Men’s Basketball Head Coach Mike Maker will stay on as head coach for next year according to Athletic Director Tim Murray.
“At this point right now, yes, absolutely,” Murray said in an interview with Center Field, regarding whether or not Maker will return next season.
The men’s basketball team is 6-24 this season and 28-96 over Maker’s four years as head coach. Marist currently sits at the bottom of the MAAC in 11th place.
“We both knew the progress would take some time because of what we were doing with personnel,” Murray said.
Maker has had three recruiting classes thus far at Marist College that have seen the likes of Brian Parker and Ryan Funk bring their talents to campus. The coaching staff has also made a concerted effort to recruit from abroad, boasting five players from Europe on the current roster.
While having never been a head coach at the Division I level, Maker previously led Division III Williams College to three Final Fours and was a runner up twice in the national championship game. He also was an assistant coach for Dartmouth, Samford, West Virginia and Creighton, working under coaches like John Beilein and Dana Altman.
“I thought that this year there were times when I was very pleased with our play and then there were times we had a lack of concentration where there was some disappointment in our play,” Murray said. “Cleary we have to be more competitive in the league.”
Marist has a reputation of blowing first half leads this season. The Red Foxes also have played poorly on defense all season, giving up 81.5 points per game, ranking them 18th worst out of the 351 NCAA Division I schools.