USF Names Ryan Marks New Men's Basketball Coach

On your Marks, get set, go.

The University of St. Francis named Ryan Marks as its new men's basketball coach during a news conference on Wednesday morning in the Patrick Sullivan Center.

Marks takes the reins at USF after developing a reputation for turning downtrodden programs around in three previous coaching stops—Division I Texas-Pan American, Division II St. Edward's University (Austin, Tex.) and Division III Southern Vermont College. He replaces John Baines.

Baines compiled a three-year record of 57-38 with the Saints. He resigned in April to accept the head coaching position at Elmhurst College.

And Marks is ready to pick up where Baines left off, according to USF Athletic Director Dave Laketa.

"Ryan's resume speaks for itself, both in terms of his on-court and classroom success," Laketa stated in a news release to announce Marks as USF's new head coach. "To get the caliber of coach that he represents speaks volumes for our university and program and where it is today thanks to the work of John Baines over the past three years."

Marks boasts a career coaching record of 187-174 (.518) with four NCAA tournament appearances under his belt. In his final year at Texas-Pan American, he led the Broncos to a 16-15 mark, their first winning regular season in five years and the fourth in 22 seasons of men's basketball at UTPA.

His players boasted a cumulative GPA of 3.17.