Georgia Southern Director of Athletics Tom Kleinlein announced today that men’s basketball coach Mark Byington has agreed to a contract extension through the 2021-22 season. This contract was signed after approval from the Georgia Southern Athletic Foundation and University President Dr. Jaimie Hebert.

The contract contains performance bonuses associated with conference finishes, postseason play and Academic Progress Rate results in line with NCAA benchmarks.

Byington is in his fifth season with the Eagles, and Georgia Southern is currently third in the Sun Belt standings with a 17-10 overall record and an 8-6 mark in league play. He is seven wins shy of 100 for his career (93-74 overall, 86-70 at GS), and his 51 wins in his first three seasons at Georgia Southern were the best of any coach in the modern era.

“When you look at the success Mark has had on the court in combination with his academic success, we knew we needed to keep him in Statesboro,” said Kleinlein. “Every one of the players he has coached has graduated, and he’s won almost 90 games in five years against a tough schedule. That kind of production on and off the court certainly needs to be rewarded, and we’re excited to announce this extension.”

Byington has led the Eagles to two top-3 finishes in their three seasons in the Sun Belt and entering the 2017-18 campaign, GS joined UTA and Louisiana as the only three teams to reach double digit wins in conference play in each of the last three seasons. He led the Eagles to a 22-9 mark, a second-place finish in the Sun Belt and the Sun Belt Championship title game in 2014-15. It was the first 20-win season since 2005-06 and the Eagles’ first conference championship game appearance since 1992. His 2016-17 squad went 18-15 and played in the postseason for the first time since 2006.

The Eagles have also gotten it done in the classroom as every senior has graduated since Byington took over the program in the spring of 2013. Under Byington, the men’s basketball program’s annual APR has steadily increased, and the Eagles reported their highest multi-year score (2012-16) with a 954 last spring.

“I want to thank President Hebert, Tom Kleinlein and our administration for their support and commitment to Eagle basketball,” said Byington. “We will work together to keep advancing our program, build on our success, and hopefully, take it to another level as well.  It is a very exciting time to be a part of Georgia Southern University and its continued elevation.”

https://gseagles.com/news/2018/2/19/mens-basketball-byington-contract-extended-through-2022.aspx