Timberline baseball hires coach who led Arizona team to No. 1 national ranking
Timberline High School has a new varsity baseball coach, and he comes with a hefty resume.
Brandon Buck was recently hired to take over a Wolves program that has won eight state championships, the most recent in 2021.
And Buck is no stranger to success.
The former Purdue catcher and three-time All-Big Ten academic honoree owns a career record of 222-128, most recently coaching at Mountain Pointe High in Phoenix, Arizona.
“This job opens and I see an opportunity to go in and positively impact some kids that are there,” Buck told the Idaho Statesman. “I’m just excited about it. I really think it’s just the timing of it. I think God works in pretty great ways and opens up doors for you, and I was just in a position in my life that I was able to step through it.”
Buck coached at Mountain Pointe from 2006 to 2016, winning the 2011 5A Division I state championship and climbing as high as No. 1 in the MaxPreps national rankings that year.
During his time at Mountain Pointe, Buck coached 11 high school all-Americans, more than 60 college signees, 22 MLB draft picks and four future Major League Baseball players. He was recognized as region and state coach of the year multiple times and was selected by USA Baseball to compete in the national tournament in Cary, North Carolina.
Buck moved with his wife, Kerry, a former Boise State gymnast, to Boise in 2016 and has since coached Little League, travel ball and junior high teams. He recently led East Boise Little League All-Star teams to regional play and guided the Boise Gems 13U squad to national competition.
“I love building things, and what I mean by building things is building communities that are really connected, where people are really proud to be a part of it,” Buck said. “Knowing the history of Timberline and wanting to get it back to that, but just really the aspect of coming in and giving a place where we can build something these kids not only want to be a part of now, but when they leave, that they want to come back, and they want to bring their kids. It’s something that they’re super proud of. That really excites me.
“When I coach, baseball is the carrot, but the main purpose and the main reason I coach is to use that carrot to help these boys to become better men.”
Away from baseball, Buck is the CEO and founder of Infinite Strengths, a leadership development company serving Fortune 500 organizations, universities and athletic programs. He has worked with programs from Boise State football to Auburn football to Purdue baseball. He also is the creator of The Standard Leadership Summit and author of “Distracted by Success.”
Buck and his wife have three children: Parker, Karsyn and McCade.
“I know if we have these boys becoming better men, well, then that means they’re better students and they’re better leaders. They’re better baseball players,” Buck said. “When you have a whole team and parents and everybody on that same vision, wins happen. Wins take care of themselves and it just allows, every year, regardless of wins and losses, for it to be something pretty special.”
Timberline owns state championship banners from 1999, 2000, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2021.
This story was originally published September 17, 2025 at 2:31 PM.
