Men's Basketball Southern Conference

Cougar Assistant Takes Position At Virginia

CHARLESTON, SC -- Mark Byington, an assistant coach under Tom Herrion the past two seasons at the College of Charleston, has been named director of basketball operations at the University of Virginia.

The position became available when Scott Shepherd, who was named the head coach at Ferrum College, resigned in May and Alexis Sherard, the director of basketball operations last season, was promoted to the third assistant position.

Byington, a Salem, Va. native, helped Herrion and the Cougars to a 45-17 record over two seasons, the 2002 Great Alaska Shootout championship, a pair of Southern Conference South Division titles, and an opening round win at Kent State in the 2003 National Invitation Tournament.

Byington, who led Salem High to the state Group AA basketball title, was a standout guard for Jerry Wainwright at UNC Wilmington. He has a master's degree from Virginia and was a student manager for Virginia Head Coach Pete Gillen in 1999-2000 and 2000-01. He spent 2001-02 on the Hargrave Military Academy postgraduate team's staff.

At U.Va., Byington, 28, will be responsible for monitoring the academic progress of players, making travel arrangements for the team, acting as a liaison between the team and athletic department officials, the faculty and academic advisors, he said, and also will "kind of be a bridge between players and the other coaches."

"There are so many positive things about coming back to Charlottesville. One, the chance to work with Coach Gillen is a great opportunity and knowing the direction he has for Virginia basketball. Secondly, working at Virginia is in many ways a dream job for me. I grew up in Salem and was always a Virginia fan and supported the team and this is a chance for me to come back to Virginia and aid in the program's future," said Byington, who was a CAA first-team selection in 1998 and is UNC Wilmington's career leader in 3-pointers made. "I feel that I'm much more experienced then when I left. I've had the chance to be around successful programs and teams at Charleston and Hargrave and feel I can bring that experience to UVa."