LMU Men’s Basketball Head Coach Stan Johnson has announced the hiring of David Marek as the program’s newest assistant coach ahead of the 2022-23 season, with the 2023-24 season being his second with the Lions.
In Marek's first season at LMU, the Lions beat Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, and BYU all in the same season, with two of those wins coming with the Zags and Gaels holding top-15 rankings. The Lions earned the highest ranked win in program history on Jan. 19, 2023, by defeating the sixth-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs in Spokane and ending GU's 75-game home win streak, run of 93 straight wins over unranked teams, and 25 consecutive wins over the Lions. The Lions beat their second nationally ranked team on Feb. 9, 2023, as LMU defended home court and beat 15th-ranked Saint Mary's at Gersten Pavilion becoming the first LMU basketball team with multiple wins over top-15 programs and multiple wins over ranked teams for the first time in over a decade. In total, LMU beat four NCAA Tournament teams in 2022-23, with LMU defeating both Nevada and Grand Canyon in consecutive games in the non-conference. The Lions also won the Jamaica Classic in November of 2022 with wins over Georgetown and Wake Forest in Montego Bay.
LMU won 19 games in Marek’s first year, the third-most since 1990. By the numbers, 2022-23 saw achievements that few LMU team had done in over three decades. The Lions won 10 non-conference games for just the third time since 1988 and won nine WCC contests for the second time since 1991. The success in conference play resulted in a fourth-place finish and LMU's first double-bye into the WCC Tournament in 11 seasons.
Cam Shelton was named to the All-WCC First Team after leading the WCC in overall scoring at 21.23 ppg and scoring in conference games at 23.31 ppg. Shelton had the most 30-point games in the WCC in 2022-23 and became the first LMU player since Terrell Lowery in 1992 to score 40-points in a game. Shelton was WCC Player of the Week three times, named as a Lou Henson Award National Player of the Year finalist, and was named the Lou Henson Award National Player of the Week after leading LMU to the win over Gonzaga in Spokane.
Keli Leaupepe was named to the WCC Honorable Mention Team, and both of LMU’s captains, Shelton and Leaupepe, were named to the WCC All-Academic Team. The Lions set another new program-record team GPA in Winter of 2022 and had four players make the Dean's List that semester.
Marek spent the previous six seasons at Weber State. He joined the Wildcats in 2016 and has grown into a top recruiter in his role as assistant coach.
Prior to Weber State, Marek worked on the staff at Utah State as the Director of Player Development and Video Coordinator.
Prior to joining the Aggies, Marek was a graduate assistant at Idaho State. He spent two seasons with the Bengals as video coordinator and graduate assistant and assisted with academic responsibilities.
Marek is a native of Benesov, Czech Republic and played college basketball at Southern Utah. He played four years with the Thunderbirds and ranks in the top 10 in several categories. He still holds SUU’s single-game 3-point percentage record, shooting 7-of-7 from 3-point land in one game. He also ranks sixth in SUU career 3-pointer percentage.
Following his college playing career, Marek played professionally for three seasons in Spain, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He was a member of the Czech Republic National Team from 2008-10 and participated in the NBA Basketball Without Borders program.
He graduated from Southern Utah in 2009 and earned his master’s degree in Athletic Administration from Idaho State in 2014.
COACHING EXPERIENCE:
2022-Present – LMU as an Assistant Coach
2016-22 – Weber State as an Assistant Coach
2015-16 – Utah State as Director of Player Development
2014-15 – Utah State as Video Coordinator
2012-14 – Idaho State as Graduate Assistant
