Caldwell University
December 12, 2018
George R. Newman Center Basketball Court Dedicated to Head Coach Mark A. Corino
CALDWELL, N.J- Caldwell University officially dedicated the basketball court at the George R. Newman Center in honor of long-time assistant vice president/director of athletics and head men’s basketball coach Mark A. CorinoDec. 8 prior to the men’s game against Bloomfield College.
The ceremony began with a tribute video to Coach Corino that included photos from his 31 years as head coach and athletics director at Caldwell.
CACC Commissioner Dan Mara and Corino’s long-time conference colleague Sheila Wooten, director of athletics of Bloomfield College, honored the Caldwell coach.
Caldwell Mayor Ann Dassing and West Caldwell Mayor Joe Tempesta Jr. presented Coach Corino with proclamations from their respective towns, declaring December 8, 2018 as Mark A. Corino Day.
Caldwell University President Dr. Nancy Blattner thanked Corino for his commitment to Caldwell and on behalf of the Caldwell University Board of Trustees officially dedicated Mark A. Corino Court.
Corino took over as the Director of Athletics and added head coaching duties shortly into his tenure at then-Caldwell College in 1988 after coaching for five seasons at Bloomfield. Corino guided the Cougars to six CACC Championships during his 30 seasons, five NAIA Tournament Appearances and one NCAA Division II Tournament in 2007. He was selected as the CACC Coach of the Year four times and was inducted into the Caldwell Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.
Corino is among three college men’s basketball head coach with over 500 wins in the state of NJ and ranks second in the state with 563 (468 at Caldwell). Last season, he joined an elite club as he coached in his 1,000th game as a college head coach. He is the second active coach in the Division II East Region with 1,000 games coached and is among 28 active coaches in all divisions of the NCAA men’s basketball to have coached 1,000 games.
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 and 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 currently 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.
Corino has spearheaded the growth of the athletic department from three programs in 1988 to 16 programs by 2019-20 with the addition of men’s lacrosse. From 2011 and culminating in 2020, Caldwell will have added seven new sports under Corino’s leadership (women’s track and field, women’s lacrosse, men’s cross country and track and field, women’s bowling, sprint football and men’s lacrosse). Originally a NAIA member school, Caldwell made the transition to NCAA Division II beginning in 1998 and was completed 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.
Saturday’s dedication ceremony was covered by various local media outlets and the game was televised on FiOS 1.
FiOS 1 News Sports Clip:
The Progress video