Ted Waller enters into his 17th season as a volunteer assistant coach for the men’s basketball team at Southern Arkansas. He enters his third year on the bench for current head coach Logan Quinn. He most recently served two years under former head coach Mark Rutledge. Waller assisted former head coach Andy Sharpe for 10 seasons, while his first two seasons on the SAU bench were under former head coach Eric Bozeman.
A member of the legendary 1967-68 and 1968-69 Mulerider Basketball teams, Ted Waller's final two seasons as a Mulerider were served as a student assistant coach under the legendary W.T. Watson. That appointment is a part of a basketball legacy which includes a lengthy and successful run as an Arkansas prep basketball coach at Village, Emerson, and Magnolia High Schools. During a high school coaching 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%.
Waller’s first state title came in 1973-74 with Village, while his final two came in 1979-80 and 1984-85, respectively at Magnolia High School. The Panthers also claimed the 1984-85 Arkansas Boys Overall State Title as well and the year prior to his first state title at Magnolia, Waller's Panthers finished as the state runner-up. Additionally, Waller led the Magnolia Boys Golf program to state championship wins in 1978 and 1979.
Eleven times during his illustrious career Waller was named the District Coach of the Year and on four occasions he was named as the Arkansas Basketball Coach of the Year. Additionally, Waller was honored as the Lowell Manning Award winner by the Arkansas High School Coaches Association (AHSCA) in 1985; an award that is given to the top Arkansas high school coach among all sports in any given year.
The crowning achievement for Waller came in 2000 when the Emerson, Arkansas, native was inducted into the AHSCA Hall of Fame as a part of the organization’s sixth hall of fame class.
Following his time as a prep basketball coach in the Natural State, Waller returned to his alma mater and for the past 17 seasons Waller has been a volunteer bench coach with the Muleriders serving under Andy Sharpe, Logan Quinn, and Mark Rutledge. Out of his 17 seasons on the bench with SAU, the Muleriders have made the conference tournament 15 out of 17 seasons. Waller will now serve once again under Logan Quinn as Quinn made his return to Magnolia this spring.
While at SAU, Waller has been a part of the 2022-23 team that posted a new single season wins record with 22 and also part of a team that was ranked inside the NABC top 25 poll for the first time in program history.
Waller joins his uncle, the late Prentice T. “Duddy” Waller, who was inducted into the SAU Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 after two successful years on the court in 1947-48 and 1948-49. The elder Waller went on to coach the Mulerider Men for three seasons from 1954-1957 and recorded 42 wins. As a player, he remains one of the most dominant scorers in program history.
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.). Waller has also spent time as the President of the Arkansas High School Coaches Association (AHSCA) as well as President of the Arkansas Executive Committee; the law-making branch made up of superintendents around the state of Arkansas. Waller is the Columbia Christian School Guidance counselor and Superintendant.
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. He also recently added two great great grandkids to the family in Beckett and Jax.
