Mark Darnall is in his fourth season as part of the Chico State men’s basketball coaching staff. Greg Clink’s top assistant has played an integral part in the program’s success, helping guide the Wildcats to a 52-29 record and two postseason appearances in the past three years.
Darnall’s coaching talents and recruiting skills are not only respected by peers throughout the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), but recognized nationally as well. In July, 2020, Darnall was selected as one of the 50 most impactful Division II assistant coaches in the country by Silver Waves Media.
Darnall brought nearly a decade of coaching experience to Chico when he joined the ’Cats’ staff in 2017–18. The Lake Mills, Wisconsin native spent the 2016–17 campaign as an assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and from 2011–16 served as assistant coach and director of basketball operations at UC Davis. In addition to his coaching duties, Darnall handled all of the Aggies’ administrative responsibilities, including video and practice coordination, team travel, scouting, budgeting, schedule coordination, marketing, academic monitoring, community outreach, student-athlete development, and supervision of the program’s team managers and interns.
During Darnall’s tenure, UC Davis captured its inaugural Big West championship in 2015, and earned the program’s first Division I postseason appearance when the Aggies appeared in the National Invitation Tournament. UC Davis ended the season as national three-point champions, shooting a blistering .447 clip from behind the arc—the highest single-season three-point percentage since the three-point line was moved back in 2009.
Prior to his stint at UC Davis, Darnall served as a video coordinator at Bradley University (2010–11) and was an assistant coach at Peoria Christian High School for the 2009–10 season.
Darnall played collegiately at Eureka College in Illinois, where he led the Red Devils in scoring and shot 41.4 percent from three-point territory in 2007–08. He was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court for his achievements on the hardwood and in the classroom.
Darnall earned his undergraduate degree in sports management in 2009 and his master’s degree in sports management from Illinois State in 2011.
