Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- ddwinter@ncsu.edu
- Phone:
- (919) 515-3134
After a pair of Sweet 16 runs and four NCAA appearances in his first five seasons, Mark Gottfried enters the 2016-17 season having elevated the Wolfpack basketball program back to national prominence.
Through his first four seasons at NCSU, Gottfried posted a 92-52 record and became just the third coach in the history of the ACC to take his school to the Big Dance in each of his first four seasons. Only legendary coach Everett Case has won more games in his first four seasons at NC State. Additionally, the 92 victories was the most for the Wolfpack over a four-year span since 1972-76.
PHOTO ESSAY: Reimagining Wolfpack Basketball
LEADER OF THE PACK
After a historic four-year run from 2011-15, the Pack won 16 games in 2015-16, highlighted by wins over three ranked teams. The Pack defeated LSU and Pittsburgh away from home and trounced No. 13 Miami at PNC Arena. Gottfried also coached some players to standout performances. Cat Barber was voted first team All-ACC and NABC All-District while freshman Maverick Rowan was named Academic All-ACC.
The 2014-15 season was a historic one for Gottfried and the Pack. The team defeated LSU and No. 1 seed Villanova to earn a Sweet 16 berth. During the regular season, Gottfried coached State to an 87-75 win over No. 2 and then-unbeaten Duke in addition to road wins at Louisville and UNC-Chapel Hill. After the Wolfpack defeated Syracuse in March 2015, Gottfried had become the only coach in the nation that season to defeat four current coaches who are members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Leading up to the 2013-14 season, Gottfried's young Wolfpack squad was picked to finish 10th in the ACC. Expectations were low. Gottfried and his staff stayed positive with the young team as it grew. The end result was 22 wins and a trip to the 2014 NCAA Tournament. NC State defeated Xavier in the first round of the tournament, capping a brilliant late-season run that featured March wins over Pittsburgh and 11th-ranked Syracuse. Under Gottfried's tutelage, T.J. Warren was the 2014 ACC Player of the Year and was third in the nation in scoring.
In 2012-13, Gottfried's second season, the Wolfpack went 24-11 and spent much of the season in the national rankings. The success brought ESPN College Gameday to NC State, where NCSU captured a 91-83 win over North Carolina. That win came two weeks after NC State had taken down top-ranked Duke 84-76. The 2012-13 season marked the first time NC State had defeated UNC and Duke in the same season since 2007.
In his first season in Raleigh, the Pack earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2006 and made its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2005. For Gottfried, this was not unfamiliar territory as he has now made 19 trips to the Big Dance as either a player or coach. He became only the second coach in ACC history to lead his team to a pair of NCAA Tournament victories in his initial season and he was one of seven first-year coaches in 68-team tournament field.
Gottfried became the third Wolfpack coach to direct his team to the NCAA Tournament in his first season, joining Press Maravich (1965) and Les Robinson (1991) to accomplish the feat. His 24 wins and .667 winning percentage were the best for first-year head coaches in the ACC and one of the best nationally.
Gottfried's first-year win total win total was only second to legendary Everett Case (26) for triumphs by a first-year Wolfpack mentor, and the 24 wins were the most for the Pack since 1988. In 2012 ACC play, Gottfried guided NC State to nine conference victories, the most for NC State since 2005-06. At the conclusion of the season, the Pack was ranked 20th in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The last time NC State was ranked in the final poll was following the 2003-04 season. It marked the fourth time that a Gottfried-coached team has finished ranked in the final poll.
Gottfried earned his 300th career win with the Pack's 67-64 win over Virginia in the 2012 ACC Tournament quarterfinal. As of 2015, Gottfried has posted a career record of 370-207 over 18 seasons as a head coach.
A SUCCESSFUL RUN AT HIS ALMA MATER AND IN TV
Gottfried came to NC State after serving as an ESPN basketball analyst for two seasons. One of America's most respected coaches, he brought a wealth of experience and achievement to the Wolfpack position. He spent 11 seasons as head coach at Alabama (1998-09), compiling a record of 210-131 with five NCAA Tournament and three NIT appearances. He led Alabama to three top 25 final rankings, including one top 10 ranking. He led the Tide to the SEC regular season championship in his fourth season, also the first of five straight trips to the NCAA Tournament.
