Georgia Southern University Athletics

Mark Byington has led a resurgence of Georgia Southern basketball since arriving in Statesboro in 2013 and signed a contract extension in February of 2018 that will keep him at GS through 2022. His 111 wins in his first six seasons at Georgia Southern are the best of any coach in the modern era, and in four of the six campaigns, the Eagles have recorded the four highest RPIs in the last 29 years of the program. 

Georgia Southern logged 20-plus wins for the third time in five years in 2018-19 and won 20-plus games in consecutive seasons for the first time in 30 years. The Eagles have finished in the top-3 in four of their five seasons in the Sun Belt, and GS is one of 38 Division I programs that have won 10 or more league games in each of the past five seasons, a list that includes Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Kansas, Villanova, Michigan State, Kentucky, Oregon and Gonzaga.

Byington has coached 11 all-conference selections, and Tookie Brown won Sun Belt Player of the Year and All-America Honorable Mention accolades in 2019 and Sun Belt Freshman of the Year honors in 2016. In addition, Brown became the first four-time, first-team All-Sun Belt selection in league history.
 

Mark Byington File Record at Georgia Southern: 111-84 (6 seasons) Career Record: 118-88 (6 seasons)* Bachelor’s degree: UNC Wilmington, 1998 Master’s degree: Virginia, 2003 Born: April 22, 1976, in Salem, Va. Family: Son – Chase Highlights at Georgia Southern - Led the Eagles to consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in 30 years. - Led the Eagles to the 2017 CBI, their first postseason appearance since 2006 - The Eagles have finished in the top-three in four of their five seasons in the Sun Belt  - 111 wins in his first six seasons are the best of any Eagle coach in the Division I era. - Georgia Southern has had 11 all-conference selections, a Player of the Year and a Freshman of the Year during his tenure.    - Won Whack Hyder Georgia College Coach of the Year Award, named National Association of Basketball Coaches District 24 Coach of the Year and chosen by NBC Sports as the Sun Belt Coach of the Year in 2015. - Led the Eagles to a 22-9 mark, a second-place finish in the Sun Belt and the Sun Belt Championship title game in 2014-15. It was the Eagles' first conference championship game appearance since 1992. - Every senior has graduated since Byington joined the Eagles in the spring of 2013. - Georgia Southern is 60-22 in Hanner Fieldhouse and 35-12 in Sun Belt games under Byington. *Interim coach for 11 games (7-4) at College of Charleston in 2012

The Eagles' high-flying, entertaining brand of basketball has brought success as well as an entertaining atmosphere to Hanner Fieldhouse. Georgia Southern ranked fourth in the country in field goal percentage (.499) and 15th in scoring, averaging 82.6 points a game, in 2018-19. GS shot 50 percent or better in 17 contests, including the first five games of the year, and 60 percent or better three times and scored 80-plus points in 18 contests. Georgia Southern's top-5 seasons in 3-pointers made and attempted have all come during Byington's tenure, and in the last four seasons, he has produced four of the highest scoring teams in the last 10 years.

Georgia Southern student-athletes have excelled in the classroom as well - all of Byington's seniors have graduated. Entering his seventh campaign at Georgia Southern, Byington owns a 118-88 career record (111-84 at GS) and a 58-36 mark in Sun Belt games.

In addition to posting 21 wins, the 2018-19 Eagles tied for second in the Sun Belt and reached the semifinals of the conference tournament for the second straight season. In 2016-17, the Eagles went 18-15 overall and 11-7 in the conference and played in the postseason for the first time since 2006 and just the seventh time in the Division I era.
In his just his second season, Byington guided the 2014-15 Eagles to a 22-9 overall record, the program’s first 20-win season in a decade, and 14-6 in their debut season in the Sun Belt to place second in the final regular-season standings. Georgia Southern topped ULM in the Sun Belt Tournament semifinals to reach the program’s first championship game since 1992 and came within a basket of reaching the NCAA Tournament as Georgia Southern fell 38-36 to Georgia State in one of the most memorable Sun Belt Championship games in league history.

Byington won NABC District 24 Coach of the Year and the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Whack Hyder Georgia College Coach of the Year Award. The Eagles’ success was quantified by a 191-place jump in the final NCAA RPI standings, the third-highest ascent in 2014-15.

No stranger to Georgia Southern, Byington spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at Southern Conference rival College of Charleston, including seven as Bobby Cremins’ top assistant. He was named interim head coach for the final month of the 2011-12 campaign after Cremins took a leave of absence and guided the Cougars to a 7-4 mark in their final 11 contests.

College of Charleston posted an overall record of 194-100 and a 108-51 mark in the SoCon during Byington’s time there. The Cougars recorded six 20-win seasons, logged three SoCon South Division regular-season titles, advanced to the league’s tournament championship game three times and made an appearance in the 2011 NIT. Byington spent the 2012-13 campaign as an assistant under James Johnson at Virginia Tech, where he mentored ACC Player of the Year and future second-round NBA draft pick Erick Green.

A 1998 graduate of UNC Wilmington, Byington earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education and was a three-year starter on the men’s basketball team, earning second-team All-Colonial Athletic Association and All-CAA Defensive Team honors his senior year. A two-time CAA All-Academic selection, he scored more than 1,000 points during his career.

Byington began his coaching career as an assistant at Hargrave Military Academy in 2001-02. He served as the director of basketball operations at the University of Virginia during the 2004-05 season and was a graduate student manager at UVA for two seasons before that. He earned a master’s degree in sports psychology from UVA in December of 2003.

Byington was a basketball standout at Salem High School and was named Player of the Year in the state of Virginia as a senior, leading Salem to the state championship. He also earned honorable mention All-America recognition and was a two-time first-team all-state selection. Following his senior season, he was chosen Most Valuable Player of the Virginia High School League All-Star Game.

Mark has a son, Chase, and resides in Statesboro.