Mark Byington (born April 22, 1976) is an American basketball coach and former college basketball player. He is the head men's basketball coach at

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Coll ...

High school playing career

Mark Byington played high school basketball at Salem High School located in

Salem, Virginia Salem is an independent city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,346. It is the county seat of Roanoke County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combin ...

. He led the Salem Spartans coached by current Dobyns-Bennett head coach Charlie Morgan to a 26–1 record in the 1993–94 season and to the Group AA state championship defeating Louisa County. His #32 jersey has since been retired by Salem High School along with #11 Richard Morgan, who was an All-American.

College playing career

Byington was a three-year starter for the

UNC Wilmington The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW or UNC Wilmington) is a public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina System and enrolls 17,499 undergraduate and graduate students eac ...

basketball team. He was awarded 2nd-team All-

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

and All-CAA Defensive Team honors his senior year. In his four years at UNCW, he was a two-time CAA All-Academic selection and scored more than 1,000 points during his career.

Coaching career

Byington spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the Unit ...

, including seven as

Bobby Cremins Robert Joseph Cremins Jr. (born July 4, 1947) is an American retired college basketball coach. He served as a head coach at Appalachian State, Georgia Tech, and, most recently, the College of Charleston. Early years Cremins attended All Hallows ...

’ top assistant. The College of Charleston compiled a record of 194–100 and a 108–51 record in the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

during the years when Byington was an assistant coach. During those seasons, they also recorded six 20-win seasons, logged three Southern Conference South Division regular-season titles, advanced to the league's tournament championship game three times and made two appearances in the NIT. After a one year assistant coaching stop at

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

, Byington was hired as the head coach at

Georgia Southern Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hin ...

. In seven seasons with the Eagles, he guided them to a 131–97 overall record, with three-straight 20-win seasons in his final three seasons. On March 20, 2020, Byington was named the 11th head coach in James Madison history, replacing

Louis Rowe Louis Rowe (born December 26, 1972) is an American basketball coach who most recently was the head coach of his alma mater, James Madison University, being introduced as the head coach on March 31, 2016. Rowe had been an assistant at James Madiso ...

Head coaching record

*Byington served as interim head coach after

took a medical leave of absence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byington, Mark 1976 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Virginia Basketball players from Virginia College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Charleston Cougars men's basketball coaches Georgia Southern Eagles men's basketball coaches James Madison Dukes men's basketball coaches Salem High School (Salem, Virginia) alumni UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball players Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball coaches Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball coaches