Two DIII jobs in Illinois have just opened up. Mark Vershaw has resigned at Monmouth College, and Marc Smith has resigned at Millikin University. As I said in my blog this morning, this is only the begining of what I think will be a wild year on the coaching carousel.

Read the press releases below:

Monmouth (IL):

After four years guiding the Monmouth College men’s basketball program, Mark Vershaw has stepped down.

Monmouth athletic director Roger Haynes accepted Vershaw’s resignation in a Thursday morning meeting.

“We appreciate the four years of hard work and dedication Mark gave to the college,” said Haynes. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

A 2001 graduate of the University of Wisconsin and the leading scorer on the Badgers’ 2000 Final Four team, Vershaw came to Monmouth after an assistant coaching stint at Cornell University. He had also held assistant positions at Washington State University and Illinois Central College.

A national search for Vershaw’s successor will begin immediately.

http://www.monmouthcollege.edu/athletics/news/story.aspx?Cha…

Millikin:

Millikin University will begin an aggressive national search for a new coaching staff for its men’s basketball program after the resignation of Big Blue Head Coach Marc Smith and Assistant Coach Anthony Figueroa.

Millikin Athletic Director Joe Hakes said the resignations were effective February 25 and that the University would move swiftly to select a new head coach for the program.

“Marc Smith is a class act,” said Hakes. “He has represented Millikin University and Big Blue Athletics very well. We wish him the best as he starts a new chapter in his career and as we look forward to building a thriving Big Blue basketball program.”

“I want to thank Millikin for allowing me the pleasure to return and head the basketball program,” said Smith. “The past four seasons have been an eye-opening experience for me professionally and personally. We, coaches and players, have worked very hard on and off the court to build a respected and competitive program. We were able to successfully reach a number of goals that we set for ourselves and the program, but fell short in others. I thank those young men who have sacrificed their time, energy, and a big part of their social experience to participate in the program. I pray and trust that what they have learned as a member of this program will stretch beyond the boundary lines of the basketball court.”

http://www.millikin.edu/sites/athletics/Pages/AthleticNews.a…