Mark Gottfried
	Position: Head Coach Experience: 2nd season at NCSU Alma Mater: Alabama '87

Follow @Mark_Gottfried

In just one season, NC State head coach Mark Gottfried propelled the Wolfpack basketball program back into the national spotlight.

Under his direction, 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 18 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 his first ACC campaign, Gottfried guided NC State to nine conference victories and a tie for fourth in the league standings. The league win total were the most 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.

This past season, Gottfried earned his 300th career win with the Pack's 67-64 win over Virginia in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. In 15 collegiate seasons, his career record stands at 302 -168.

Gottfried, 48, 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 (1999-09), 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.

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. Gottfried coached under Jim Harrick, and was an assistant along with current 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 three-point field goals in a single game (8), and is the school's all-time leader in three-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 longtime college football coach and served as an ESPN college football analyst. Gottfried and his wife, Elizabeth, have five children: Brandon, Mary Layson, Cameron, Aaron and Dillion.