, La.). Currently, Waller is the Director of Guidance and Counseling at Columbia Christian School (Magnolia, Ark.).   Waller is married to Barbara Morgan Waller and has three children: Trey and his wife Lana, Kory and his wife Roxie, and Kelli Sawyer and her husband Tom. Waller also has eight grandchildren: Tara, Tyler, Hayden, Hali, Landon, Jack, Kate, and Anna.

Justin Tucek enters his first season on the men’s basketball staff at Southern Arkansas University. Tucek has progressed quickly through the coaching ranks from student assistant to assistant at Emporia State University, where he spent five seasons, in addition to spending the 2020-21 season as a graduate assistant at NCAA Division I member Northwestern State University (LA). This past year, the Hornets posted a 19-12 record with a berth in the MIAA Tournament. ESU was led by All-MIAA first team selection Alijah Comithier with Owen Long (Second Team), Darius Yohe (All-Defensive Team) and Atavian Butler (Honorable Mention) rounding out the honorees. Comithier earned NABC All-Central District honors and represented ESU as a member of the East Team in the 2024 Reese's Division II College All-Star Game.    The 2022-23 season featured a 23-win season, which is the highest in the 32-year NCAA Division II era of Emporia State Men’s Basketball. The Hornets also earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007. Emporia State knocked off #17 Northern State 72-51 in Maryville, MO. The Hornet defense held Northern State 28 points under their season average. This performance marked the first NCAA Tournament win in program history. The Hornets earned back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in over 30 years. The 2021-22 season set the tone for future Hornet success. Led by Second-Team All-American Tray Buchanan, the Hornets recorded 20 wins for the first time since 2007 and recorded the most program conference wins (15) in school history. ESU received votes in the national poll for the second consecutive season. Prior to the 2020-21 season, he was named “50 Most Impactful Assistant Coaches in NCAA Division II” by Silver Waves Media.  Prior to his time at Emporia State, Tucek spent one season at Rock Valley College (IL) as a student assistant coach. Known for his charisma and energy, Tucek also specializes in player development working with both perimeter players and posts. He holds memberships with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the Small College Basketball Alumni Association (SCBAA). Tucek, a Madison, South Dakota native, holds both a Bachelors degree (2020) and Masters degree (2022) from Emporia State University.