Arkansas Tech University Men's Basketball

The Downey File Alma Mater, Year Univ. of Charleston (WV), 1995 Record at Arkansas Tech (Years) 147-111 (9 Seasons) Overall Record (Years) 313-217 (18 Seasons) Mark Downey enters into the sixth season of his second stint as head coach at Arkansas Tech and will be in his ninth season overall at Tech in 2025-26. Downey’s first stint saw him lead the Wonder Boys from 2006-07 to 2009-10. After guiding the Wonder Boys to their first winning season in five years with a 16-15 record and an appearance in the GAC Tournament Championship game in 2022-23, Downey elevated the program to another level in 2023-24 as he guided the team to a 25-7 overall record and an 18-4 mark in the Great American Conference. Lauded as the GAC Coach of the Year for the body of work in the breakout season, Downey also led the Wonder Boys to a share of the GAC Regular Season Championship and later an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament after winning the GAC Tournament Championship. The regular season title was the 22nd all-time for the Wonder Boys and the first since 2013-14 while the tournament crown was the fifth all-time and the first since 2014-15. Prior to the 2024-25 season, one of Downey's former players, Taelon Peter, was drafted 54th overall and in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers and later signed a two-way contract with the team. Peter previously played for Downey from 2021-22 through 2023-24. In that time, Peter scored over 1,300 points and was the GAC Player of the Year in 2024. In regards to Downey’s first time patrolling the sidelines at Tech, those four years were certainly memorable as he guided the Wonder Boys to a 77-43 mark overall with 53 of those victories coming in the final two seasons. The final season of Downey’s first stint with the Wonder Boys in 2009-10 was among the finest in program history as they won a school-record 30 games. That year, Arkansas Tech won its first 25 games of the season, attained a No. 1 national ranking for the first time in program history, captured the GSC West Division regular season and GSC Tournament championships and earned the right to host the 2010 NCAA Division II Tournament South Regional. Following that year, Downey returned home to his alma mater to become the head coach at the University of Charleston. He remained at Charleston for three seasons before moving on to become the head coach at the University of West Alabama for the 2013-14 season. At Charleston, Downey went 60-29 and advanced to the NCAA Atlantic Region Tournament in 2011-12.  After his one-year stint at West Alabama, where he went 17-11 overall and advanced his team to the NCAA South Region Tournament, Downey became an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level, serving as an assistant at Bowling Green State University (2014-15) and at Purdue University-Fort Wayne (2015-16 to 2017-18). After those four seasons as an assistant coach at the DI level, Downey returned to NCAA Division II as head coach at Northeastern State University in 2017. There, he orchestrated a turnaround similar to the one he had performed at Arkansas Tech where he inherited a Wonder Boys program that had accumulated a conference record of 9-39 the previous three years and within three years had them in the NCAA Division II Tournament after winning the 2009 GSC Tournament Championship. At Northeastern State, Downey inherited a RiverHawks program that had gone 28-81 the previous four seasons. By year two, Northeastern State was back in the postseason. During the 2019-20 campaign, Downey's third and final season in Tahlequah, the RiverHawks finished 18-11 overall and appeared in the quarterfinals of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Tournament. It marked just the third 18-win season in the last 15 years at Northeastern State. Mark Downey Coaching Career Year School Position Note(s) 2024-25 Arkansas Tech Head Coach * - 12-17 overall record and 9-13 record in GAC * - Advanced to the GAC Tournament * - Coached one All-GAC Player 2023-24 Arkansas Tech Head Coach * - 25-7 overall record and 18-4 record in GAC * - GAC Regular Season Championship * - Won GAC Tournament Championship * - GAC Coach of the Year * - Advanced to first NCAA Regional Tournament since 2016-17 * - Won his 300th career game vs. Northwestern Oklahoma (3/9/24) * - Coached GAC Player of the Year (Taelon Peter) * - Coached GAC Defensive Player of the Year (Josh Mitchell) * - Coached three All-GAC players * - Coached one All-Region player * - Coached one CSC Academic All-District player 2022-23 Arkansas Tech Head Coach * - 16-15 overall record and 12-10 record in GAC * - Advanced to GAC Tournament Championship Game as No. 5-seed * - Led program to first winning season since 2017-18 * - Coached one All-GAC player 2021-22 Arkansas Tech Head Coach * - 10-18 overall