USC Announces Mark Hankins as New Men's Golf Coach
USC announced the new head coach of the men’s golf program on Sunday as Mark Hankins will take over the Trojans.
Hankins brings 20 years of experience as a head coach with previous stops at Texas-Arlington, Michigan State, Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri.
He’s been a program builder at his previous stops. He was a two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year winner for the Spartans and then helped create a strong Iowa program. The Hawkeyes earned six NCAA Championship Regional appearances in his time there. The Big Ten experience is obviously going to benefit the Trojans as they officially join that conference next summer.
Hankins served as the co-head coach at Missouri for the past two years. In his first season, he helped the Tigers to their best-ever finish at the SEC Championship.
Interim Executive Administrator of Athletics Dr. Denise Kwok announced the hire.
“We are excited to welcome Mark Hankins to the Trojan Family,” Dr. Kwok said in the announcement released by USC. “He is a proven winner on the course and a respected leader in the game and throughout the golf community. Mark brings a wealth of experience in both developing individual student-athletes for success on the course and as the architect of successful programs. He is familiar with the landscape of the Big Ten and is driven to lead our Trojans to both conference and national championships.”
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USC’s announcement included a statement from Hankins, who resigned his position at Missouri shortly before USC went public with his hiring.
“I want to thank Dr. Kwok, Paul Perrier, and the USC leadership for the opportunity to lead Trojan Men’s Golf into the future,” Hankins said. “It’s an exciting time in Trojan Athletics and I look forward to building a program that produces the highest quality students, golfers, and young men that the entire USC community can be proud of.”
USC needed to replace former coach J.T. Higgins, who coached the Trojans for three seasons before resigning in early June. The Trojans finished 10th at this year’s Pac-12 Championships.
