John Calipari announces mentor, legendary AD Bob Marcum has been hospitalized

Former UMass athletics director Bob Marcum has been hospitalized for complications from a stroke, Arkansas head coach John Calipari announced on Sunday.

Marcum crossed paths with the Razorbacks coach during his time as AD at UMass beginning in 1993 until Calipari’s departure in 1996. He held the position until 2002 where he oversaw one of the most prominent decades in UMass athletics history.

“My friend, mentor and AD at Umass Bob Marcum has been admitted to the hospital for complications from a stroke,” Calipari wrote on X. “He was an unbelievable servant leader who impacted so many coaches, athletes and campuses where he worked. (Iowa St, Kansas, South Carolina, Umass, Marshall among them) Please pray for this committed husband, father, and loyal friend to many.”

Marcum’s career spanned over 40 years, which began in 1971 when he was hired on as associate AD at Iowa State until 1978. He moved on to secure his first AD job at Kansas from 1978-1982. He stopped at South Carolina between 1982 and 1988 before moving away from collegiate athletics for a couple of years to serve as the president of the Charlotte Motor Speedway from 1988-1990.

He then went on to rejoin the collegiate ranks at UMass where he oversaw four Atlantic 10 Conference championships alongside Calipari, as well as the Minutemen’s only Division II national championship in football history in 1998. Marcum was also on hand for the first two NCAA Tournament berths for the women’s basketball team ever for UMass. They also won the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Cup six times in an eight-year stretch during that time.

For his efforts, he was named the 1999 NACDA Northeast Region I-AA Althetic Director of the Year, not to mention being inducted into the UMass Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009 upon his retiremet.

After leaving UMass in 2002, Marcum made one final stop to of career, and it was arguably the sweetest. He became the athletic director for the Marshall Thundering Herd, his alma mater, from 2003-2009.

Arguably his greatest accomplishment with at Marshall saw the Huntington native help them join the new Conference-USA in 2005 which allowed greater exposure, revenue and an increased level of competition across the athletic department. He also oversaw considerable upgrades to venues like Joan C. Edwards Stadium and the Cam Henderson Center, which are still in use in 2024.

He graduated from Marshall with a Bacherlor’s degree in Social Studies and Physical Education in 1959.