Highly successful head coach Marcus Kahn has been named as the new head men’s basketball coach at the University of Mary Washington, pending final Board approval, according to Director of Athletics Ken Tyler.
“We are extremely pleased to announce the hiring of Marcus Kahn as our new head men’s basketball coach and look forward to welcoming Marcus, his wife Jessica and son Sam to the UMW community”, said Tyler on Monday. “We had a very strong applicant pool and Marcus emerged as the consensus choice among our search committee and staff. Marcus is one of the most successful coaches in Division III, leading the Cabrini program to unprecedented heights and amassing the best winning percentage in the country over the past five years. Within the past four seasons, he has led Cabrini to the Sweet Sixteen, the Elite Eight, the Final Four, and regular top-ten national rankings. Marcus is an outstanding teacher and role model who is committed to the success of his student-athletes both on and off the court. I have no doubt that he will be a positive leader on our campus and in the Fredericksburg community. It’s a great day to be an Eagle!”
Kahn inherits an Eagle program that has had 11 winning seasons in the past 12 years, and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals this winter after finishing 25-6 and winning the program’s second Capital Athletic Conference championship.
“I’m thrilled to be coming to Mary Washington”, said Kahn. “The attraction for me was to be able to work with Coach Tyler… In addition to a beautiful campus and a great program, I was excited to see more construction on campus, which showed the vision that the University has moving forward.
I’m thrilled to be a part of it. I hope to come in and pick up where last year’s team left off and put my stamp on the success of the program. I’m excited to get there and get started.”
Kahn owned a 153-27 record in six seasons at Cabrini College, including five consecutive Colonial States Athletic Conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances, including a run to the NCAA Championship game in 2011-12. His mark of 131-19 over the past five years has been the best record in all of NCAA Division III.
“Marcus and I have been to each other’s practices and I have nothing but the highest of praise for him”, said longtime Penn and current Temple head coach Fran Dunphy. “He is a quality individual, a consummate professional, and the kind of person I’d want coaching my team. What a great hire!”
Kahn led Cabrini to a 26-2 overall mark this winter, standing as the last undefeated team in the nation until February 15, and closing the year ranked ninth in the nation. Cabrini finished 25-6 and a No. 13 final ranking in 2012-13, as the team appeared in its second consecutive NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game
Kahn led the Cavaliers on a magical run in 2011-12 posting the nation’s best record of 31-2. After suffering a two point overtime loss to end 2011, Cabrini won 22 consecutive games leading to the National Championship game in Salem, Va, the school’s first appearance in a national championship game. Kahn was named Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year by D3hoops.com and the National Association of Basketball Coaches, as well as a finalist for the prestigious Glen Robinson Division III and John McLendon National Coach of the Year honors.
The Cavaliers finished the 2010-11 campaign 24-6 and Kahn was named CSAC Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season. Kahn also named NABC Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year.
In 2009-10, Kahn guided the Cavaliers to the CSAC title and the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign. Cabrini won a then school-record 25 games overall and spent four weeks in the D3Hoops.com Top 25.
In his first year at Cabrini, Kahn led the Cavaliers to 22 overall victories, then the program’s highest win total since the 1995-96 campaign. Cabrini returned to championship game of the CSAC Tournament for the first time in seven years.
Prior to joining the Cavaliers, Kahn spent six seasons as the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh – Greensburg. With the Bobcats, Kahn became the program’s all-time leader in career victories (77), recruited two Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Newcomers of the Year (2005-06, 2007-08) and guided UPG to its first postseason appearance since the 1999-2000 season.
Kahn mentored Pitt-Greensburg to two AMCC championship games (2005-07) and claimed the conference’s regular season crown in 2004-05, the first in program history. In his first season in 2002-03, he led the Bobcats to a 14-12 overall record and trip to the conference tournament. Kahn inherited a team that had won just 10 games combined during the 2000-01 and 2001-02 campaigns.
In 2005-06, Kahn led UPG to a second-place finish in the AMCC Tournament and the ECAC championship game. At the conclusion of the 2007-08 season, Kahn had coached the Bobcats to its fifth appearance in the conference tournament in six seasons.
Kahn owns a wealth of Division III coaching experience, beginning as an assistant at Wesley College in Dover, Del. (1998-2000). During the 2000-01 season, Kahn served as an assistant coach at Albright College in Reading, Pa., directing the program’s academic, recruiting and film exchange operations.
He spent a season as the top assistant at Division II Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W. Va. in 2001-02. With the Rams, Kahn served as the academic, recruiting and scouting/film exchange coordinator.
Kahn’s coaching career began as an assistant in 1997-98 with NAIA Division II Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa.
Kahn’s campus presence has reached beyond the hardwood throughout his sideline tenure, spending seven years in the classroom as a professor. He instructed a physical education and recreation course at Shepherd (2001-02) and a freshman seminar class at Pitt-Greensburg (2002-2008).
Kahn earned a bachelor of arts degree in education from the University of Redlands in 1997 and a master’s degree in education from Wesley in 2000. He has been a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) since 1999.
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