Buckingham enters his sixth season as head coach for the Grenadiers in 2011-12.
In 2008, Buckingham also led the team to its second KIAC Tournament Championship and the program's first-ever NAIA Region XII Tournament Championship while posting a 33-15 overall record.
Buckingham came to IU Southeast from Bluefield State College, an NCAA Division II college in Bluefield, West Virginia. Buckingham coached for five seasons at Bluefield State and set the career record for softball coaching victories. He also led the program to its first winning record, and accrued the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Softball Coach of the Year Award in 2005. Prior to coaching at Bluefield State, Buckingham worked several camps and clinics, including at the Tri-State Softball Academy.
Buckingham received a bachelor's degree in biology education from Olivet Nazarene University in 1998 while playing baseball for the Tigers. He then moved back to Indiana, where he taught Science at South Central Junior/Senior High School in Elizabeth in 1998 and then taught Science & Math at St. Joseph School in Corydon from 1999 to 2001. While at South Central he coached boys' tennis and junior varsity boys' basketball. During his tenure at St. Joseph, Buckingham helped establish a drama department and a basketball program for 7th and 8th graders. Buckingham is a native of Corydon, Indiana, and a 1994 graduate of Corydon Central High School.
Buckingham enters his tenth overall season as a college softball coach, earning a career coaching record of 135-177. During his eight years of coach, Buckingham has coached 15 of his former and current player to all-conference status including Amanda Dispenett who was named 2007 KIAC Pitcher of the Year and NAIA Academic All-American.
Buckingham was also one of two coaches for a team of U.S. softball players who traveled to Spain in the summer of 2008 with USA Athletes International, Inc. (USAAI). In 2009, Coach Buckingham continued his partnership with USAAI by coaching a U.S. team of college players in Australia.
