Eastern Washington University Athletics

A key cog from 2001-05 in helping Eastern to its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Marc Axton was a rare three-time first team All-Big Sky Conference selection for the Eagles in the 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons. At the time, he was just the 18th player in league history to achieve that feat, following in the footsteps of his Eastern teammate Alvin Snow the year before. Through the 2024-25 season, there have been only 22 total honored three times in the 62-year history of the league. A starter since he earned Big Sky Freshman of the Year honors in 2001-02, Axton set four school records, including career marks for games played (119), three-pointers made (184) and three-pointers attempted (499), and twice tied the single game record of seven three-pointers made. All of his records were later broken, but he still ranks 10th in games played and fifth in career 3-point attempts and makes through the 2024-25 season. He helped Eastern to its first-ever berths in the NCAA Tournament (2004) and National Invitation Tournament (2003), finishing with 1,319 points to rank seventh in school history (now 12th through the 2024-25 season) and at the time was second among Eastern's NCAA Division I players (now seventh).

Having never missed a game or practice as an Eagle, Axton started the last 99 games of his career. He started every game since making the first start of his career against Sacramento State on Feb. 2, 2002 in his freshman season. Prior to that, he helped lead Foss High School in Tacoma, Wash., to the 2000 State 4A title, along with his future EWU teammates Rachi Wortham and Khary Nicholas. The squad finished 25-4 and became the first Tacoma-area school to win the title in 25 years. He played in 2004 for Canada’s National Team, which won the Four Nations Nation Tournament in China. Axton went on to a 10-year professional career that saw him play in Spain, France and Finland. He was eligible to play for the country because his mother was from Canada. In April of 2005, Axton was selected as an all-star at the Jersey Shore Invitational -- a developmental camp for players heading overseas to play professionally. He helped teams win four league championships while playing for Joensuu (Finland), Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Reims (France) and Mallorca (Spain). In his final professional season, he averaged 9.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 0.9 steals per game in 42 games in 2010-11 for Mallorca in Spain.

Axton, who received his bachelor’s degree from EWU in business management, now resides in Spokane Valley with his wife Krystn, a former EWU cheerleader. They have raised four children – the first two born in Spain. Their oldest, Orland, is a standout for the Central Valley High School basketball team in Spokane Valley. He will be a junior for the Bears in the 2025-26 season, while his sister, Noelia, will make her debut at Ridgeline High School in Liberty Lake. In recent years, Marc has served as analyst on EWU Basketball television broadcasts and has remained a force on the court. In 2017, he teamed up with former Eagle Parker Kelly and two other former collegians to win the elite 6-foot-and-over title at the Hoopfest 3-on-3 basketball tournament in Spokane. He made two free throws and a pair of 2-point baskets in a 7-1 run that helped give LeeHayes the lead for good in a 20-15 win over Roots Academy in the championship game. Kelly, who played at EWU from 2012-15, was the tournament’s MVP. The squad repeated in 2018 and 2019, then after a hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic, won again in 2022, 2023 and 2024 under the name Hub Northwest, giving them a six-year winning streak heading into Hoopfest in 2025.