Softball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- wcking@syr.edu
- Phone:
- x 5767
With 14 years of coaching experience and playing time with two teams ranked in the top five in the world, Wallace "Wally" King brings knowledge, experience and leadership to the Syracuse softball team after joining the staff during the summer of 2008.
Coaching Ties
Before joining the SU staff, King served as the assistant coach at Trine University (formerly Tri-State University) in Indiana. While with the Trine Thunder, King helped guide the squad to the most wins in school history with 31 and its first national tournament appearance. The team set school records in runs (251), doubles (70), home runs (24), RBI (212) and had a league-best ERA.
In 2006, King served as a volunteer assistant coach and hitting instructor at Bowling Green State University with current SU head coach Leigh Ross and associate head coach Kyle Jamieson.
Since 2002, King was a social worker and special education instructor at Northview HS in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he picked up head varsity softball coach responsibilities. In his two seasons with the Northview squad, King’s team hit 28 home runs to lead the state. While at Northview, King became a professional hitting and pitching instructor at the USA FastBall Elite Training Academy where he stayed until 2008.
King began his coaching career at Grand Rapids Community College as the assistant softball coach and head recruiter. During the three seasons King served as an assistant coach, the program developed into a national title contender.
Playing Experience
King has an extensive playing background spanning from 1985-2003. Between 1998 and 2002, King was the starting centerfielder for the No. 4 Midland Explorers and spent 2003 with the No. 3 Waterloo Hallman Twins.
King was a first-team All-American, as well as a state and national Tournament MVP with the Kamphuis Pipeline in 1997. In 1996, King helped lead the Midland Metros to the national championship.
King played baseball for Hope College (Holland, Mich.) from 1985-88 where he earned bachelor’s degrees in both sociology and psychology. He earned his master’s in social work from Grand Valley State University in 1994. His wife, Sue, is an elementary educator and they have four children.
