Feb. 25, 2010
WACO, Texas - Mark Pryor, who spent the past two seasons as the head volleyball coach at Texas A&M-Commerce, has been hired as Baylor's assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, head volleyball coach Jim Barnes announced Tuesday.
"We are very happy to have Mark on our staff and in our volleyball family," Barnes said. "He has been a very successful coach and gotten great experience as a recruiter. Ultimately, being an alumnus of Baylor, he has a real passion for Baylor. I think that will really come across when he is trying to get the top student-athletes to come here. Mark relates to players really well, and I think he is just a really good Baylor fit."
A 10-year collegiate coaching veteran and 1995 Baylor graduate, Pryor started his collegiate career at the University of Louisiana-Monroe (1997-98) as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator, while earning his master's degree from the school. He then served as the head coach at North Central Texas College for one season (1998-99), before spending one season as a volunteer assistant at New Mexico State (1999) and one year with USA Volleyball (2001). Pryor spent two seasons (2001-02) as the head coach at Southwest Baptist and two seasons (2003-04) as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Boise State, before moving back to ULM as the head coach during the 2005 season. After getting out of collegiate coach for two years, Pryor came back to his most recent position as the head coach at TAMU-Commerce in 2008-09.
"This has always been a job that I have had an extreme interest in, getting a chance to work at my alma mater," Pryor said. "Baylor is not the average university, and that's what so exciting about this position. I think that the athletic department is in great shape right now, with so many programs that compete on a national level. Coach Barnes is someone I respect, and you can look at what he's been able to do here, especially this past year, it's unbelievably exciting to have this opportunity."
During his two seasons at Commerce, Pryor made an immediate impact, leading the program to the top half of the Lone Star Conference for the first time since 2002. The 2008 Lions finished the season 15-11 and seventh in the 14-team LSC with the conference Libero of the Year and four all-LSC selections. In 2009, Pryor took the program to new heights, leading the Lions to a 25-10 record and a fourth-place LSC finish. The 25 wins was the program's best season in 22 years, while the Lions had the conference Libero of the Year in Lauren Flynn for the second year in a row, and four more all-LSC selections. For his efforts, Pryor was named the 2009 LSC Coach of the Year, while also helping Flynn become the program's first-ever first team All-America. Pryor's student-athletes also excelled in the classroom, with Flynn earning all-academic LSC honors and six others earning LSC Commissioner's Honor Roll accolades.
While at Louisiana Monroe, Pryor built a .500 program and broke 11 school records, posted the school's first non-losing season in 19 years and recorded double-digit victories for the first time in 14 years. Pryor was named the 2005 Southland Conference Coach of the Year and recruited the 2005 and 2006 Louisiana Sports Writers Association Newcomer of the Year.
At Boise State, Pryor played an integral role in the improvement of the program on the court, while his recruiting efforts brought in two all-Western Athletic Conference selections as well as the first-ever Volleyball Magazine `Fab 50' recruit. On the court, Boise State went from last in the WAC to fourth within a two-year span.
While at Southwest Baptist, Pryor revitalized a program that experienced a 10-win improvement from the previous season and was ranked 12th in the nation in blocks per game. He was involved in the entire development of the program, including recruiting, training, fund raising, budget implementation, public relations, and marketing.
Prior to his start in collegiate coaching, Pryor spent one season as the head volleyball coach at Edward S. Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas, and one season at The Dunham School in Baton Rouge, La., earning District Coach of the Year honors at each stint.
A native of Coppell, Texas, Pryor graduated from Coppell High School before coming to Baylor. While at BU, he played on the men's club volleyball team. Pryor earned his masters degree in public relations/communication from Louisiana-Monroe. He and his wife, Amanda, have a seven-month old son, Myles.
Pryor replaces Bryan Bunn, who recently accepted the head coaching position at North Carolina State University, and will begin duties at Baylor on March 1.
