Verdi Adds Marcum to Pitt Coaching Staff

PITTSBURGH – Head coach Tory Verdi announced the addition of assistant coach John Marcum to the University of Pittsburgh women's basketball coaching staff Friday morning. Marcum joins the staff with 18+ years collegiate coaching experience with stops at Chipola College, Syracuse, Butler, Grand Canyon, East Carolina, Indiana State, Cal Baptist, and Oklahoma Baptist.

"I very excited about the addition of John Marcum to our staff," said Verdi. "He will take over as Defensive Coordinator, while being hands on in every aspect of the program. John brings a wealth of basketball knowledge and a ton of recruiting experience at this level. As recruiting coordinator at Syracuse, he helped secure two Top 10 recruiting classes. His experience on the court and in the recruiting space will be terrific assets for our program here at Pitt."

Marcum spent last season as the head coach at Chipola College leading the team to 24-8 record and an FCSAA Region VIII Tournament second round appearance.

Prior to his stint at Chipola College, he served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Syracuse. Marcum signed two top ten recruiting classes composed of multiple McDonald's All-Americans, including Kamilla Cardoso, the top-ranked center and No. 5 overall player in the Class of 2020. In the 2020-21 season, Cardoso won multiple Atlantic Coast Conference awards including Freshman of the Year and Co-Defensive Player of the Year. She was also named a member of the All-Freshman Team, All-Defensive Team, and All-ACC First Team. Emily Engstler earned ACC Sixth Player of the Year honors as one of the top players off the bench in the country averaging 10.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game and the Orange led the ACC in blocks per game (7.0).

In his second season with the Orange, Marcum worked with Alaysia Styles, Syracuse's lone post player, a guard who played the entire season out of position due to limited personnel. Under Marcum's guidance, Styles posted the best numbers of her career averaging 10.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Styles scored in double figures in 18 of Syracuse's 29 games and recorded a career-high 21 points shooting 5-for-9 from the field and a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line in a road win against Pitt on Feb. 13.

From 2017-2020, Marcum was the top assistant for the Butler women's basketball team. After finishing 6-25 in the season prior to Marcum's arrival, the Bulldogs improved by nine wins in his first season and posted their first 20-win season since 2010-11 in year two. Overall, the Bulldogs were 57-38 in his three seasons in Indianapolis.

Although he spent just one season (2016-17) at Grand Canyon before moving on to the Big East Conference, Marcum helped the Lopes to a 15-12 record. He also made an immediate impact on the Lopes' roster by signing and bringing First Team All-Conference selection Mariana Laramie to Phoenix.

Marcum served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Indiana State for one year (2012-13) before taking on the role of associate head coach at East Carolina (2013-2016). The Pirates went 57-39 during that span with the team winning 22 games in each of his first two seasons. He helped bring in the second-best class in the American Conference for the 2014-15 season and signed a top-50 recruiting class in 2015.

Marcum's first head coaching job was at NCAA Division II school, California Baptist, where he led the Lancers to a 47-12 record in two seasons (2010-12). Cal Baptist won their first conference championship in program history and made their first national tournament appearance since 1982 during Marcum's tenure.

After beginning his coaching career in 2002 as a men's basketball assistant coach at his alma mater, Oklahoma Baptist, Marcum transitioned to the women's basketball game in 2007 and spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma Baptist.

Marcum also served one season as an assistant coach under Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the Oklahoma Storm of the former United States Basketball League, leading the Storm to the 2002 USBL Championship.

Marcum played collegiate baseball and graduated from Oklahoma Baptist in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in secondary education. He was a member of OBU's NAIA World Series team in 1996 and served as the President of OBU's Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter. He earned his master's in secondary education with a concentration in physical education in 2003 from East Central University.

John Marcum Coaching History

2020-2022 Syracuse – Asst. Women's Basketball Coach/Recruiting Coordinator

2017-2020 Butler – Asst. Women's Basketball Coach

2016-2017 Grand Canyon – Asst. Women's Basketball Coach

2013-2016 East Carolina – Assoc. Head Women's Basketball Coach

2012-2013 Indiana State – Asst. Women's Basketball Coach/Recruiting Coordinator

2010-2012 Cal Baptist (NCAA D2) - Head Women's Basketball Coach

2007-2010 Oklahoma Baptist (NAIA) – Asst. Women's Basketball Coach

2002-2006 Oklahoma Baptist (NAIA) – Asst. Men's Basketball Coach

2002 Oklahoma Storm (USBL) – Asst. Men's Basketball Coach