record and 7-15 record in GAC * - Coached one All-GAC player 2020-21 Arkansas Tech Head Coach * - 7-11 overall record and 5-10 record in GAC * - Coached GAC Freshman of the Year (Cejay Mann) 2019-20 Northeastern State Head Coach * - 18-11 overall record and 11-8 record in MIAA 2018-19 Northeastern State Head Coach * - 14-15 overall record and 8-11 record in MIAA 2017-18 Northeastern State Head Coach * - 8-20 overall record and 4-15 record in MIAA 2016-17 Fort Wayne Assistant Coach * - Helped team to a 20-13 overall record and 8-8 record in Summit  2015-16 Fort Wayne Assistant Coach * - Helped team to a 24-10 overall record and 12-4 record in Summit 2014-15 Bowling Green State Assistant Coach * - Helped team to a 21-12 overall record and 11-7 record in MAC 2013-14 West Alabama Head Coach * - 17-11 overall record and 14-6 record in GSC * - Advanced to NCAA South Regional Tournament 2012-13 Charleston (W.Va.) Head Coach * - 19-9 overall record and 14-8 record in WVIAC 2011-12 Charleston (W.Va.) Head Coach * - 26-7 overall record and 18-4 record in WVIAC * - Advanced to NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament * - Ranked as high as No. 17 * - Had a winning streak of 14 games 2010-11 Charleston (W.Va.) Head Coach * 15-13 overall record and 10-9 record in WVIAC 2009-10 Arkansas Tech Head Coach * - 30-2 overall record and 13-1 record in GSC West * - GSC West Division Regular Season Champions * - GSC Tournament Champions * - Hosted NCAA South Regional Tournament * - Ranked as high as No. 1 in nation (held top-ranking for seven weeks) * - Started season 25-0 * - GSC Coach of the Year * - Coached GSC Player of the Year (Brandon Friedel) 2008-09 Arkansas Tech Head Coach * - 23-9 overall record and 9-5 record in GSC West * - Ranked as high as No. 17 in nation * - GSC Tournament Champions * - Advanced to NCAA South Regional Tournament 2007-08 Arkansas Tech Head Coach * - 18-11 overall record and 8-6 record in GSC West 2006-07 Arkansas Tech Head Coach * - 6-21 overall record and 1-13 record in GSC West 2005-06 New Orleans Assistant Coach * - 10-19 overall record and 6-9 record in Sun Belt 2004-05 New Orleans Assistant Coach * - 13-17 overall record and 7-8 record in Sun Belt 2003-04 New Orleans Assistant Coach * - 17-14 overall record and 9-6 record in Sun Belt 2002-03 New Orleans Assistant Coach * - 15-14 overall record and 7-8 record in Sun Belt 2001-02 New Orleans Assistant Coach * - 15-14 overall record and 9-6 record in Sun Belt 2000-01 Independence CC Head Coach * - 25-8 overall record * - Advanced to NJCAA Region VI Tournament Finals 1999-00 Independence CC Head Coach * - 24-12 overall record * - Won NJCAA Region VI Tournament Championship 1998-99 Independence CC Assistant Coach * - 22-10 overall record 1997-98 Marshall Assistant Coach * - 11-16 overall record  1996-97 Marshall Assistant Coach * - 20-9 overall record 1995-96 Barton Assistant Coach * - 13-14 overall record 

Harrison Burton enters his first season as an assistant coach for the Wonder Boys basketball program. Burton comes to Arkansas Tech following a highly successful two-year stint as an assistant coach at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn. Before he was on staff at LMU as a full-time assistant, Burton had spent two years with the program as graduate assistant from 2019-20 – 2020-21. In those two seasons, Burton helped guide LMU to a 32-1 record in 2019-20 before COVID canceled the rest of that season and then an appearance in the NCAA DII Final Four the following year.   In his most-recent two years at LMU, Burton helped lead the Railsplitters to a pair of South Atlantic Conference (SAC) regular season championships. In those two seasons, Lincoln Memorial was 37-7 in conference play and 49-15 overall.   While on staff at LMU, Burton served as the program’s recruiting coordinator as well as the offensive coordinator. This past season, LMU’s offense ranked fifth in DII in overall field goal percentage (.513) and effective field goal percentage (.582). Additionally, the Railsplitters, who averaged 84.3 points per game, ranked 10th in free throws made per game (17.8), 25th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.40).   Prior to returning to LMU, Burton spent a season as an assistant at Lander University in Greenwood, S.C. While at Lander, Burton was the recruiting coordinator, oversaw team academics and assisted in offensive and defensive game prep. That year, Lander ranked first in the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) in assist-to-turnover ratio, three-pointers per game, scoring margin and overall defense. He also helped lead the Bearcats to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018-19.   Burton also has DI experience in his coaching career as he was the video coordinator at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana following his time as a GA at LMU.