LMU men’s basketball and Head Coach Stan Johnson have announced the hiring of Mark Phelps as an assistant coach for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. Phelps is a longtime college basketball coach in various roles including leading the Drake Bulldogs for five seasons as head coach from 2008-2013. The 2025-26 will be the second season at LMU for Phelps.
“What an incredible honor it is to add Mark Phelps to our staff,” said Johnson. “Mark and I share a 15-year relationship in basketball. He’s been one of the biggest influences in my career. When I was at my lowest point in this business, he gave me an opportunity at Drake University many years ago to be his assistant. I know without a shadow of a doubt I wouldn’t be who I am without him. That’s exactly who Mark is. He’s a difference maker.”
In 2024-25, Phelps helped lead LMU to two separate win streaks of five games apiece. The Lions closed out non-conference play with five wins in a row and then, for the first time since 1991, won five consecutive wins in conference play. Johnson became the first head coach at LMU to have three winning seasons in a five-year span since Paul Westhead in 1990.
Following the season, Jevon Porter and Caleb Stone-Carrawell were named to the All-WCC Honorable Mention team. For the fourth consecutive, LMU men's basketball had two players selected to the West Coast Conference's All-Academic Team. Rick Issanza and Alex Merkviladze have been voted to the league's All-Academic team with Lamaj Lewis earning Honorable Mention recognition.
Phelps and Johnson worked together for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons at Drake. In their first season together, the pair tied for third in the Missouri Valley Conference and advanced to the second round of the Postseason CIT. This was the second Postseason CIT appearance for Phelps whose team also entered the tournament following his first season with the Bulldogs. His 77 victories were the most in Drake history by a coach in his first five years at the school, and his win in the first round of the 2012 CIT was the program’s first postseason win in nearly four decades.
“We’ve added a coach to our program that for many years has been widely known as one of the best assistant coaches and recruiters in all of college basketball,” added Johnson. “He’s worked at the highest levels of the game and has recruited and coached some of the nation's best players during his time at North Carolina State, Arizona State, Missouri, Marquette, and Arizona. Mark’s passion for the game, his experience as a head coach, and his ability to develop players is something that will unquestionably help our staff and players improve tremendously. It’s extremely rare that you have the opportunity to add someone of this magnitude to a program during this point of the season. We are truly grateful that Mark and his wife Alissa, and their two kids Owen and Laney decided to join us. I could not be more proud of the staff we have put together here at LMU. Today is a great day for our program.”
The Virginia Beach, Va., native possesses over 20 years of experience at the Division I level, He has made 15 postseason appearances as a college coach.
In his time in college basketball, Phelps has worked as the Director of Operations and Assistant Coach at North Carolina State University (1996-2006), Associate Head Coach at Arizona State University (2006-08), Assistant Coach at University of Missouri (2013-14), Assistant Coach at Marquette University (2014-15), and Assistant Coach at University of Arizona (2015-19).
Prior to joining the college coaching ranks, Phelps was a highly successful high school coach in his native Virginia. He led Rock Church Academy to a 104-41 record from 1990-94 and Atlantic Shores Christian School to a 44-12 mark from 1994-96.
Phelps and his wife, Alissa, have two children: a son, Owen, and a daughter, Laney.
