YEAR: Third in 2020-21
PREVIOUS COLLEGE: Bloomsburg (Pa.)

Joshua Buchanan is the first head esports coach at Ashland University, and the 2020-21 season will be Buchanan's third with the Eagles.

He came to Ashland from Bloomsburg (Pa.) University, where he graduated with an undergraduate degree in economics and philosophy. He brings with him experience as team manager for Sloth E-Sports Club LLC, a premier North American StarCraft 2 & Super Smash Bros. Melee organization. Prior to starting at Ashland, he competed in StarCraft 2 professionally, ranking Top 20 in the United States.

During his first two seasons as head esports coach at Ashland, Buchanan led the team to a first-place finish in the AVGL Collegiate Fortnite Tournament Series and first place in the NACE Fortnite Spring Cup 2020. During these first two seasons, Ashland placed third in Overwatch and fourth in League of Legends in the Ohio Collegiate Esports Series featuring the best teams in the state. Additionally, Buchanan coached the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team to a Top 10 placement in the country.

During the 2019-20 season, three Ashland student-athletes were featured on the NACE All-Star team for Overwatch, CS:GO, and Fortnite respectively. Additionally, Travis Yang, former assistant esports coach, was honored as the NACE CS:GO Coach of the Year for his work at Ashland prior to starting his new position as Head Esports Coach at Texas A&M-San Antonio.