2012-13: Marks led the Broncs to their first .500 or better season in five years by going 16-16. The Broncs went a program-best 5-3 in Great West Conference play to earn the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
2011-12: Marks led the Broncs to a big improvement, increasing their win total by 83.3 percent and winning a program-best five Great West Conference games. The Broncs earned a first round bye in the Great West Conference Tournament by getting the No. 3 seed. Four of the Broncs’ 11 wins came in a row in February as the Broncs recorded the longest winning streak in four years. The 11 wins were also the most for the Broncs since the 2007-08 season. The Broncs won 10 games at home, more than they had over the previous two seasons combined.
Despite a difficult non-conference schedule, Marks always had a good game plan ready for his squad. When the Broncs visited No. 2 Ohio State on December 3, Marks preached a defensive strategy that allowed the Broncs to hold the Buckeyes to their lowest scoring total and lowest shooting percentage of the season. The Broncs also came very close to knocking off two tough teams on the road at Army and St. John’s. The Broncs had a chance to win at the buzzer at Army and held the lead with under a minute to go at St. John’s.
In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Marks has been able to garner the Broncs Basketball program some significant national exposure. Throughout the 2011-12 season, Marks wrote a bi-weekly column in ESPN The Magazine about what it’s like to be part of UTPA. During the summer of 2011, CBSSports.com college basketball writer Jeff Goodman documented Marks’ recruiting efforts in a running blog. For the piece, Goodman accompanied Marks on the road for a week of recruiting to learn about practices and challenges among NCAA Division I programs.
2010-11: The Broncs battled a slew of significant injuries while finishing the year with six victories. Marks was able to keep his team motivated and playing hard throughout the year, however, as the season concluded with a dramatic buzzer-beating win over the University of South Dakota at home, and as the sixth seed in the Great West Conference Tournament, a heartbreaking 71-70 loss to the University of North Dakota.
2009-10: The Broncs won six games in Marks’ first season at the helm, including four in Great West Conference play to earn the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament. In the first round, the Broncs upset No. 4 seed and host Utah Valley 56-53 victory and nearly knocked off top seeded South Dakota before falling 76-71 in the semifinals.
Career: Marks came to the Rio Grande Valley after five seasons as the head coach of the St. Edward’s Hilltoppers, where he compiled a 91-54 overall record, to go with three NCAA Division II Tournaments. Prior to his arrival, the Hilltoppers had never earned a berth in the tournament. In his final season, Marks recorded his fourth consecutive winning season, a feat that had not been accomplished since the 1959-62 campaigns.
Prior to leading the Hilltoppers, Marks spent three seasons as the men’s basketball head coach at Southern Vermont College, posting a 57-29 overall record and a 37-12 Great Northeast Atlantic Conference record. In his first season (2001-02), the team had a 12-game turnaround, making them the second most improved Division III team in the NCAA. In his second season with the Mountaineers, Marks guided them to their first NCAA Division III tournament appearance and its first 20-win season (24-6) in program history. The Mountaineers captured the school’s first-ever regular season and conference tournament championships and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. At season’s end, the N.E. Basketball Coaches Association voted the “Most Improved DIII Team” in New England Southern Vermont. In his final season with the Mountaineers, Marks posted the program’s third straight 15-plus-win season (18-11) and led Southern Vermont to the program’s first appearance in the Eastern College Athletic Conference New England Championship Tournament.
Before joining the Mountaineers, Marks spent six seasons at Northern Illinois University as an assistant coach where he helped lead the Huskies to the 1996 NCAA Division II Tournament. Prior to that, he spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Central Missouri State University where the Mules reached the NCAA Division II Tournament both seasons, including a run to the Elite Eight in 1995.
Marks earned his bachelor’s degree in public relations from the University of Southern California in 1993. While earning his degree, he spent three seasons as the player personnel assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers and two seasons as an assistant coach at Muir High School in Pasadena.
Marks resides in McAllen with his wife, Mara.
