University of Illinois Springfield Director of Athletics Kim Pate announces the hiring of Mark Kost as the head women’s basketball coach.
“I am excited to add Mark Kost to our talented staff of coaches,” said Pate. “He is extremely knowledgeable around the game and brings tremendous passion and enthusiasm to establish an exciting brand of basketball. He understands the importance of developing his players both on and off the court and I believe our players will take to his positive coaching style. I look forward to seeing the program develop under Marks’s leadership.”
Kost joins UIS sidelines after a season with Charleston Southern where he worked primarily with the perimeter players. The previous season, Kost was an assistant at Morehead State.
“First and foremost, I would like to thank the administration for giving me the opportunity to be part of the UIS Family,” said Kost. “Throughout the process, I could feel the passion everyone had for the women’s basketball program and I look forward to working with such a passionate group of people. More importantly, I am excited about the challenges ahead and building a program that will make UIS and the Springfield community proud!”
Prior to his last two stops, Kost spent 10 seasons on the women’s staff at Coastal Carolina. His recruiting classes yielded five Big South All-Freshmen team selections, three Big South All-Conference selections, a Big South Defensive Player of the Year, two Big South Scholar-Athletes of the Year, a Big South George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence winner and an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American.
During the 2012-13 season, Kost was elevated to interim head coach in 2012-13 and guided the Chanticleers to six wins and more than 130 overall wins while on staff. During his final two seasons, he was the associate head coach. Kost began his tenure on the men’s staff at Coastal in 2002-03.
Kost’s first recruiting class featured future Big South Defensive Player of the Year Amanda Stull who holds the Coastal record for most career games played. In his second recruiting class, Kost recruited Sydnei Moss and Katie White, two of the most prominent Chanticleers in recent memory. Moss led the Chanticleers in scoring during three seasons at Coastal on her way to becoming the eighth best scorer in Chants history with 1,329 career points. During White’s senior season of 2010-11, she set the Coastal all-time career blocked shots record, the single-season blocks record and single-game blocks record. White was also named the Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year and earned the prestigious Big South George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence.
In 2011, Kost recruited Shatia Cole who went on to be named to the conference’s All-Freshman Team and set the program record for Big South Freshman of the Week honors. Cole made an immediate impact in her first career game and went on to finish the season as Coastal’s second leading scorer averaging 10.5 points per contest.
In his third season with Coastal in 2005-06, Kost assisted in leading one of the most improved teams in the nation with an 18-10 record and a third-place finish in the Big South Conference. The Chants had two Second Team All-Big South members (Kim Turner and Alisha Dill) and had three players average more than 11 points a game. Coastal Carolina once again excelled on defense, leading the league in turnover margin and steals.
Kost also has high school experience as he spent two seasons as a varsity assistant coach at St. Joseph’s High School in South Bend, Ind. At St. Joseph’s, Kost was involved with all aspects of the program, including on-court coaching, player development and scouting.
While in South Bend, Kost also worked with the University of Notre Dame football and men’s basketball offices as an office contractor to implement the use of the internet in recruiting with both programs.
Kost is a 1995 graduate of Notre Dame with a bachelor’s of business administration. His wife Samantha is the associate athletic director for academics at Coastal Carolina.
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