For his efforts, Gottfried was named the 2002 SEC Coach of the Year. Gottfried's 2002-03 squad became the first in Alabama history to be ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, as the team held the ranking for two weeks. The program achieved another first during the 2003-04 season, as Alabama upset top-ranked and top-seeded Stanford in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and then defeated reigning national champion Syracuse to advance to the school's first Elite Eight appearance.
WON BIG IN THE '90s AT MURRAY STATE
Gottfried served as head coach at Murray State for three seasons, compiling a 68-24 overall record and 40-12 mark in conference play. In his first season with the Racers, Gottfried's squad advanced to the 1996 NIT, then made the NCAA Tournament in both 1997 and 1998. He coached Murray State to Ohio Valley Conference championships in each of his three seasons as head coach, becoming the first head coach to win three OVC titles in only three seasons. In his last season, the Racers finished 25th in the final AP poll with a 29-4 record.
Prior to his stint at Murray State, Gottfried spent eight years as an assistant at UCLA (1988-95) and was on the staff when the Bruins won the 1995 national championship. With Gottfried on staff, the Bruins made seven straight NCAA appearances and won a pair of Pac-10 titles. Gottfried coached under Jim Harrick and was an assistant along with former UCLA and St. John's head coach Steve Lavin and current Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar.
He started his collegiate playing career at Oral Roberts, where he was a freshman All-American during his one season (1983) with the Golden Eagles. Gottfried transferred to Alabama, where he started 98 consecutive games and helped the Crimson Tide advance to the Sweet Sixteen in all three seasons he played. He holds the school record for most 3-point field goals in a single game (8), and is the school's all-time leader in 3-point field goal percentage (.485).
Gottfried earned a B.A. in communications from Alabama in 1987. He won both the school's Hayden Riley Top Scholar Award and the Bryant Award as the school's top scholar-athlete during his senior year. A seventh-round draft pick of the Detroit Pistons in the 1987 NBA Draft, Gottfried toured internationally with Athletes in Action as a player in 1987-88 and later returned in 1989 to coach a summer tour in Poland and Germany.
Gottfried is the son of Joe and Mary Gottfried. Joe is the former Director of Athletics at South Alabama before retiring in 2009 after 25 years. His uncle, Mike Gottfried, was a long-time college football coach and served as an ESPN college football analyst. Gottfried is the father of five children: Brandon, Mary Layson, Cameron, Aaron and Dillon.
MARK GOTTFRIED'S HEAD COACHING RECORD
| Year | School | Record | Conference Record | Postseason |
| 1995-96 | Murray St. | 19-10 | 12-4 | NIT 1st Rd |
| 1996-97 | Murray St. | 20-10 | 12-6 | NCAA 1st Rd |
| 1997-98 | Murray St. | 29-4 | 16-2 | NCAA 1st Rd |
| 1998-99 | Alabama | 17-15 | 7-11 | NIT 1st Rd |
| 1999-00 | Alabama | 13-16 | 6-10 | ---- |
| 2000-01 | Alabama | 25-11 | 8-8 | NIT Semifinal |
| 2001-02 | Alabama | 27-8 | 12-4 | NCAA 2nd Rd |
| 2002-03 | Alabama | 17-12 | 7-9 | NCAA 1st Rd |
| 2003-04 | Alabama | 20-13 | 8-8 | NCAA Elite 8 |
| 2004-05 | Alabama | 24-8 | 12-4 | NCAA 1st Rd |
| 2005-06 | Alabama | 18-13 | 10-6 | NCAA 2nd Rd |
| 2006-07 | Alabama | 20-12 | 7-9 | NIT 1st Rd |
| 2007-08 | Alabama | 17-16 | 5-11 | ---- |
| 2008-09 | Alabama | 12-7 | 2-3 | ---- |
| 2011-12 | NC State | 24-13 | 9-7 | NCAA Sweet 16 |
| 2012-13 | NC State | 24-11 | 11-7 | NCAA 1st Rd |
| 2013-14 | NC State | 22-14 | 9-9 | NCAA 2nd Rd |
| 2014-15 | NC State | 22-14 | 10-8 | NCAA Sweet 16 |
| 2015-16 | NC State | 16-17 | 5-13 | ---- |
| TOTAL | 19 Yrs. | 386-224 | 168-139 |
