SAN ANGELO, Texas – It's safe to assume that Angelo State head volleyball coach
Chuck Waddington pinched himself in disbelief or did at least one double take when he came across
Qi Wang's (pronounced CHEE Wong) application for the vacant assistant position on the Rambelle coaching staff.
Waddington spent a good portion of his summer sifting through resumes in search of a qualified assistant, and found that and more in Wang, a former AVCA NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year and leader of two teams that reached the NCAA Division II championship match. Wang has been added to Waddington's staff and will help mentor a team that was selected third in the Lone Star Conference Preseason Volleyball Poll released by the league office Tuesday.
“I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about adding Qi to our coaching staff,” Waddington said. “His knowledge and level of experience are off the charts. His technical expertise and success at the national level will no doubt have a huge impact on our program. To say that I am looking forward to working with him would be a huge understatement.”
Wang has seen the very best in NCAA Division II volleyball, leading Truman State to the national title game in 2002 and 2004. Wang was named the country's top Division II coach in 2002 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), but perhaps turned in an even better performance while leading the Bulldogs to a 37-1 mark in 2004, with the team's only loss coming in the championship game against perennial national power Barry.
A native of China, Wang has been the head coach at Northern Michigan and most recently Florida Tech in addition to his four years as the leader of Truman State. At every stop, Wang has experienced success and ranks in the top 20 in winning percentage among active Division II head coaches. He also ranks in the top 50 in total wins among active Division II head coaches.
Wang's teams re-wrote the record books at Florida Tech, taking a program that went 2-31 in the year prior to his arrival to a 11-0 start in 2007 and a 21-12 overall finish. During that season, Wang's Panthers twice crossed paths with Waddington, then an assistant at Florida Southern – both losses for FIT. It was in those meetings that the seed for Wang's arrival in San Angelo were planted.
“I had an opportunity to see the way Chuck interacts with his team and would handle a program,” Wang said. “That made the open position at ASU very attractive to me when I saw the posting. I'm looking forward to doing what I can to help Chuck and Angelo State achieve success.”
Wang has coached eight All-Americans, including two first-team members. Sara Shearman, the 2003 AVCA National Freshman of the Year was one of his recruits and stand-out student-athletes. In four years as the head coach at Truman State, 12 of Wang's players earned all-region honors, while also capturing 24 all-conference awards, including two Mid-American Conference Most Valuable Players and two MIAA Freshmen of the Year.
Wang earned his bachelor's degree in sports science with a specialization in volleyball from Beijing Sports University of China in 1983, and holds two advanced degrees. Wang and his wife Shelly (Xiao-Xin) have one son, George Wang.
Angelo State opens the 2010 season at the Florida Southern Classic (Sept. 2-4) with the team playing its first home games at the Angelo Retina/ASU Invitational (Sept. 9-11).
