Mark Vershaw, who gained regional fame as an All-State basketball player at East Peoria High School and national attention as the leading scorer on the University of Wisconsin’s Final Four team in 2000, has been named the new men’s basketball coach at Monmouth College.

"We feel that Mark’s excellent blend of on-court playing and coaching experience will be exciting to potential student-athletes at Monmouth," said Roger Haynes, MC’s associate director of athletics, who led the search to replace 35-year head coach Terry Glasgow. "During the interview process, references from around the country all spoke about Mark’s great understanding of the game and his ability to translate it to his players. I believe we have hired a young man with great character who can relate well to players, yet run a disciplined basketball program for Monmouth College."

Vershaw comes to Monmouth from Cornell University, where he served as assistant basketball coach the past season. Prior to Cornell, Vershaw held assistant positions at Washington State University and Illinois Central College.

At Wisconsin, Vershaw was one of six forwards in Big Ten history to record 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 300 assists in a career. He set school records for minutes played (1,122) and assists by a forward (118) during the 1999-2000 season, which saw Wisconsin join Michigan State, Florida and North Carolina in the Final Four. Vershaw, who totaled 1,066 collegiate points, did not miss a contest in his 128-game Badger career.

Besides starring at Wisconsin, Vershaw also played one season of professional basketball in Finland. He also had three NBA tryouts.

The 28-year-old Vershaw, who will make his sideline debut on Nov. 17 when the Scots visit Central Missouri State, fills the vacancy that was created in August when Glasgow left the bench after a record-breaking Monmouth coaching career. Glasgow led the Fighting Scots to a record of 469-313 from 1972 to 2007 and coached the Scots to four Midwest Conference titles and five appearances in the NCAA tournament. The season opener against CMSU will be Monmouth’s 2,000th men’s basketball game.

"We are very excited to have Mark lead our basketball program forward from the outstanding tradition established by Coach Glasgow over the past 35 seasons," concluded Haynes.

The new coach began his duties at Monmouth Oct. 1. Vershaw and his wife, Natalie, have two children.