Mark: I LOVE THE ROUNDHOUSE!!! Koch Arena and UD Arena are my two favorite venues in college basketball. What has your experiences been like in Charles Koch Arena? That meant more time for you in good ol’ Wichita, a city I hold near and dear to my heart. As our program continued to get better and better, Wichita State’s exposure on ESPN has grown significantly. That’s what so many fans have already come to expect from you. It was and is an Adams Team effort!Įddy: It’s great to already see your excitement shining through in this Q&A. I knew I could do it but without the unwavering support of my wife and family I would have never made it. Maybe it does for others but I’m a grinder and I am persistent, but not patient. It took a long time but I never gave up or lost faith. It took me 18 years before that dream was realized in 2014 when American Sports Network made me their Lead National College Basketball Analyst and ESPN and I have continued our relationship as well.
From their ESPN saw my work and the rest is history.ĭuring this entire time my goal was to broadcast full time. Then the A-10 Network saw my work and I joined that network. The show was a huge hit in the local market and suddenly I started broadcasting Dayton games on local TV. That opportunity and the coaches, players and fans at UD changed my life. Because of his recommendation out of the blue I was offered the opportunity to host a local post game call-in show for the Dayton Flyers. During that time in summer 1997, Oliver Purnell was the head coach at Dayton and he knew I lived very close by.
I spent an entire year away from the game and concentrated on being a great sales professional for a manufacturing company in Ohio.
I never looked back and moved to Springboro, OH to pursue a business career. It was an easy decision and I committed myself to building a new life not as a basketball coach but to use my talents in another way. Mark Adams: When I was fired in 1996 I decided it was time to focus on rebuilding my life as a father as I had focused on rebuilding college basketball programs. After you left coaching, at what point did you decide that’s what you wanted to do with your career? Do you miss coaching? You have been a college basketball analyst with ESPN since 1999. This season you’ll be hearing him call games with Mitch Holtus.Įddy: First of all Mark, let me say it’s an honor to have you be a part of this small time operation of a blog. He has also done in studio appearances and NBA Summer League broadcast. In his final season with those three teams, the combined records were 59-32 (.648).Īs a college basketball analyst with the American Sports Network and ESPN, Adams has called some of the most significant games in college basketball including Wichita State’s march to an undefeated season and Gonzaga’s first #1 national ranking in 2013. In three teams he took over, those teams were a combined 28-54 (.341). He built a reputation for rebuilding teams. In those 17 years, Adams spent time as the head coach at Central Connecticut State, Rocky Mountains College and Western Oregon State University, an assistant head coach at Idaho State as well as an assistant coach at Washington State University. Having broadcast college basketball games for twenty years, Mark Adams started off his career coaching basketball. He is the guy whose excitement has been sticking out during his commentary in this golden era of the Shockers basketball. Some people call him the “Voice of the Mid-Majors”. If you’ve been watching the Shocker games on TV, there’s one voice you may be familiar with that voice belongs to Mark Adams. Wichita State basketball is essentially here now.