Mark Fox (basketball)

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Mark Leslie Fox (born January 13, 1969) is a men's college basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach for the University of Kentucky. Fox was previously the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack from 2004–2009, the Georgia Bulldogs from 2009–2018, and the California Golden Bears from 2019–2023. He served the 2023–24 season as the Director of Student-Athlete Relations and NIL Partnerships for the Georgetown Hoyas.

Mark Fox
Current position
TitleAssistant coach
TeamKentucky
ConferenceSEC
Biographical details
Born (1969-01-13) January 13, 1969 (age 55)
Garden City, Kansas, U.S.
Playing career
1987–1989Garden City CC
1989–1991Eastern New Mexico
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1991–1993Washington (assistant)
1994–2000Kansas State (assistant)
2000–2004Nevada (assistant)
2004–2009Nevada
2009–2018Georgia
2019–2023California
2024–presentKentucky (assistant)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2023–2024Georgetown (Director of Student-Athlete Relations)
Head coaching record
Overall324–263 (.552)
Tournaments2–5 (NCAA Division I)
2–3 (NIT)
0–2 (CBI)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships

As assistant coach

Awards

Coaching career

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Nevada

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Fox was the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack basketball team from 2004 to 2009. While with the Wolf Pack, Fox compiled an overall record of 123–43. He also guided the Wolf Pack to five postseason appearances in five years including three NCAA tournaments. The Wolf Pack also won the Western Athletic Conference regular-season championship in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. In 2006, the team won the conference tournament as well.

Fox was named conference coach of the year three times (2005, 2006, 2007) while with Nevada.

Georgia

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On April 3, 2009, it was announced that Fox would leave Nevada for the same position at the University of Georgia.[1] In his first year as head coach, Fox and the Bulldogs went 14–17 and finished sixth in the Southeastern Conference East. The highlights of the season included victories over the Tennessee Volunteers and three top 25 teams.

In 2011, Fox's second season, the Bulldogs made improvements. The 2010–11 team won 21 games, finished 3rd in the SEC East and made it to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008. In 2011–12, the Bulldogs posted another sub-.500 record and finished near the bottom of the SEC with a 5–11 record.

After making the NIT in 2013–14, Fox got his team back to the NCAA tournament in 2014–15, narrowly falling to Michigan State in the first round. That Spartans team would eventually make it to the Final Four.

While at Georgia, Fox compiled an overall record of 163–133. He has placed three players in the NBA, Travis Leslie, Trey Thompkins and the 8th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. On March 10, 2018, Georgia announced Fox would not return for a 10th season.[2]

California

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On March 29, 2019, it was announced that Fox would be hired as the new head coach at the University of California, Berkeley, for the Golden Bears.[3] He was the school's 18th head coach all time. After four years and a record of 38–87, Cal fired Fox on March 9, 2023.[4] Fox set a record for most losses (29) in a single season by a major conference coach in 2022–23.[5] Fox's winning percentage at Cal (.304) is the second-worst winning percentage of any head men's basketball coach in school history.[6]

Georgetown

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Fox was the Director of Student-Athlete Relations and NIL Partnerships at Georgetown for the 2023–24 season.[7]

Kentucky

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On April 24, 2024 Fox was hired as an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky under Mark Pope.[8]

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Nevada Wolf Pack (Western Athletic Conference) (2004–2009)
2004–05 Nevada 25–7 16–2 1st NCAA Division I Round of 32
2005–06 Nevada 27–6 13–3 1st NCAA Division I Round of 64
2006–07 Nevada 29–5 14–2 1st NCAA Division I Round of 32
2007–08 Nevada 21–12 12–4 T–1st CBI first round
2008–09 Nevada 21–13 11–5 2nd CBI first round
Nevada: 123–43 (.741) 66–16 (.805)
Georgia Bulldogs (Southeastern Conference) (2009–2018)
2009–10 Georgia 14–17 5–11 6th (East)
2010–11 Georgia 21–12 9–7 T–3rd (East) NCAA Division I Round of 64
2011–12 Georgia 15–17 5–11 T–10th
2012–13 Georgia 15–17 9–9 T–8th
2013–14 Georgia 20–14 12–6 T–2nd NIT second round
2014–15 Georgia 21–12 11–7 T–3rd NCAA Division I Round of 64
2015–16 Georgia 20–14 10–8 T–6th NIT second round
2016–17 Georgia 19–15 9–9 8th NIT first round
2017–18 Georgia 18–15 7–11 T–11th
Georgia: 163–133 (.551) 77–79 (.494)
California Golden Bears (Pac-12 Conference) (2019–2023)
2019–20 California 14–18 7–11 T–8th
2020–21 California 9–20 3–17 12th
2021–22 California 12–20 5–15 10th
2022–23 California 3–29 2–18 12th
California: 38–87 (.304) 17–61 (.218)
Total: 324–263 (.552)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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  1. ^ "Nevada basketball coach Fox leaves Nevada for Georgia". Nevada Today. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Georgia Bulldogs fire coach Mark Fox after nine seasons". ESPN. 10 March 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Mark Fox Named Men's Basketball Coach". Cal. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Cal Makes Change In Men's Basketball Leadership".
  5. ^ "Single Season Coaching Men's Leaders and Records for Losses".
  6. ^ "California Golden Bears Men's Basketball Index".
  7. ^ "Mark Fox enters his first season as the director of student-athlete relations and NIL partnerships ahead of the 2023-24 season as part of Head Coach Ed Cooley's inaugural staff".
  8. ^ "Mark Fox Tabbed to Kentucky Men's Basketball Coaching Staff".
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