Darnall joins Men's Basketball program

Mark Darnall joins the University of Wisconsin-Platteville basketball program as assistant coach, Pioneer Head Coach Jeff Gard announced.

A Lake Mills, Wisconsin native, Darnall comes back to the state after spending the last five seasons with the University of California-Davis basketball program, where he served as the director of basketball operations and most recently as assistant coach. With the Pioneers, his primary responsibilities include recruiting, opponent scouting, and on-floor coaching assignments. 

"Mark has come highly recommended to me by people I respect in the business," Gard said. "He will be fantastic on the floor with the players and has done a tremendous job on the road recruiting with players being drawn to his positive personality. Coach Darnall is a real team player who will fit in very well with Pioneer assistant coaches Jim (Lawinger) and Rob (Stallion). We're excited to have Mark as a part of the Pioneer family." 

UC Davis set a slew of new program records and finished the season as the Big West Conference's top-ranked defense. In addition to his duties and responsibilities as one of the team's assistant coaches, he handled all administrative areas of the program, including video and practice coordination, team travel, scouting, budgeting, schedule coordination, marketing, academic monitoring, community outreach, student-athlete development, and supervision of the program's team managers and interns.

During Darnall's tenure, UC Davis captured its inaugural Big West championship in 2015, and earned its first Division I postseason appearance when the Aggies appeared in the National Invitation Tournament. That season, the men's basketball team posted its first 6-0 start in 102 years. When their historic season ended, the Aggies ended the season as national three-point champions shooting a blistering .447 clip from behind the arc.  That mark is the highest single-season three-point percentage since the three-point line was moved back in 2009 and Indiana University in 1994.

Previously, Darnall served as a video coordinator at Bradley University (2010-11) and was an assistant coach at Peoria Christian High School for the 2009-10 season.

Darnall played collegiately at Eureka College in Illinois where he led the Red Devils in scoring and shot 41.4 percent from three-point territory in 2007-08. He was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court for his achievements on the court and in the classroom. Darnall earned his undergraduate degree in sports management in 2009 and his master's degree in sports management from Illinois State in 2011. He and his wife Meagan reside in Platteville.    

Written by: Paul Erickson, Director, Communications/Public Information Officer