Chris Mack (basketball)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Mack in 2019 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | South Florida |
| Conference | American |
| Record | 0–0 (–) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1969-12-30) December 30, 1969 (age 56) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1988–1990 | Evansville |
| 1991–1993 | Xavier |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1993–1994 | McAuley HS (JV) |
| 1995–1999 | Mount Notre Dame HS |
| 1999–2001 | Xavier (assistant) |
| 2001–2004 | Wake Forest (assistant) |
| 2004–2009 | Xavier (assistant) |
| 2009–2018 | Xavier |
| 2018–2022 | Louisville |
| 2024–2026 | Charleston |
| 2026–present | South Florida |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 323–153 (.679) |
| Tournaments | NCAA: 11–9 (.550) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Big East regular season (2018) 2 Atlantic 10 regular season (2010, 2011) | |
| Awards | |
| Big East Coach of the Year (2018) Henry Iba Award (2016) Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year (2011) Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award (2011) | |
Christopher Lee Mack[1] (born December 30, 1969) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach at the University of South Florida. He formerly served as head coach for the College of Charleston, University of Louisville and Xavier University.[2]
Chris Mack was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in North College Hill, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. He graduated in 1988 from St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, where he was named 1987–88 Cincinnati Post Metro Player of the Year.[3]
Mack continued on to the University of Evansville, where he played basketball for two seasons.[4][5] He then transferred to Xavier University in 1990, where he played his final two seasons of eligibility (after redshirting one due to then-current NCAA transfer rules), and graduated in 1992 with a B.A. in Communication Arts.[5] He is married to the former Christi Hester, a Louisville native and former University of Dayton guard (1996–2000).[6] They have three children.
Coaching career
High school
Mack started his coaching career as junior varsity head coach at McAuley High School, an all-girls high school in Cincinnati, in 1993. In 1995, Mack was named head coach of the girls varsity basketball team at Mount Notre Dame High School in Reading, Ohio, where he received the 1996 Coach of the Year award from the Cincinnati Post.
College
Xavier and Wake Forest
In 1999, he was named Director of Basketball Operations at Xavier University, serving under the late Skip Prosser, whom he followed as an assistant coach to Wake Forest in 2001.
Return to Xavier
In 2004 Mack returned to Xavier, joining new head coach Sean Miller as his top assistant.
Head coach at Xavier
When Miller left for the University of Arizona in 2009, on April 15, 2009, it was announced that Mack would replace Miller as Xavier's head coach.[7] The first top 25 ranking by a Mack-led Xavier team was March 1, 2010 when it made its season debut in the Associated Press Poll at #25. During that season, the Jordan Crawford-led Musketeers won the Atlantic 10 Conference and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
The Musketeers had question marks heading into the next season, yet Mack guided the team to its fifth consecutive Atlantic 10 Championship before falling to Marquette in the first round of the NCAA tournament. During both of these years, Mack earned Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year awards. Heading into the 2011–2012 campaign, the Musketeers were slated to be one of the top teams in the country. With senior All-American Tu Holloway returning, Mack and Xavier were on the cusp of a special year. Xavier got off to a good start and were ranked as high as #7 before a bench-clearing brawl with their in-city rival, the Cincinnati Bearcats. Mack's squad advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 with wins over Notre Dame and Lehigh.
After Xavier joined the reconfigured Big East for the 2013–14 season, it continued to build on success attained in the A-10, making the Sweet Sixteen for a third time in six years during the 2014–15 season while attaining regular Top 25 rankings. Mack won several national coach of the year awards following the 2015–16 season in which Xavier finished 28–6, including the Hank Iba Award.
The Musketeers had the highest preseason ranking in school history of 7th (Associated Press) under Mack prior to the 2016–17. After overcoming multiple injuries to key players, Xavier defeated 6th-seeded Maryland, 3rd-seeded Florida State and 2nd-seeded Arizona, landing in the Elite Eight for the third time in school history.
