University of Charleston Men's Basketball

Charleston native, James Long is in his second season as the head coach of the University of Charleston men's basketball program. In his first season at UC, they brought in a great class to start build the foundation on. With only one transferring (Freshman of the Year, Ja'Corey Lipkins to Fort Wayne), the future is bright for the Golden Eagles.  Long spent the 2023-2024 season as the Head Boys Basketball Coach at Davidson Day School (Davidson, NC) where he helped lead the team to a 24-7 record. Long was able to drastically improve the squads win percentage from 22% to 77% as well as going on to win the State Championship in the NCISAA 2A Division.   Long spent a three-year stint at West Virginia University Tech as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach. During his time at WVU Tech, Long held a career record of 62-21 (75% win percentage). Long took the team to the NAIA National Tournament all three years and was named the River States Conference Coach of the Year in the 2019-2020 season.   Long is the former head coach of Best Virginia, a team that competes in The Basketball Tournament. Since taking over in June of 2021, Long posted a 6-3 record along with winning the West Virginia Regional in the team’s last appearance.   Long began his career as the video coordinator for West Virginia University men’s basketball from 2017-2019.   Long is a WVU graduate and was member of the men’s basketball team where he played under Bob Huggins. Long amassed multiple accolades during his time at WVU including First-Team Academic All-Big 12, the Mountaineer man award, a member of the Dean’s List, the Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll, the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll and was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.   Long earned both his master’s degree in sports management and bachelor’s degree in finance from WVU.

Payton Sturm enters his second year with the University of Charleston as Assistant Coach. He is the director of player development and recruiting as well as being the team’s offensive coordinator.   Prior to joining the University of Charleston, Sturm was an Assistant Coach at West Virginia University Institute of Technology for five years. He played a pivotal role in leading the team to three NAIA National Tournament appearances in five seasons and securing two River States Conference Championships. As the offensive coordinator and Director of Recruiting, he was instrumental in shaping the team's offensive strategies and securing top talent. His responsibilities also extended to being in charge of all basketball operations and scheduling, directing the strength and conditioning program, and managing the team's digital media and social media presence. As offensive coordinator, the WVU Tech offense was one of the most prolific in the country in the 2023-24 season. The Golden Bears finished top 5 in the country in three point percentage and top 10 in overall field goal percentage. Sturm has also worked to develop seven different all-conference players during his tenure. Sturm’s coaching experience includes serving as an Assistant Coach for the Best Virginia TBT Team for two summers where the team advanced to the Elite 8 in The Basketball Tournament in 2022. He also served as the Associate Head Coach for the Wildcats Select 17u Adidas AAU Team, co-leading the team on the Adidas 3SSB circuit. Originally from Parkersburg, WV, Sturm’s coaching journey began as a Graduate Assistant at West Virginia University for one year in 2018-19 following four years as a student manager for the WVU men’s basketball program from 2014-18. While at WVU, he directed their summer basketball camps, coordinating large-scale camps and creating positive environments for youth development. He graduated from WVU with his bachelor’s degree in Athletic Coaching Education and his master’s degree in Sport and Coaching Education.

Cal Davis is entering his second season as an Assistant Coach for the University of Charleston. Prior to joining the University of Charleston, Davis was a Graduate Assistant for George Washington Men’s Basketball for two years. He was responsible for assisting in all aspects of scout preparation and basketball operations. In addition to this, he worked to develop players including one A10 all-conference team winner and two A10 all-rookie team winners. Receiving a Master’s degree in Data Analytics, he also handled any database creation and management as well as any data-related projects as assigned. Davis began working in basketball as a student-manager for WVU Men’s Basketball from 2018-2022. He assisted in facilitating practice and game operations, planning and working events including camps and socials, as well as collecting and managing basketball performance data. He graduated WVU summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and a minor in Mathematics.

Cameron Marks enters his first year as a member of the University of Charleston Men’s Basketball staff. Marks spent 5 years as a player at UC and now transitions into a coaching role. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Sport Business and a master’s degree from our MBA program.