Mark Darnall is in his second season at Eastern after spending four seasons as part of the Chico State men’s basketball coaching staff. In the 2021-22 season, Darnall assisted new head coach David Riley’s Eagles to an 18-16 record, including a record of 11-9 in conference play.
“We are excited for Mark to join the Eagles,” said Eastern head coach David Riley prior to the 2021-22 season. “Mark worked his way from the ground up in the coaching business and he will bring great passion and energy to our program.”
Although the 2020-21 season in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) was wiped out because of the Covid-19 pandemic, he was head coach Greg Clink’s top assistant. The Wildcats were 52-29 and had two postseason appearances in his first three years in the program. In July, 2020, Darnall was selected as one of the 50 most impactful Division II assistant coaches in the country by Silver Waves Media.
In 2019-20, Chico State went 23-7 and garnered a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Division II Tournament before being shut down due to Covid-19. Among the players he coached during his time at Chico State were first team All-CCAA Players Justin Briggs, Malik Duffy, Isaiah Ellis and Jalen McFerren. Justin Briggs was also Defensive Player of the Year and NCAA Division II All-West District second team as selected by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Darnall brought nearly a decade of coaching experience to Chico when he joined the coaching staff in 2017–18. The Lake Mills, Wisc., native spent the 2016-17 campaign as an assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and from 2011-16 served as assistant coach and director of basketball operations at UC Davis.
At UW-Platteville, he was the head assistant under Jeff Gard where they coached two future MVPs of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Robert Duax and Carter Voelker. Darnall also helped recruit All-WIAC players Justin Stovall and Quentin Shields, who led the Pioneers to consistent top 25 rankings in NCAA Division III and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
In addition to his coaching duties at UC Davis, Darnall handled all of the Aggies’ administrative responsibilities, 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 the program’s first Division I postseason appearance when the Aggies appeared in the National Invitation Tournament. UC Davis ended the season as national three-point champions, shooting a blistering .447 clip from behind the arc—the highest single-season three-point percentage since the three-point line was moved back in 2009.
Darnall came to UC Davis after assisting Aggie head coach Jim Les as a video coordinator at Bradley University in 2010-11. In that role he oversaw all aspects of the team’s film and video needs, including preparation of opponent scouting, managing the video room and supplying the coaching staff with practice and game film. He coordinated film exchange with opponents, used the XOS Digital video software program and assisted in other administrative duties.
Prior to that, Darnall was an assistant coach at Peoria Christian High School for the 2009-10 season, helping with both on- and off-court duties. Peoria Christian finished 16-13 while capturing the conference title with an 8-1 record.
Darnall played college basketball at Eureka College in Illinois where he led the Red Devils in scoring and shot 41.4 percent from the 3-point line 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 has coached at several camps and is co-author of several articles for Athletes in Action. He is the nephew of NAIA and Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame coach Dave Darnall.
He earned his undergraduate degree in sports management in 2009 and his master’s degree, in the same major, from Illinois State in 2011.
