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 Head Coach Mark Corino
Kean University '77
20th Season
Mark Corino begins his 20th
season as the head men’s basketball coach at Caldwell College and 25th
overall. One of the most successful college coaches in the state of New
Jersey, Corino is tied for fourth among men’s college coaches in the
state with 429 career victories. After winning his 300th game
at Caldwell as well as reaching the 400-win plateau for his career in an
eventful 2006, Corino achieved another milestone in 2007 by winning the
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament and advancing to the
NCAA Northeast Region Tournament for the first time. Through 24 years,
his overall record is 429-274, including a 334-226 mark in 19 seasons at
Caldwell.
 “I’ve
been fortunate to have been able to coach a number of outstanding
student-athletes over the years, and certainly they deserve a lot of
credit,” said Corino, who has coached eight NAIA All-Americans and
numerous all-CACC players while at Caldwell. “Also, in order to win a
lot of games, you need to be around long enough to have the opportunity
to do so. That wouldn’t be possible without the support of my family, as
well as the administration at Caldwell College.”
The
list of Corino’s accomplishments is impressive: Five trips to the NAIA
national tournament; one appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament;
seven CACC regular-season championships; five CACC Tournament titles and
a District 31 crown.
Corino also has developed and recruited several talented players at
Caldwell. In fact, in 11 of 12 seasons from 1990 to 2002, the NAIA
All-America teams included a player from Caldwell College. Thirteen
players, including all-time leading scorer and first team All-American
Matt Stuart, have reached the 1,000-point milestone. And Corino himself
has received several honors, including four CACC Coach of the Year
awards. In 1992, Corino was named the Jersey 9 and District 31 Coach of
the Year, and was selected by the All-Metropolitan Basketball
Writers Association as its Coach of the Year in 1998.
 What
makes all of these achievements even more impressive is that Corino had
virtually no foundation on which to build such a successful program when
he came to Caldwell College in 1988, as the program was established one
year before his arrival. Similarly, with Corino as the College’s first
full-time athletic director, the athletic department has made
significant strides in its short existence. In his first year, Corino
headed a department that had three programs and no conference
affiliation. Today, Caldwell has 11 intercollegiate athletic programs,
with 10 competing in the CACC. Corino also oversaw the College’s
transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II, which was completed in 2003.
Along with the jump to NCAA Division II
status came an upgrade in facilities with the opening of the
state-of-the-art George R. Newman Center, home of the Caldwell College
basketball and volleyball teams.
Corino also played a role in the creation of the CACC, which has
grown to 13 members. Corino, who has served as the conference’s
president during two separate stints, was named the CACC and NAIA Region
X Administrator of the Year in 2000. He also was among 14 finalists for
the NAIA National Athletic Administrator of the Year.
 A
native of Belleville, N.J., Corino attended Kean (N.J.) University,
where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in industrial arts. He later
received a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Caldwell
in 1997. Corino began his collegiate coaching career in 1983 at
Bloomfield College, where he compiled a record of 95-48 in five seasons.
Corino is the youngest of three brothers who have combined for more than
1,000 coaching victories at the collegiate and high school levels.
Oldest brother Jimmy was a high school basketball coach, while Carl is
one of the all-time winningest high school softball coaches in New
Jersey.
Corino, 52, resides in Cedar Grove, N.J., with his wife Susan, and
daughter Michele. “My family has been tremendously supportive and
without their understanding we would not have been able to accomplish
all that we have here at Caldwell,” Corino said. “They’ve played an
important part in our success as well.”
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