Marcus Stewart is the new Sinclair Community College women’s basketball coach.
The conversation that Stewart had with himself after he hung up the phone with the athletic director and fellow member of the men’s coaching staff, Jeff Price, was along the lines of, “Is this really happening? Heck yeah.”
Stewart is familiar with the program, because he has been the assistant coach for the previous two seasons.
Price said his confidence in Stewart stems directly from working with him in the men’s basketball program for the previous five seasons.
Stewart said that he plans on following the model set forth by the men’s program to move the women’s game forward.
“I want us to have a local flavor, bring kids in from the city league and establish a reputation as a program that works hard, plays hard and helps athletes move to the next level,” Stewart said. “We want the ‘937’ [area code] to be represented at nationals.”
According to Stewart, when you lose the fun, the game becomes work. Because of this philosophy, he uses a ‘smile and have fun’ approach to coaching.
Stewart said his kids help him keep a balance between competition and fun.
After a successful high school playing career, Stewart was recruited to play for Brown Mackie College in Salina, Kan.
As the eighth man on the depth chart as a freshman, Stewart said he spent a great deal of time sitting next to the coach. He took this opportunity to learn coaching techniques — he asked and was allowed to sit in on the coaches meetings.
After finishing his sophomore season, Stewart transferred to Missouri Baptist University. After an injury, he endured a red shirt senior season by coaching the junior varsity team. It was at this stage that he realized that coaching was in his future.
As the head coach, Stewart expects to preach hard work because that’s the kind of player he was.
According to him, he wakes early before his kids, takes a moment to look at each of them, and says, “This is what I work for each day, this is why I wake up each morning.”