On January 18, 2018, Mack passed former Xavier head coach Pete Gillen and became the all-time leader in Xavier coaching wins after defeating St. Johns 88–82. Mack eventually would lead his 2018 Xavier squad to the school's first No. 1 seed, becoming the 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament's West Region. The team would eventually bow out of the tournament in the second round to Florida State, losing 75–70 to the West Region's 9-seed. Xavier finished the 2018 season with a 29–6 record.
University of Louisville
On March 27, 2018, Mack agreed to terms on a seven-year contract worth about $4 million annually to become the next head coach at the University of Louisville.[8] In December 2019 Mack's Louisville basketball team was ranked #1 in the country for two weeks before stumbling and losing 3 out of 5 games. In January 2020 the team recovered to beat #3 ranked Duke in a statement win.
Mack was suspended from the first six games of the 2021–22 season. The university claimed that Mack violated the school's guidelines while dealing with former assistant coach Dino Gaudio's extortion attempts. Unbeknownst to Gaudio, Mack recorded the conversation, in which he fired the assistant coach and was threatened by Gaudio for doing so.[9][10] On January 26, 2022, it was announced that Mack was out as head coach of the University of Louisville.[11] Louisville paid Mack $4.8 million — $133,000 per month for three years with his termination.[12]
College of Charleston
After a two-year coaching hiatus, Mack signed a five-year contract worth roughly $1.1 million annually to lead the College of Charleston men's basketball team, after former Mack-assistant and Charleston head coach Pat Kelsey left to coach at the University of Louisville.[13] Mack earned the 300th win of his career on February 27, 2025, in a 94–84 victory over the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens.[14][15]
University of South Florida
On March 25th, 2026 Mack accepted the head-coaching job at The University of South Florida (USF).
Head coaching record
References
- ↑ "Chris Mack" (PDF), Wake Forest 2003–04 Basketball, Wake Forest University, p. 81, 2003, archived from the original (PDF) on January 10, 2019, retrieved January 10, 2019
- ↑ @ericcrawford (March 28, 2018). "John Karman, University of Louisville..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ↑ "XAVIER OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on April 9, 2009. Retrieved December 13, 2009.
- ↑ "Past Hall of Fame Inductees". St. Xavier High School. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
- 1 2 "Player Bio: Chris Mack". Archived from the original on April 9, 2009. Retrieved December 13, 2009.
- ↑ Archdeacon, Tom (April 23, 2009). "Christi Mack knows both sides of UD-Xavier rivalry". Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio, USA: Cox Ohio Publishing. Archived from the original on August 10, 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
- ↑ "Chris Mack Introduced As Xavier's New Men's Basketball Head Coach". Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved April 16, 2009.
- ↑ Greer, Jeff (March 27, 2018). "Louisville hires Chris Mack as new men's basketball coach". Courier Journal. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
- ↑ Norlander, Matt (August 27, 2021). "Louisville suspends coach Chris Mack for first six games of upcoming season for breaking school rules". CBS.
- ↑ Forde, Pat (August 27, 2021). "'You're Going to F—ing Pay Me': Inside Dino Gaudio's Explosive Conversation With Chris Mack". SI.
- ↑ Norlander, Matt (January 26, 2022). "Louisville parts ways with Chris Mack: Cardinals move on from basketball coach in midst of fourth season". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ↑ Hamilton, Dana O'Neil and Brian. "How Chris Mack fell so hard, so fast at Louisville: 'He just didn't handle all of this very well'". The Athletic.
- ↑ "Charleston hires ex-Louisville coach Chris Mack to take over for new Cardinals coach Pat Kelsey". AP News. April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
- ↑ Clark, Dave. "Chris Mack, Xavier's all-time wins leader, earns No. 300 as Charleston improves to 22-8". The Enquirer. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
- ↑ "Mack Wins 300th, Cougars Secure Double Bye with Win Over Delaware". College of Charleston Athletics. February 27, 2025. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
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