| Mark White - Head Men's Basketball Coach |
|
|
 Mark White Since moving south to the Scooba campus from nearby Mississippi State University five years ago, White has steadily taken the EMCC men’s basketball program to unprecedented heights. Inheriting a once-struggling hoops program, White has methodically turned around the Lions’ basketball fortunes with significant year-to-year improvement on the court. Following a six-win enhancement between his first and second seasons (11-14 in 2007-08 to 17-11 the next year) at the EMCC helm, White’s Lions have since moved to the upper echelon of the NJCAA’s Division I basketball programs with a subsequent three-year composite record of 75-18 (.806) and three consecutive NJCAA Tournament appearances dating back to the 2009-10 hoops campaign. Also with a current string of three straight Top 15 season-ending NJCAA national rankings to their credit, the Lions’ ongoing run of three consecutive trips to Hutchinson, Kan., for the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship have come on the strength of back-to-back-to-back NJCAA Region 23 Tournament titles. Going hand-in-hand with EMCC’s ascension among the national ranks, the Lions have also claimed three consecutive MACJC North Division regular-season championships in dominant fashion with a three-year composite league mark of 33-3 (.917) over the past three seasons. On the heels of an official 12-0 division record two years ago with the aid of a road forfeit by Mississippi Delta, last year’s EMCC squad was unbeaten in league play until falling on the road to Coahoma to close out the regular season. Three seasons ago, the Lions were 10-2 within the division and went on to earn state runner-up honors to Pearl River in the EMCC-hosted 2010 MACJC State Basketball Tournament. Riding successive overall records of 23-6 last season, 25-5 two years ago and 27-7 in 2009-10, White eclipsed the century mark for career coaching wins a year ago and now owns a composite five-year EMCC coaching mark of 103-43 (.705). Along with having collected NJCAA District 15 and NJCAA Region 23 Coach of the Year honors each of the last three years, White was also tabbed by his coaching peers as the 2010-11 Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) State Coach of the Year in addition to earning recognition that same year from the Mississippi Association of Coaches. White has mentored four NJCAA All-Americans during his EMCC coaching stint. Most recently, 2011-12 NJCAA All-Americans Colin Borchert and D.J. Evans headlined an eight-man sophomore class for the Lions that all signed with four-year schools. With 22 years of coaching experience at various levels of competition around the country, White is certainly no stranger to regular-season success and postseason tournament play. During five years (2003-07) as an assistant coach under Rick Stansbury, White was a part of MSU teams that made three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and an NIT semifinal-round showing. Before rejoining the NCAA Division I coaching ranks in 2002, White’s first job as a head coach came during two years as the head boys’ basketball coach and special education instructor at Central Hardin High School in Cecilia, Ky. White’s previous 10-year involvement with the junior college ranks was capped by a successful four-year stint (1996-2000) as an assistant coach at North Idaho College. The 1996-97 NIC Cardinals posted a 30-6 record and collected a school-best, fourth-place national finish at the 1997 NJCAA Tournament. A long-time association with veteran junior college head coach Patrick Smith preceded White’s move to Idaho. During back-to-back seasons under Smith, White first served as an assistant coach at Barton County (Kan.) Community College before the coaching tandem moved together to Jacksonville (Texas) College. Before a one-year stay as an assistant coach at Georgia Southern University, White began his coaching affiliation with Smith at Wabash Valley (Ill.) College during the 1992-93 season. White earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Austin Peay State University, where he served as a graduate assistant and volunteer assistant coach for the Governors. White’s first full-time coaching job came as a two-year (1990-92) assistant coach at Pikeville (Ky.) College. A native of Russellville, Ky., White has a 13-year-old son, Cade, and a 4-year-old daughter, Kennedy Grier. |
|
| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 29 August 2012 ) |
| Next > |
|---|