Blake Sandquist, head coach of the Des Moines Area Community College men’s basketball team, has announced the promotion of assistant coach Taylor Tucker to the position of Associate Head Coach.
Tucker, a native of Tyler, Texas, has been a member of the DMACC men’s basketball coaching staff since August of 2021. He was hired by former DMACC men’s basketball coach Brett Putz and remained on the staff after Putz left DMACC to join the Indiana State University men’s basketball staff following the 2021-22 season. Sandquist was hired to replace Putz.
“Taylor is going on year four with the DMACC program and he helped transition through coaching changes and kind of held things together until I was hired,” Sandquist said. “He has been a huge focal point on everything we do on a day-to-day basis. He’s a heck of a recruiter and does a great job on scouting work.”
Sandquist said the promotion is something Tucker deserves for having been a part of the program for so many years.
“His responsibilities won’t change but (the promotion) is something that will help him,” Sandquist said. “His goal is to be a head coach someday and he’s already a huge focal point in our decision making in what we do. I think this further cements the job that he’s done here.”
Tucker is a 2016 graduate of Olivet Nazarene University (ONU) with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and physical education. Tucker played basketball for ONU, helping the Tigers make two NAIA national tournament appearances. The Tigers won the 2015 regular season and postseason conference tournament championships during Tucker’s junior year in 2015.
Tucker joined the DMACC men’s basketball coaching staff after two seasons at Northern State University (NSU). While at NSU, Tucker was part of back-to-back Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) championships and during the 2021 season NSU entered the Division II National Tournament with a No. 2 overall ranking and lost to the eventual champion in the Sweet Sixteen.
Before joining NSU, Tucker served as an assistant coach at Monmouth College in Illinois, helping the Scots to the conference championship in 2017-18.
https://www.dmaccbears.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/releases/20240606q71xjm
