Chris Mack Position: Head Coach Birthdate: 12/30/1969 Experience: Second Season Alma Mater: Xavier '92

Chris Mack Photo Gallery

Chris Mack, the 2009-10 Basketball Times Rookie Coach of the Year, was 26-9 in his first season as Xavier's head coach. He was the winningest first-year head coach in Division I for the 2009-10 season and tied the school record for the most wins ever by an XU rookie head coach (26).

Mack was the only rookie head coach to lead his team into the 2010 NCAA Tournament. In addition, Mack became the first Xavier head coach to guide XU to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in either his first or second season as head coach.

Mack led Xavier to a 20-win season, the first time in school history that a coach has led a team to 20 wins without at least two seniors on the roster. In addition, he accomplished that feat with no returning double-figure scorers from last season. In fact, Mack won 26 games, tying him for the best total ever for a Xavier rookie head coach, an even more impressive record when you consider XU has played arguably its toughest schedule ever. Thad Matta shares the XU rookie record with 26 wins (26-6 in the 2001-02 season with three seniors and junior star David West leading the way).

Mack, 40, is the 17th head coach in program history. Mack, a two-time team captain as a player at Xavier, spent the previous five seasons as an assistant on Sean Miller's staff at Xavier. Prior to that he was on the staff of the late Skip Prosser both at Xavier and at Wake Forest. Mack officially took over as Xavier University's head coach on April 15 but he has been a familiar face around the Xavier program for over 20 years.

Mack is a 1992 Xavier University graduate with a degree in communication arts. Mack is the fifth Xavier alumnus out of 17 all-time head coaches to take over the Xavier men's basketball program and is the first since former XU team captain Don Ruberg spent four seasons at the helm from 1963-67.

Mack was XU's Director of Basketball Operations from 1999-2001 under Prosser. Mack spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Wake Forest under Prosser from 2001-04. He returned to Xavier in 2004 as an assistant coach under Miller. During his 10 years on the staffs at Xavier and Wake, Mack coached on nine teams that made postseason play, including eight teams that made the NCAA Tournament field. Those eight NCAA teams made the NCAA Second Round three times (2002, 2003 and 2007), the NCAA Sweet 16 twice (2004 and 2009) and the NCAA Elite Eight once (2008).

Prior to taking over as head coach, Mack logged seven years on the basketball staff at Xavier, including five years under Miller and two under Prosser, helping XU make five NCAA Tournament appearances and an NIT. During these past five seasons while Mack was a Xavier assistant, the Musketeers compiled a 120-47 record that included four straight NCAA Tournament berths, three straight Atlantic 10 Conference Regular Season Championships (2009, 2008 and 2007) and an A-10 Tournament Championship (2006). XU has recorded four straight 20-win seasons, including 25 wins or more in each of the past three seasons. XU advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 2009, the NCAA Elite Eight and a school record 30 wins in 2008 and the NCAA Second Round in 2007. XU made one NCAA Tournament (2001) and one NIT (2000) in Mack's two years on Prosser's Xavier staff, while compiling a combined 42-20 record.

While Mack was an assistant on Prosser's staff at Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons compiled a combined 67-29 record with the help of such stars as Josh Howard, Darius Songaila and Chris Paul. Wake made the NCAA Tournament Second Round in 2002 and 2003 and the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2004. The 2002-03 team finished 25-6 overall and 13-3 and in first place in the ACC for the first time since 1995. It was WFU's first outright ACC regular season title in 41 years.

Mack Was Also A Leader As A Player

Mack is a former local prep basketball standout who played college basketball for two seasons at the University of Evansville before transferring to Xavier to finish off his career and earn his undergraduate degree.

Mack had three years as a player under head coach Pete Gillen at Xavier, including the 1990-91 season when he sat out the games and just practiced due to transfer rules. Mack was a two-year starter for the Evansville Aces in the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons under UE head coach Jim Crews. Mack was the 1987-88 Cincinnati Post Metro Player of the Year and Greater Cincinnati League Player of the Year at St. Xavier High School after averaging 25.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.0 steals as a senior. After his graduation from Xavier in 1992, Mack played for Athletes in Action in 1993 and in Europe in 1994.

A Basketball Family Man

Mack was born December 30, 1969 in Cleveland, Ohio. He and his wife, Christi, live in Kentucky with their three-year-old daughter, Hailee, and their four-year-old daughter, Lainee. Christi, the Director of Basketball Operations for Xavier University's women's basketball team from 2001-03, is the former head girls basketball coach at Colerain High School in Cincinnati.