MARIANNA, Fla. (WMBB) – Chipola College introduced new Head Women’s Basketball Coach John Marcum to the program on Monday morning.
The new hire replaces Greg Franklin, who spent 11 years leading the Indians and was let go in March.
Marcum comes to Marianna with 18 years of coaching experience at various levels.
He most recently served as Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Syracuse University.
Marcum has had coaching stints at Syracuse, Butler, Grand Canyon, East Carolina, Indiana State, California Baptist and Oklahoma Baptist.
Chipola Athletic Director Jeff Johnson said that Marcum was the unanimous decision for the job.
“One of the big issues, when you’re hiring a new coach at this time, is the recruiting piece of it,” Johnson said. “So we wanted to be very thorough in our search process. We had some great candidates, we landed on John, and, you know, we think we got the right guy for the job and are just excited about what he’s going to bring to this program.”
Marcum has big shoes to fill, following behind Coach Franklin who won three state titles, had three NJCAA final four appearances, and Chipola’s only basketball national title in 2015.
Marcum said he understands the responsibility he holds and that he’ll be getting right into recruitment.
“The coaches that have been here are all quality people,” Marcum said. “and “They’ve all done a great job and I just hope to build upon what they’ve already established foundationally and take it, do my step humbly, do my step to keep the legacy going. I’m leaving here right now and just to be working the phones by like the next 11 hours. So, we’re recruiting internationally all over the globe because we know that’s the kind of talent you need to win here at this conference.”
The Chipola women’s basketball team finished the 2022-2023 season 11-14 but still received a bid to the FCSAA State Tournament.
