"Derek will give a strong sense of balance to our players as his emphasis on performance has equal value to the classroom and the field," said Joel Barta, the Scorpions Head Baseball Coach. "A big reason for Derek ending up here was due to the fact that he is a proven winner as a player and coach at the NAIA level.  It will be important as we grow with the NAIA to have a strong sense of what it takes to compete in the NAIA, something Derek can very easily identify with."

UTB/TSC is participating in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) for the first time in 2006-07 after several decades playing against junior college athletic programs.

"I am proud to have Derek join our athletic department and help lead our baseball program as we enter NAIA and RRAC competition this year," said UTB/TSC Athletic Director Dan Huntley. "Derek’s ability to be a leader and his personal character qualities are exactly what we are looking for in our coaches."

NAIA institutions are encouraged to adopt the Champions of Character program, which is designed to instill an understanding of character values in sport and provide practical tools for student-athletes, coaches and parents to use in modeling exemplary character traits.  Waddoups will step into that role at UTB/TSC.

"Derek was a four-year captain in college, a NAIA Champions of Character award winner, a NAIA Academic All-American and participated in the NAIA World Series as a player and a coach while at Bellevue," Huntley said. "Derek sees how unique and special our university is and what a great opportunity he has by assisting Coach Barta develop our baseball program so that it is considered one of the top NAIA baseball programs in the nation."

Waddoups, who was the pitching coach for the Wisconsin Woodchucks Summer Baseball Team in the Northwoods League, has a strong commitment to youth baseball programs. He ran a Spring Baseball Camp College of Eastern Utah in 2001 (ages 8-14), Youth Baseball Camps and Clinics at Bellevue University 2003-2006 (ages 10-14) and Youth Baseball Clinics for the Wisconsin Woodchucks this past summer (ages 4-15).

Waddoups, who is bilingual in English and Spanish, spent two years as a full-time volunteer missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Mexico. He is also an Eagle Scout.