WAYNESBURG, Pa. (April 9) – After a lengthy search, Waynesburg University is proud to announce the hiring of Mark Christner as its new head men's basketball coach.
He replaces Frank Ferraro, who was on the bench at Waynesburg since 2001, and was the head coach from the 2003-04 season to the 2009-10 campaign. Waynesburg Director of Athletics and former long-time head men's basketball coach Rudy Marisa feels confident in the school's choice for his former post.
“We had over 150 applications from various parts of the country,” Marisa said. “We believe we have hired the right person for the job at this point in time.”
Christner comes to Waynesburg from a very successful Calvin College (Mich.) program. During his eight years (2002-2010) as an assistant men's coach and head men's junior varsity coach, Christner helped lead the Knights to four berths in the NCAA Division III national tournament. During his time on the bench, Calvin posted an impressive 158-73 record and won three Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) regular season titles. Over that same stretch, the Knights won three MIAA tournament titles and advanced all the way to the NCAA Division III Final Four in 2005.
Prior to working with the men's team, Christner broke in as a coach at Calvin with the women's basketball team from 1999 to 2002. In 2000, the Calvin women made it all the way to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16.
After spending a decade with winning collegiate hoops programs, Christner plans on bringing that winning formula to Waynesburg, both on and off the court.
“Coming from Calvin and being used to succeeding, I plan on instilling that same work ethic and expectations of high character, which are hallmarks of successful programs,” Christner said. “It goes beyond wins and losses and can be seen off the court. I have a firm idea of where I want this program to go. You do it with integrity and you do it as hard as you can.”
A winning tradition is something that Christner will work to recapture with the Yellow Jackets, who are coming off of a 2-22 season. However, in 2006, the Jackets were one win away from capturing the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) title. The program also gained national notoriety under Marisa for routinely making the NAIA national tournament in the 1980s.
“I'm very excited about coaching at Waynesburg,” Christner said. “There is a great tradition here and that was attractive to me. I want to get the program back to that level.”
Along with his impressive coaching credentials at Calvin, Christner is affiliated with the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. He has worked as a coach and administrator of multiple basketball tournaments and camps.
Christner earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1999 from Calvin, where he majored in history and minored in physical education with emphasis in coach. He went on to earn a Master of Arts degree in physical education with a pedagogy emphasis in 2005 from Western Michigan.
He is also an experienced teacher. Christner was a Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Dance, & Sport (HPERDS) instructor at Calvin from 2006 until he left the school, and was an adjunct instructor in the same program from 2004 to 2006. He also spent four years (2000-2004) as a social studies teacher at both the Creston Christian School and the Holy Spirit School in Grand Rapids, Mich.
