Western Illinois head men's basketball coach Billy Wright has announced the hiring of assistant coach Mark Vershaw Wednesday (June 17), completing Western Illinois' coaching staff prior to the 2015-16 season.
2015-16 marked Vershaw's first year at WIU. The Leathernecks kicked off the season with bang, knocking off No.17 Wisconsin, 69-67, on the road inside the Kohl Center. The victory marked the program's first win over a nationally ranked team in the DI era. The Leathernecks then went on to begin the season 5-0, matching the program's best start in the DI era. No WIU men's basketball team had started better than 5-0 since the 1957-58 season. After upsetting No. 17 Wisconsin to open the season, Western Illinois received votes in the AP ‘Top 25’ poll (four votes) for the first time in the program’s history. The Western Illinois men’s basketball team's hot start also had the Leathernecks either being ranked or receiving votes in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll for the first eight weeks of the season (Nov.16 - Jan.10).
Mark Vershaw, who spent time at Illinois State during the 2011-12 academic year, recently concluded his third season on staff with the University of Virginia men's basketball program. Vershaw joined the Cavalier program in the fall of 2012 and recently concluded his master's degree in education at UVa. Mark also holds a master's degree in sport management from Western Illinois University (2010).
Vershaw played collegiately at Wisconsin from 1997-2001 for head coach Dick Bennett. He scored 1,066 career points during his career and was the leading scorer on the Badgers' 2000 NCAA Final Four squad. He became just the sixth forward in Big Ten history to register at least 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 300 assists over a career.
Vershaw was the head coach of Monmouth College (Ill.) for four seasons from 2007-11. He also has coaching experience on the staffs at Cornell, Washington State and Illinois Central College.
Vershaw and his wife, Natalie, have two children, Isabelle and Asher.
