March Madness is an appropriate time to feature my friend Mark Edwards. Yesterday was Selection Sunday and the men’s and women’s tournaments begin tomorrow. I ran into Mark at the 2001 Final Four in Minneapolis and the 2003 Final Four in New Orleans, and he had a lot of success in the D3 tournament over his years at WashU.
I met Mark in 1981 when the basketball program at Washington University was restarted after a ten-year hiatus. I contacted Athletic Director, John Schael, with an offer to lead scorekeeping and stats, which John gratefully accepted. I became the official scorekeeper for the first two seasons of the resumed program, and I got to know Mark during this time.
Mark’s 685-293 (.700) overall record included back-to-back NCAA Division III national championships in 2008 and 2009. He received D3hoops.com (2008), NABC (2008, 2009) and Molten/DIII News Coach of the Year honors (2002, 2008, 2009), along with 10 University Athletic Association (UAA) Coach of the Year awards (1988, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2018).
Links for this episode
* Washington University in St. Louis
* Missouri Sports Hall of Fame
* Building a Championship Culture
* ‘He is Wash. U. basketball:’ Edwards to retire after 37 as head coach
* Two coaching legends, one court
