Marlon Sears joined Jim Engles' staff as associate head coach in May 2019. Sears, who was previously an assistant with the Lions on Joe Jones’ staff from 2009-10, returns to the Lions after a four-year stint as head coach at Montclair State University in New Jersey. No stranger to the Ivy League, Sears has five years of experience as an assistant at Cornell.
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“Marlon’s one of the best recruiters out there and has a proven track record of getting quality student-athletes wherever he’s been,” Engles said. “We’re really fortunate to have someone with his experience, knowledge of the game and, most importantly, another high-quality person joining our program. I think he’s a great fit with our current staff and I am excited to have him with us at Columbia.”
Sears improved Montclair State’s win total each season under his direction, including an 18-9 mark in 2018-19, its highest win total since 2011, and 11-7 in the NJAC, the most conference wins the most by the Red Hawks in a decade. Additionally, MSU advanced to the NJAC semifinals for the first time in seven years.
Prior to Montclair State, Sears was Cornell’s top assistant and recruiting coordinator from 2010-15. Sears played important roles in every facet of the Big Red program. Cornell's recruiting classes under Sears featured two of the top Ivy Leaguers in recent memory. Shonn Miller, the 2012 Rookie of the Year, a 2014 first team All-Ivy League selection who went on to play a graduate transfer year at UConn, as well as Matt Morgan – the No. 2 scorer in Ivy League history and four-time All-Ivy League selection.
The Big Red increased their overall and Ivy League win totals in both 2011-12 and 2012-13. During Sears’ time in Ithaca, Cornell defeated Patriot League champion Lehigh (who defeated Duke in the NCAA first round) and Ivy runner-up Princeton in 2011-12. He was also instrumental in the development of six All-Ivy selections, including 2012 first-teamer Chris Wroblewski, the Big Red's all-time assist leader, who was also two-time Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American.
Over his 15 years of experience as a Division I assistant, Sears has seen stops at Binghamton, Wagner, High Point and Columbia.
While at High Point, Sears signed a pair of recruiting classes that HoopScoop ranked in the top 100. Sears was an assistant coach for two years at Wagner where he helped lead the Seahawks to a 23-8 record in 2007-08 (15-3 Northeast Conference).
Sears started his coaching career at Binghamton, where he spent five years on the staff, helping the Bearcats into the upper echelon of the America East Conference. During his tenure there, he coached two America East Defensive Players of the Year and helped the team to an 18-11 overall record and a 12-4 conference mark in 2005-06, his final season.
