Mark Kost
	Position: Associate Head Women's Basketball Coach Alma Mater: Notre Dame, 1995

Mark Kost enters his ninth overall season on coach Leforce's staff and the first as associate head coach. He currently serves as the Chants primary recruiting coordinator.

During his time as recruiting coordinator, Kost's recruiting classes have yielded four Big South All-Freshmen team selections, three Big South All-Conference selections, a Big South Defensive Player of the Year, two Big South Scholar Athletes of the Year, a Big South George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence winner and an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American.

Kost's first recruiting class featured future Big South Defensive Player of the Year Amanda Stull. Stull also holds the Coastal Carolina record for most career games played. The second recruiting class brought to Conway by Kost featured Sydnei Moss and Katie White, two of the most prominent Chanticleers in recent memory. Moss led the Chanticleers in scoring during three of her four years in the Coastal teal and black on her way to becoming the eighth most prolific scorer in Coastal Carolina history with 1,329 career points. During White's senior season of 2010-11, she set the Coastal all-time career blocked shots record, the single season blocked shots record and single game blocks record. White was also named the Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year and earned the prestigious Big South George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence.

Since the addition of Kost to the staff, the Chanticleers have compiled a total of 117 wins. Additionally, Kost played a key role in directing the Chanticleers to a program-high five consecutive winning seasons from 2005-10.

In his third season with the Chants, Kost assisted in leading one of the most improved teams in the nation in 2005-06, going 18-10 with a third-place finish in the Big South Conference. That 8 1/2 game turnaround was the 17th best in the country. Coastal Carolina defeated Birmingham-Southern in the quarterfinal of the Big South Tournament before falling in a nailbiter to High Point in the semifinals. The Chants had two Second Team All-Big South members (Kim Turner and Alisha Dill) and had three players (Turner, Dill and Amber Rose) average over 11 points a game. Coastal Carolina once again excelled on defense, leading the league in turnover margin and steals while holding its opponents to 57 points per game.

Kost came to the women's staff after serving on the Chanticleers' men's basketball coaching staff during the 2002-03 season. Kost arrived at Coastal Carolina after spending two seasons as a varsity assistant coach at St. Joseph's High School in South Bend, Ind. At St. Joseph's, Kost was involved with all aspects of the program, including on-court coaching, player development and scouting.

While residing in South Bend, Kost also worked with the University of Notre Dame football and men's basketball offices as an office contractor. As a contractor, Kost helped to implement the use of the Internet in recruiting with both programs.

Kost's connection to Coastal Carolina developed in South Bend, as he worked with former Chanticleer men's assistant coach Lewis Preston. Kost has also worked as a camp clinician at Notre Dame and the University of Michigan.

Kost is a 1995 graduate of Notre Dame with a B.A. in business administration. He and his wife Samantha, an athletic academic advisor at Coastal Carolina, reside in Conway.