- In his fourth season as the head coach of the UIS women’s basketball program
- Has led the Prairie Stars to improvement in the win column in each of his first three seasons
- Prior to coming to UIS, was an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level for 12 years
Mark Kost is in his fourth season as the head coach of the University of Illinois Springfield women’s basketball team during the 2018-19 season.
Kost’s teams have improved in each of first three seasons at UIS. His inaugural squad won eight contests, two more than the previous year, and the 2016-17 team won nine contests. In 2017-18, UIS had its best team in 20 years, including the best since moving to the NCAA level. The Prairie Stars went 13-13 overall, and had a 7-11 record in GLVC play. UIS finished just one game out of making the GLVC Tournament for the first time.
Kost has coached at least one all-conference player in each season at UIS, including second-team honors in 2017-18 for Shelbi Patterson and Destiny Ramsey.
Kost has helped the Prairie Stars improve in the classrooms as well. UIS has increased their number of Academic All-GLVC selections each season since Kost took over the program. The Prairie Stars have won 18 academic awards from the conference over the last three years, including seven for the 2017-18 school year.
Kost came to UIS after one season as an assistant coach at Charleston Southern and Morehead State.
Prior to that, 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 Academic All-American.
During the 2012-13 season, Kost was elevated to interim head coach and guided the Chanticleers to six wins. The program won over 130 games while he was 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 Academic Advisor for Athletics at UIS.
