Mark Slonaker College coach
Mark Slonaker (born February 14, 1957) is an American college basketball coach. He is the former head men's basketball coach at Mercer University. He was the 2002–03 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year after leading Mercer to the best one season turnaround in NCAA history, improving from 6–23 to 23–6. The team won the Atlantic Sun regular season championship with a 14–2 conference record and made school history for number of wins (23); Mercer won 22 games in 1923–24 and 1984–85. The season ended with a loss in the Atlantic Sun tournament. Slonaker was the first National Coach of the Year to receive the award after it was named in honor of Jim Phelan. Slonaker's contract was not renewed after the 2007–08 season.Slonaker grew up in Rahway, New Jersey, where he attended Rahway High School. He was a three-year Letterman at the University of Georgia under Hugh Durham from 1976-1979. He was named co-captain during his senior year. He graduated with a B.A. in Education before attending Georgia State University where he earned a Masters in Sports Administration. Since 2009, Slonaker has served as the radio color commentator for the Georgia Bulldogs Men's Basketball team.