First-year Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang continued to build out his coaching staff on Wednesday (March 30) with the addition of veteran head coach Marco Borne as his Chief of Staff.
“Much like Jareem (Dowling), Marco is another great addition to the staff and I’m excited to welcome him and his wife Genean to K-State,” said Tang. “He is someone that I have known for a long time, having recruited high school players in both Texas and Louisiana where Marco has coached extensively over the last 20 years. His experience as a head coach at both the high school and NAIA levels as well as his time with the Haitian Junior and National Teams will be a huge asset to me as I transition to being a head coach for the first time at the college level.”
Borne is the second announced member of Tang’s inaugural coaching staff at K-State, as Jareem Dowling was named an assistant coach on Tuesday (March 29).
Borne has 20 years of experience, including 14 as a head coach at both the high school and NAIA levels. He has served as the head coach at three different NAIA programs, including his alma mater Dillard University (2000-04), Southern University-New Orleans (2006-07) and Paul Quinn College (2009-11), in addition to a seven-year stint (2011-18) at Roosevelt High School in Dallas. He also has international coaching experience, as the head coach of the Haitian Junior National Team as well as an assistant coach for the Haitian Senior National Team from 2017-20.
Borne has helped lead five different programs to historical record-breaking seasons in his career, including a Louisiana high school state championship while coaching future NBA player Greg Monroe as an assistant coach at Cox High School in 2008. In addition to his ties in the Texas and Louisiana prep ranks, he has coached extensively in the international ranks, including in Haiti, Poland, Puerto Rico, Barbados and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“My family and I are very excited to join the K-State family,” said Borne. “I am extremely thankful for this opportunity and look forward Wildcat Nation celebrating and enjoying their men’s basketball program.”
A native of New Orleans, Borne arrives at K-State after spending the 2021-22 season as the associate head coach at Alcorn State, where he helped the Braves to a record-breaking season, in which, a team picked seventh in the preseason poll won the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) regular-season title and advanced to the NIT. It was the school’s first conference championship in 20 years, while it was the first postseason appearance in 35 seasons.
ASU posted a 17-17 overall record against one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country in 2021-22 en route to winning the SWAC regular-season title with a 14-4 mark and claiming the No. 1 seed at the conference tournament. The Braves advanced all the way to the championship game of the SWAC Tournament before falling to eventual champion Texas Southern. They earned a bid to the NIT where they lost 74-62 at Texas A&M, which is currently in the NIT Championship game. Head coach Landon Bussie was selected as the SWAC Coach of the Year, while Justin Thomas was an All-SWAC Second Team selection.
Prior to his stint at Alcorn State, Borne spent three years (2017-20) as the head coach of the Haitian Junior National Team, helping the U16 squad finish second at the FIBA Centrobasket Championship in Hermosillo, Mexico in 2019. He also assisted with the Haitian National Team as they attempted to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Borne was a high school coach at Roosevelt High School in Dallas for seven years (2011-18), helping transform a program from a 1-win season into one of the top programs in the state of Texas with the Dallas Morning News recognizing it as the best turnaround in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. His final team in 2017-18 won a school-record 22 games, climbing to as high as No. 9 in state rankings.
Borne spent two seasons (2009-11) as head coach at Paul Quinn College, an NAIA program in Dallas, guiding the school to a 21-11 record and earning Red River Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2010-11. The team advanced to the semifinals of the Red River Conference Tournament, which was the best finish in school history. He guided the school from a 2-win program prior to his arrival to his 21-win campaign in year two.
Borne had a two-year stint (2007-09) as an assistant coach at Cox High School in Harvey, Louisiana, helping the school to a 36-win season and their first Class 5A state championship in school history in 2007-08. During his time at Cox High, he helped mentor future NBA player Greg Monroe, who was named a McDonald’s All-American and a Parade All-American after averaging 21 points and 14 rebounds per game.
Borne served as interim head coach at Southern University-New Orleans in 2006-07 during the aftermath of Hurricane Katarina. Despite a 6-man roster and no home gym, he helped guide the team to a fourth-place conference finish and a NAIA national ranking as high as No. 12.
Borne also spent time as an assistant coach at West Jefferson High School in New Orleans, where he helped the school to back-to-back undefeated district championships in 2005 and 2006.
Borne was the head coach at his alma mater Dillard University in New Orleans from 2000-04. A member of the school’s Hall of Fame, he became the first coach in program history to qualify for the NAIA National Tournament in three consecutive seasons. He guided the Bleu Devils to both the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) regular season and tournament titles in 2001, earning conference and Louisiana Small College Coach of the Year honors. He became just the fourth coach in NAIA history to upset the top-seed in the first round of the national tournament with the school’s win over Houston Baptist in 2003.
Borne earned a bachelor’s degree in Education from Dillard in 2003, while he added a Master’s degree in Human Performance and Health Promotion from the University of New Orleans in 2006.
Borne named MBB Chief of Staff at K-State
