Marshall Takes Over as Women's Basketball Coach

NEW KENSINGTON, Pa.— Penn State New Kensington has hired Rich Marshall as its new women's basketball coach as announced by director of athletics Megan Bratkovich.

Marshall has over 25 years of experience coaching at both the high school and collegiate levels. He made a few stops through the assistant ranks at Arizona State, Florida Southern, and William Paterson before landing his first collegiate head coaching position at Caldwell College, now Caldwell University.

At Caldwell, Marshall built the first men's program when the school went co-educational, winning 14 games during the first season. Throughout Marshall's five-year men's coaching streak at Thiel College, his teams established the program record for the most wins in a season and won the first outright conference champion in the college's 80-year history of the men's basketball program. Marshall said he is proud to have been selected to 'Who's Who Among America's Educators', Collegiate Edition, based upon the recommendation of former Thiel College student-athletes. 

"As I coach, I value the opportunity to have a positive impact on the lives of student-athletes," said Marshall. "Coaching provides the opportunity to teach 'life' lessons, as well as the game of basketball."

He added that the opportunity to earn a Penn State degree will be the major point of emphasis in his recruitment of student-athletes for the New Kensington women's basketball program. The new head coach isn't jumping into the season without goals though.

"Our goals are to continue to improve, individually and collectively, every day and represent the University to the best of our ability in intercollegiate competition," said Marshall. "This season is the beginning of establishing and maintaining a competitive women's basketball team at PSNK."

Marshall expressed gratitude towards Bratkovich for the offer to join her athletic staff at New Kensington and is proud of the young women who have made the commitment to play in the women's basketball program this season.

"Rich has a tough task ahead of him, jumping into things late in the game, but he has shown great commitment to building the women's program here at New Kensington," said Bratkovich.  "His enthusiasm and determination, along with his vast coaching experience, will help to build a solid foundation for the future of the program."

Marshall holds master's degree in parks, recreation and tourism management from Clemson University and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Marquette University.

Written by Janet Surma