The Notre Dame College Falcons have the next men's basketball coach for the program after Tim Koenig left to take the job at Fairmont State. Mark Richmond who most recently was the Director of Basketball Operations at Youngstown State was announced as the new head coach by athletic director Scott Swain on Tuesday afternoon:
" We hired him with the idea that he is a good coach with diverse experience. He is a good fit with our athletic department. He is the right fit for Falcons athletic." Swain said.
Swain added:
" We had several great candidates for this job and we knew we had our guy."
Richmond talked about the new job and his background:
" I have bounced around and worn many different hats. Was fortunate enough to be a student manager at West Virginia under both John Beilein and Bob Huggins. Two guys with a lot different styles but both guys are Hall of Fame coaches none the less. The Centenary was the next place that I worked at- in Shreveport, Louisiana. Then the next stop was the University of Charleston. Spent three years at UC which is a fellow member of the MEC. NDC was not in the MEC yet at the time. Fordham was next and may have been my favorite spot. It is in the Bronx. Nothing in New York is cheap or else I may have stayed there forever. Then I became the Director of Basketball Operations at Youngstown State. I am really excited to be a head coach and have my own program."
Richmond added about building on the recent success and a few of his connections:
" Like I said it is great to have my own program and I look forward to building on the success recently at NDC. Coach Calhoun (current YSU Head Coach and former Fairmont State Coach Jerrod Calhoun) is a really good friend of mine. Then you talk about a guy like Joe Mazulla who I went to school with. For lack of a better term I used to babysit when he was younger."
Richmond then talked about the relationship he has with Koenig:
" I did not know TK that well until I got to YSU. He has become a pretty good friend of mine. He told me about the opening here at NDC. We talked a lot about NDC. It was a whirlwind as I was just interviewed last Monday then I talked to a few people and got the call offering me the job from Scott Swain this Monday. He told me I could take some time to think about it- but there was not that much to think about it."
At Youngstown State, Richmond oversaw many aspects of the program including the day to day operations, recruiting- skill development- and- academic performance just to name a few. Prior to the time being the Director of Player Development at Fordham (2015-17-) he was an assistant coach at East Tennessee State University from 2013-15. The stop at Charleston is familiar to many in MEC circles (2010-13) as an assistant coach.
Richmond talked about jumping right into it:
" We have recruits that I am working on now- and- I need to get my ducks in a row. That is why I am up here today. The one thing that is evident is this is a very hungry group. We are all hungry to get back to the NCAA- and- maybe this time not being as wide eyed. Some injuries happened last year but if you win that first game you never know what could happen."
He added about possibly getting back to the tournament:
" Hopefully we don't have to win the MEC Tournament next year. Obviously we want to win the tournament but hopefully we will play well enough in the regular season where we won't have to win it. The players will always be my number one priority."
Redshirt Junior Jack Kelsheimer gave his thoughts:
" We are very excited about our new coach. He has a great resume and is a great fit for our program. As long as everyone returns there's no reason why we can't win a championship."
Kelsheimer added about the coaching change:
" It's hard to watch TK leave but it is understandable why he had to make the move. We will always have a lot of love for TK and everything he did for us, but obviously when these kinds of things happen, the chip on your shoulder becomes a lot bigger."
Redshirt senior Drew Scarberry talked about the excitement of the upcoming season:
" I'm looking forward to sitting down and meeting the guy. Can't wait to get back there and start working towards another ring."
Richmond is a 2008 Cum Laude graduate from West Virginia University with a degree in Physical Education- Athletic Coaching Education.
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