Georgia College Director of Athletics Wendell Staton announced the hiring of long-time assistant Mark Gainous as the new Bobcat Men’s Basketball head coach.
Gainous fills the vacancy left by the retirement of 21-year vet Terry Sellers announced last week.
I am very excited to be named the head men’s basketball coach here at Georgia College," said Gainous. "The eleven years I have worked for Georgia College and with coach Sellers have prepared me for this opportunity. Being Georgia’s public liberal arts university, Georgia College is one of the premier schools in the country and is the perfect fit for me and my family."
"I care deeply for this University and I am thrilled to be its new men’s basketball coach. The relationships I have developed on campus and in the Milledgeville community mean the world to me and I look forward to strengthening those relationships and developing new ones."
Gainous has patrolled the sidelines for the Bobcats for the last 11 seasons as assistant men’s basketball coach. He has helped the team to a 177-131 (.575) record, including four 20-win seasons. The Bobcats picked up a Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Regular-Season title in 2005-06, and earned three trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a Sweet-16 run in 2006.
"I am thrilled for our University, our student-athletes, and our community, to announce that Mark Gainous is the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Georgia College," said Staton. "Mark possesses the fundamental attributes that are most important to me when we hire a staff member. He is of outstanding character, has unparalleled loyalty, has a tremendous work ethic, is relentlessly positive and his value system aligns with our University."
"Our mission centers around an exceptional student-athlete experience and I am confident that Mark will lead our student-athletes to holistic success academically, socially and athletically. This is a great day for our University, our department, and for the student-athletes that will prosper under his leadership."
Gainous has helped coach 11 student-athletes to All-PBC status, including PBC Player of the Year and All-American Honorable Mention Jeremy Mayweather (2004-06). Gainous has taken the reigns for a handful of games in the last few seasons, when coach Sellers missed time for health issues for both his family and himself. The assistant served as head coach for the upset win over then No. 7 Augusta State University in the 2010-11 season.
Gainous becomes the eighth head coach in Georgia College men’s basketball history.
He came to Georgia College from Shorter College in Rome, Ga. where he served as an assistant coach under head coach Ricky Williams for three seasons, also helping coach the golf team and serving as the Sports Information Director.
Prior to that, he was a graduate assistant for the women’s basketball team at Georgia Southwestern State University under head coach Kip Drown in Americus, Ga. where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in 1999 and Master’s in 2000, both in Business Management. He also completed a Master’s in Physical Education from Jacksonville State University in Alabama in 2003.
Gainous graduated from Cairo High School in 1995 and was a three year letterman in basketball at GSW under head coach Randolph Barksdale where he twice earned academic all-conference honors.
He is married to the former Natasha Stotler, a graduate assistant coach for the Georgia College women’s basketball team from 2007-09. They had their first child, Abram Mark, in 2010 and their second, Annie Grove, in 2014. They reside in Milledgeville.
"I am extremely grateful for this opportunity," said Gainous. "I would like to thank University President Dr. Steve Dorman, Vice President Dr. Bruce Harshbarger and Wendell Staton for having the confidence in me to uphold the proud tradition of our athletic department and men’s basketball program."
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