Mark Stephens

Mark Stephens enters his second season on staff with Purdue Women's Basketball in 2024-25. Stephens serves as the program's recruiting coordinator, while assisting with player development, academic support and opponent scouting, after joining the program in April of 2023. Stephens' first season in West Lafayette saw the Boilermakers reach the Great 8 of the WNIT. His guidance of the post play helped Caitlyn Harper reach an All-Big Ten honorable mention nod, while also helping Purdue land its first Big Ten Freshman of the Year since Katie Geralds in 2003.  Over his career that has included seven years as a collegiate assistant and three as a high school head coach in Indianapolis, as well as more than a decade in the AAU ranks, Stephens has mentored seven all-conference selections and 27 academic all-conference honorees in college. His experience in Indiana and throughout the Midwest have shown he is a dynamic recruiter, while his on-court success has led several of his players to high-level award.  Prior to his arrival in West Lafayette, Stephens spent four seasons at Toledo under Purdue alumna Tricia Cullop. The Rockets went 84-40, won two MAC Regular Season Championships and one tournament title and made a pair of postseason appearances. Stephens and the Rockets made history in 2022-23. Toledo finished with a program-record 29 wins and its first NCAA Tournament victory since 1996 when the Rockets topped fifth-seeded Iowa State in the opening round. The Rockets went 18-2 in the MAC to lead to a sweep of the regular season and tournament championships. Toledo tallied the program's longest winning streak at 17 games and ranked in the top 25 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (24th, 1.19), field goal percentage (25th, 45.1%), free throw percentage (17th, 78.2%), free throws made per game (21st, 15.2) and fewest turnovers per game (16th, 12.4). Quinesha Lockett was tabbed First Team All-MAC and the league's Player of the Year. The historic 2022-23 came on the heels of a 29-6 mark in 2021-22 when the Rockets lifted their 10th MAC Regular Season Title in school history with a 19-1 record and reached the quarterfinals of the WNIT. Toledo was one of 10 schools in Division I to win 29 games and were tied with LSU with the largest win increase from 2020-21 to 2021-22, winning 17 more games than the year before. The Rockets led the MAC in scoring defense, scoring margin, field goal percentage defense, rebounding margin, and defensive rebounds per game. Toledo finished the year with a 12-12 overall record and an 8-12 mark in conference play during the shortened season in 2020-21. The Rockets reached the semifinals of the MAC Tournament in 2019-20, before the tournament was cancelled due to concerns about the Coronavirus pandemic. Stephens joined Toledo after three seasons at BIG EAST member Xavier. During his time with the Musketeers, Stephens coached a trio of All-BIG EAST performers. In addition, Stephens aided in the daily aspects of the XU players and in the recruiting of players both foreign and domestic. He also oversaw the Musketeers' video coordinator position, as well as helped grow their practice squad from six people to 16 and was responsible for coordinating team camp, which expanded from 21 to 51 teams between 2017-18. Prior to working at Xavier, Stephens was the head women's varsity basketball coach at Crispus Attucks Medical Magnet High School in Indianapolis from 2012-16. His team posted a 38-9 record over the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, capturing back-to-back conference titles. Stephens was also the assistant club director for the Adidas Indiana Elite AAU Team from 2002-05 and the Indianapolis-based Nike Lady Gym Rats AAU Team from 2005-16. In total, he coached 62 players who played collegiately – including 41 NCAA Division I student-athletes. Stephens also served as the general manager of the Indy Southside Sports Academy in Indianapolis from 2004-09 and 2011-12. In addition, he had stints as an assistant high school basketball coach at Decatur Central High School (2011-12) and boys basketball varsity assistant coach and football assistant coach at Southport High School (2003-11) – both located in Indianapolis. Stephens also has experience working as a national high school women's basketball scout for ESPN (hoopgurlz.com) and as a freelance writer for Indiana Basketball Magazine and PrepHoop Stars. Stephens was a two-year letterwinner on the men's basketball team at Morehead St. (2000-01). He also earned four letters on MSU's football squad (1998-2002) and led the country with 7.8 yards per carry as a senior. The Louisville, Ky., native holds a bachelor's degree in communication from Morehead St. in 2002. After graduation, Stephens played semi-professional football for the Indiana Tornados in the North American Football League (NAFL) and South Central Broncos Indoor Football League (IFL) and was an eight-time all-star selection between the two leagues. Stephens and his wife Cambrelle have two sons, Maddux and McKel, and a daughter, McKinley.