Xavier hires Chris Mack

Eight days after Sean Miller vacated the position to head to the University of Arizona, Xavier University settled their search for a new head men's basketball coach with an in-house hire. Former assistant coach Chris Mack will move one seat down the bench to take over the head role.Mack, a 1992 Xavier graduate, has spent the last five seasons as Miller’s top assistant, and had been drawing interest in the past few years from a number of programs as a head coaching candidate.
While the biggest question surrounding Mack will be his lack of previous collegiate head coaching experience, his résumé is not devoid of accomplishments.
After serving as head coach at Mt. Notre Dame High School from 1995-1999, where he was named Cincinnati Post Coach of the Year in 1996, Mack moved on to three years as Xavier’s Director of Basketball Operations. From there he joined the coaching staff of his former head coach Skip Prosser at Wake Forest for three seasons, before returning to Xavier as the top assistant for Miller in 2004.
Over those five seasons Mack has proven himself to be a capable recruiter, heading Xavier’s fruitful efforts to sign Jamel McLean, Kenny Frease, Brad Redford and Brian Walsh.
As a result, many of those players—including Frease and Dante Jackson publicly—have thrown their support behind Mack in the time period between Miller’s departure and Mack’s hiring.
With the stability of the current Xavier team intact, Mack can immediately focus on bringing in future contributors to the Xavier program.
Mack has already been in touch with 2010 Xavier recruits J.D. Weatherspoon and Adrein Payne, AAU teammates for the Ohio Basketball Club. If Mack is able to add top-flight recruiters to his coaching staff—such Akron associate head coach Jeff Boals, who not only has a strong rapport with Mack, but with many Ohio prospects such as Weatherspoon and Payne—he will be able to remain on course with the talent level of the program.