Two coaches with extensive collegiate experience – Arturo Ormond and Mark Darnall – have joined Eastern Washington University’s men’s basketball program on the first coaching staff of new Eagle head coach David Riley.
Ormond is Riley’s associate head coach, and comes to Eastern from Texas-El Paso. He also spent time previously at Fresno State, Centenary, Maryland Eastern Shore, Texas-Pan American and Tuskegee.
“I’m excited for Arturo to join our family here at EWU,” said Riley. “Arturo’s coaching experience at multiple Division I schools, along with his player development track record, will be a huge asset to the program.”
Darnall comes to Eastern as an assistant coach from highly-successful NCAA Division II program Chico State in California. He has also coached previously at UW-Platteville in Wisconsin and UC Davis in California.
“We are excited for Mark to join the Eagles,” said Riley. “Mark worked his way from the ground up in the coaching business and he will bring great passion and energy to our program.”
Riley said he will announce the addition of one other assistant coach in the coming weeks.
Arturo Ormond
First Season
Texas-Pan American ’91
Arturo Ormond is in his first season as an associate head coach at EWU after spending two seasons at the University of Texas-El Paso. Ormond has extensive coaching experience at all levels of basketball, including coaching stints at five NCAA Division I universities.
He became an assistant for Rodney Terry at UTEP on May 10, 2019. The Miners won 17 games during the 2019-20 campaign, nine more than the previous season, while more than doubling its Conference USA wins. The Miners posted their first winning season in four years, and made a return to the C-USA Tournament during the 2019-20 season. UTEP finished with a 13-4 record in the Haskins Center, the most home wins in four years.
In 2020-21, UTEP finished 12-12 overall and 8-8 in Conference USA. Among the players he coached was Bryson Williams, who was named to the 2020 All-C-USA first team and 2020 District 11 NABC first team. Souley Boum earned all-conference honors in 2021.
Ormond served as an assistant coach at Fresno State (2002-2005), Centenary College (1999-2002), University of Maryland Eastern Shore (1997-1999), University of Texas-Pan American (1995-1997) and Tuskegee University (1994-1995).
During Ormond’s three seasons at Fresno State, the Bulldogs won 50 games overall and 32 league games. Fresno State went 20-8 overall and 13-5 in the Western Athletic Conference during the 2002-03 campaign.
He also served as varsity boys basketball head coach at Edison High School in Fresno, Calif., for five years (2006-2010). He compiled a 119-34 record, while winning three Valley Championships (2007, 2008, 2009). Ormond was named the 2009 Fresno Bee Coach of the Year for Boys Basketball.
Ormond began his coaching career as an assistant boys’ basketball coach at Farragut High School (1993-1994) in Chicago, Ill.
Besides coaching at the collegiate and high school levels, Ormond has substantial experience in the Grassroots AAU Basketball world. Ormond has served as a coach and player development coordinator for Team Superstar in California.
Ormond was a two-year letterwinner at Texas-Pan American (now UTRGV) during the 1989-90, 1991-91 seasons. He graduated from Texas-Pan American with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 1991 and a master’s degree in education in 1993.
Mark Darnall
First Season
Illinois State ’11
Mark Darnall is in his first season at Eastern after spending four seasons as part of the Chico State men’s basketball coaching staff.
Although the 2020-21 season in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) was wiped out because of the Covid-19 pandemic, he was head coach Greg Clink’s top assistant. The Wildcats were 52-29 and had two postseason appearances in his first three years in the program. In July, 2020, Darnall was selected as one of the 50 most impactful Division II assistant coaches in the country by Silver Waves Media.
In the 2019-20, Chico State went 23-7 and garnered a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Division II Tournament before being shut down due to Covid-19. Among the players he coached during his time at Chico State were first team All-CCAA Players Justin Briggs, Malik Duffy, Isaiah Ellis and Jalen McFerren. Justin Briggs was also Defensive Player of the Year and NCAA Division II All-West District second team as selected by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Darnall brought nearly a decade of coaching experience to Chico when he joined the coaching staff in 2017–18. The Lake Mills, Wisc., native spent the 2016-17 campaign as an assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and from 2011-16 served as assistant coach and director of basketball operations at UC Davis.
At UW-Platteville, he was the head assistant under Jeff Gard where they coached two future MVPs of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Robert Duax and Carter Voelker. Darnall also helped recruit All-WIAC players Justin Stovall and Quentin Shields, who led the Pioneers to consistent top 25 rankings in NCAA Division III and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
In addition to his coaching duties at UC Davis, Darnall handled all of the Aggies’ administrative responsibilities, including video and practice coordination, team travel, scouting, budgeting, schedule coordination, marketing, academic monitoring, community outreach, student-athlete development, and supervision of the program’s team managers and interns.
During Darnall’s tenure, UC Davis captured its inaugural Big West championship in 2015, and earned the program’s first Division I postseason appearance when the Aggies appeared in the National Invitation Tournament. UC Davis ended the season as national three-point champions, shooting a blistering .447 clip from behind the arc—the highest single-season three-point percentage since the three-point line was moved back in 2009.
Darnall came to UC Davis after assisting Aggie head coach Jim Les as a video coordinator at Bradley University in 2010-11. In that role he oversaw all aspects of the team’s film and video needs, including preparation of opponent scouting, managing the video room and supplying the coaching staff with practice and game film. He coordinated film exchange with opponents, used the XOS Digital video software program and assisted in other administrative duties.
Prior to that, Darnall was an assistant coach at Peoria Christian High School for the 2009-10 season, helping with both on- and off-court duties. Peoria Christian finished 16-13 while capturing the conference title with an 8-1 record.
Darnall played college basketball at Eureka College in Illinois where he led the Red Devils in scoring and shot 41.4 percent from the 3-point line in 2007-08. He was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court for his achievements on the court and in the classroom.
Darnall has coached at several camps and is co-author of several articles for Athletes in Action. He is the nephew of NAIA and Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame coach Dave Darnall.
He earned his undergraduate degree in sports management in 2009 and his master’s degree, in the same major, from Illinois State in 2011.
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