It is now official as former Scottsdale Junior College Head Coach Mark Bunker, after winning two consecutive ACCAC Division-II Conference titles, has decided to accept the Head Coaching position at Western New Mexico University. While I have known this for some time, it has now been announced officially by the Western New Mexico basketball program.
In (9) seasons as the Head Coach @ Scottsdale CC, Bunker produced a 136-114 record. Bunker worked tirelessly at Scottsdale JC to produce winning teams annually, and, for the first time in school history, led Scottsdale JC to back-to-back ACCAC D-II Conference titles. He also led the program to the program's most win's in school history in 2023, when the Artichokes won (25) games.
Scottsdale JC also finished with a 25-9 overall record this past season in Bunker's final season, including a trip to the Region I Division II Championship. Since 2018 Bunker's teams averaged (21) wins-per season. Bunker also guided (17) different players to All-Conference and All-Region awards. He managed to retain the highest team GPA in school history during 2018, including the 4th highest in the NJCAA. His team achieved the NJCAA All-Academic award four times, including three straight (2016-19), as well as (20) NJCAA Academic All-Americans.
Bunker is a native of Scottsdale, Arizona, and attended Chaparral High School as a student-athlete, where he was a three-year varsity player. Bunker was one of the top prospects in the state as a player, and was one of the more athletic prospects in the West as a senior.
I have known Mark Bunker since his days at Chaparral High School, where was a standout performer in the state, and he has become one of my closest friends in the business, as he has worked very hard over time to climb the ladder as a college coach. Since being given the reigns at Scottsdale JC, Bunker worked diligently annually to build the Scottsdale basketball program with limited resources, and worked hard to recruit Arizona's top prospects - providing a great opportunity for some of Arizona's best talent to extend their college playing careers. The loss of Mark Bunker from our league will be immense, as he worked hard to recruit Arizona prospects. Bunker is a wonderful leader and motivator for his players, and he coaches his players with extreme passion for the game and life. I am very excited for him and his future at Western New Mexico. He is so well deserving of this opportunity, but will be surely missed.
It is still unclear as to which direction Scottsdale JC will go for their new coaching hire for their vacant position as Head Coach, but we will keep you posted as this story develops.
