 |  |
Mark Sundquist, the second-longest tenured coach in George Fox University men's basketball history, enters his 10th season as the Bruins' head coach after re-establishing the Bruins as one of the most competitive teams in the rugged Northwest Conference.
Sundquist was named to the George Fox post on August 1, 2001, replacing 18-year veteran Mark Vernon, the winningest coach in school history, after a national search that ended ironically in the Bruins' backyard! During the 1999-2000 season, he had served as the boys' basketball coach at Newberg High School, only eight blocks from George Fox, where he led a very young team that had only one returning player to a 5-18 record. Prior to that, he had spent two seasons as the boys' basketball coach at Woodburn (Ore.) High School.
With little time to recruit, Sundquist's 2001-02 team fashioned an 8-16 record against bigger, more talented opponents with a hustling brand of basketball and some incredible outside shooting, finishing second in the nation in three-point field goals per game (9.92). Still overmatched in size and skills in his second year, the Bruins went 5-20. While the team records the next two years were only 7-18, the improvement in the quality of play was obvious, signaling that it would not be long before all the pieces would fall into place for Sundquist and the Bruins.
The 2004-05 season was the culmination of Sundquist's rebuilding effort as the Bruins posted their best season in 14 years. With an 18-7 record, their first winning season in six years, the Bruins won the most games since the 1991-92 team went 24-11, and posted the best winning percentage (.720) since an .800 mark (24-6) in 1990-91. They were second in the conference at 13-3, their highest finish since joining the NWC in 1995, equaled their record for NWC wins, and had the best winning percentage (.813). George Fox led the league in attendance, averaging 1,145 per home game, and set a single-game crowd record with 2,400 for a Homecoming win over Whitworth on Feb. 5. Sundquist was named NWC Coach of the Year for the Bruins' incredible turnaround.
The success continued in 2005-06 as the Bruins went 16-9 record and finished fourth in the conference with at 9-7. Led by Second Team All-West Region guard Aaron Schmick, George Fox ranked third nationally in free throw percentage (.782), 15th in three-point field goal percentage (.407), 37th in scoring (81.1 ppg), and 38th in field goal percentage (.484). They led the NWC in three-point and free throw shooting and blocked shots per game (3.24).
Although their combined record the past three seasons has been only 29-46, the Bruins have remained a team that cannot be counted out of any game. In 2006-07, the Bruins scored a win over NAIA power Holy Names, a sweep of archrival Linfield, and a stunning upset of #13 Puget Sound in which the Bruins out-scored the Loggers 34-5 over the last 13 minutes of the game. In 2007-08, the Bruins posted another upset of Puget Sound, then ranked #7, with a one-point win on the road. Last year, the Bruins knocked off three NAIA teams, defeated NWC Tournament-bound Linfield, and ended a 12-game road losing streak to Willamette.
Sundquist takes a nine-year record at George Fox of 90-134 (.402) into the 2009-10 season. He is the third-winningest coach in Bruins history, trailing only Vernon's 318-218 record (1982-2000) and Lorin Miller's 99-72 (1970-76).
Born on Nov. 24, 1965, in St. Helens, Oregon, Sundquist grew up in Hillsboro, Oregon, where he attended Glencoe High School. He was recruited by George Fox but elected to attend Seattle Pacific University, his mother's alma mater, where he earned four letters from 1984-88, playing shooting guard for three seasons alongside point guard Ritchie McKay, ex-Oregon State University coach and now the head coach at the University of New Mexico.
Sundquist led the Falcons in free throw percentage as a junior (.818) and a senior (.817), with his career mark of .819 ranking 7th all-time at SPU. He was team captain and MVP as a senior, averaging 14.1 points a game while shooting a team-best .514 from the field and .482 from three-point range, a school record at the time. In an 83-78 overtime loss at Division I Stanford that season, he scored a career-high 33 points while setting new records, since broken, for three-pointers made (7) and attempted (12) in a game. He was named All-Great Northwest Conference and All-NCAA Division II District VIII as a senior.
