Caldwell to name Newman Center Floor for Mark A. Corino

CALDWELL, N.J.- Caldwell University will name the playing floor at the George R. Newman Center in honor of the assistant vice president/director of athletics and head men’s basketball coach, Mark A. Corino, who has led the men’s basketball program since its second season in 1988.

Mark A. Corino Court will be officially dedicated in a pre-game ceremony prior to Caldwell’s Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game against Bloomfield College on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 3 p.m.

“Mark Corino is truly deserving of having the basketball court at Caldwell University named in his honor,” said Caldwell President Nancy Blattner, Ph.D. “It has been a pleasure to partner with Mark as he has worked diligently to create and maintain an expectation of excellence for our student-athletes, our teams and our coaching staff.”

Corino, a Belleville native, received a bachelor’s from Kean University and a master’s in education from Caldwell.  He has coached basketball for 35 years at the collegiate level, five years at Bloomfield and 30 seasons at Caldwell.

“I am deeply grateful and truly humbled to have the Newman Center basketball court dedicated in my name,” said Corino “I would like to thank  the three university presidents that I have served under; Sister Vivien Jennings, Sister Patrice Werner, and Dr. Blattner, and all of those involved in supporting this great honor. I am looking forward to sharing this day with family, friends, and all of my former players and former athletes, all whom have contributed to the program’s success over my 31 years at Caldwell.”

Corino has made a lasting impact on the university and the Athletics Department in his three decades at Caldwell. He was awarded the Caldwell Cup in 1999 and received the Caldwell President’s Award in 2006. Corino was selected as the NAIA Region X in 1992 and 2000, CACC Administrator of the Year in 2000, the ECAC Administrator of the Year in 2010 and the CACC Athletic Director of the Year in 2017-18. He is president of the CACC Director’s Council, having been re-elected in 2018 for a two-year term, a position he has held four times. Most recently, he was honored with the Garden State Award by the Collegiate Athletic Administrators of New Jersey.

“This is a fitting honor for Mark Corino to commemorate his dedication to not only Caldwell Athletics but to the entire Caldwell Community,” said CACC Commissioner Dan Mara.  “I have known Mark for over 20 years and he is certainly one of the most dedicated coaches and athletic administrators in the country. Mark has been a leader on the conference, regional, and national levels and has helped to shape the CACC into the model conference it is today. I sincerely hope the students of Caldwell University will continue to benefit from his efforts for many years.”

Corino spearheaded the growth of the Athletic Department from three programs in 1988 to what will be 16 programs by 2019-20 with the addition of men’s lacrosse. From 2011 through 2020, Caldwell will have added seven new sports under Corino’s leadership (women’s track and field, women’s lacrosse, men’s cross country, men’s track and field, women’s bowling, sprint football and men’s lacrosse). Originally a NAIA member school, Caldwell began the transition to NCAA Division II in 1998 and finished in 2002 under Corino’s guidance. Also in 2002, the George R. Newman Center, Caldwell’s state-of-the-art indoor athletics facility, was completed following years of planning and fundraising.

In 2010, Caldwell University, West Caldwell and Essex County came together to fund the renovation of the Kiwanis Oval, an artificial turf facility used by multiple municipalities and Caldwell University. Corino has contracted agreements to lease the Essex Valley Field to host the women’s lacrosse team home contests; he has directed an agreement to lease a space for locker rooms, trainer rooms and office and meeting space at Provost Square, adjacent to the Kiwanis Oval, for the baseball and sprint football teams.

Corino began his college coaching career as the men’s basketball coach at Bloomfield College where he posted a 95-48 record from 1982-1987. He moved to Caldwell in the summer of 1987 as the athletics director and took over coaching the men’s basketball program in its second season. Corino guided the Cougars to eight CACC Championships during his 30 seasons, five NAIA tournament appearances and one NCAA Division II Tournament in 2007. He was named the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Coach of the Year in 1998. Corino was selected as the CACC Coach of the Year four times and was inducted into the Caldwell Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.

“I’ve known Mark for over 30 years and have seen his growth as a coach and administrator at Caldwell,” said Bloomfield College Athletic Director Sheila Wooten. “I am extremely proud of him and his accomplishments. His success as a coach and athletics director has been tremendous and he is deserving of this prestigious honor to have the court dedicated in his name.”

Corino is among three college men’s basketball head coaches in New Jersey with over 500 wins and ranks second in the state with 563 wins (468 at Caldwell). Last season, he joined an elite club coaching in his 1,000th game as a college head coach. He is the second active coach in the Division II East Region to reach 1,000 games coached and is among 28 active coaches in all divisions of NCAA men’s basketball to have coached 1,000 games.