Sundquist graduated in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in social sciences/secondary education. During his last year at SPU, he served as assistant women's basketball coach. After three years coaching in the junior high ranks, he spent the 1992-97 seasons as an assistant for the boys' basketball program at Glencoe before taking the Woodburn job.
Fulfilling one of his fondest dreams when he stepped into a college coaching role, Sundquist says, "The George Fox job is a great fit for me. I like the comfortable Christian atmosphere, in a good conference, with wonderful facilities."
Sundquist, 44, is married to the former Sara Thompson of Bellevue, Wash., and they have one son, Jake, age 12 1/2, and a daughter, Kaitlyn, age 9. The Sundquists attend Countryside Community Church in Sherwood.
Mark Sundquist's Coaching Record (2000-09)
Year School Overall Pct. Conf. Pct. Highlights
2000-01 George Fox 8-16 .333 5-11 .313 (8th)
2001-02 George Fox 5-20 .200 0-16 .000 (9th)
2002-03 George Fox 7-18 .280 1-15 .063 (9th)
2003-04 George Fox 7-18 .280 3-13 .188 (7th T)
2004-05 George Fox 18-7 .720 13-3 .813 (2nd)
2005-06 George Fox 16-9 .640 9-7 .563 (4th)
2006-07 George Fox 12-13 .480 7-9 .437 (5th)
2007-08 George Fox 9-16 .360 5-11 .313 (8th)
2008-09 George Fox 8-17 .320 4-12 .250 (7th T)
GFU Totals - 9 yrs 90-134 .402 47-97 .326
Honors
2004-05 - Northwest Conference Coach of the Year
Sundquist vs. All Opponents
Team Overall Home Road Neutral
Alvernia College 1-0 - - 1-0
California Lutheran University 0-2 - - 0-2
California-Santa Cruz, University of 1-0 - - 1-0
Cascade College 3-1 2-0 1-1 -
Chapman University 2-0 - 1-0 1-0
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges 1-1 1-0 - 0-1
Clarkson University 0-1 - - 0-1
Colorado College 1-0 - 1-0 -
Concordia University-Irvine 0-1 - - 0-1
Concordia University-Portland 2-4 1-2 1-2 -
Corban College (Western Baptist) 5-2 4-0 1-2 -
Dominican University (Ill.) 1-0 - - 1-0
Heidelberg College 1-0 - - 1-0
Holy Names University 1-1 1-1 - -
La Verne, University of 0-1 - - 0-1
Lewis & Clark College 4-14 3-6 1-8 -
Linfield College 7-12 5-4 2-7 0-1
McMurry University 0-1 - - 0-1
Multnomah Bible College 4-0 1-0 2-0 1-0
New York-Utica/Rome, State University of 1-0 - - 1-0
Northwest University (Wash.) 4-9 2-4 2-5 -
Northwest Christian University 8-1 4-0 2-1 2-0
Oregon Institute of Technology 0-1 - - 0-1
Pacific University (Ore.) 6-12 3-6 3-6 -
Pacific Lutheran University 8-10 4-5 4-5 -
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges 0-1 - 0-1 -
Puget Sound, University of 3-15 2-7 1-8 -
Puget Sound Christian College 1-0 - 1-0 -
Ramapo College 1-0 - - 1-0
St. Martin's College 0-2 - 0-2 -
Walla Walla University 1-1 1-0 0-1 -
Warner Pacific College 2-2 1-1 1-1 -
Wartburg College 0-1 - - 0-1
Westminster College-Salt Lake City 0-1 - - 0-1
Whitman College 10-8 7-2 3-6 -
Whittier College 2-0 - 1-0 1-0
Whitworth University 5-13 3-6 2-7 -
Willamette University 4-14 3-6 1-8 -
Wisconsin-Platteville, University of 0-1 - - 0-1
York College (N.Y.) 0-1 - - 0-1
Totals (9 yrs) 90-134 48-51 31-70 11-13
(.402)
(.485)
(.307) (.458)
