Mark Elliott, a former Vanderbilt University basketball and baseball player, was selected director of athletics at Trevecca Nazarene University July 12, 2011.
Elliott is the thirteenth athletic director in Trevecca's history.
Elliott, who attended Vanderbilt from 1977-1980 and coached there from 1987-1994, most recently served as director of basketball operations at A-Game in Franklin, Tenn. At A-game Elliott oversaw all of A-Game's basketball operations, including coordination of local, regional, and national tournaments and running all local leagues and clinics.
Elliott said his journey to Trevecca began years ago through a long line of friends and colleagues: "Ron Bargatze, who would later coach men's basketball at Trevecca, recruited Charles Davis and me to Vanderbilt. We naturally followed Coach B's career as it continued at TNU. Adding to the connection was Trevecca basketball player Fred Harris, who along with Charles Davis, led McGavock High School to a state championship."
The connection grew for Elliott during his coaching career: "As a coach at MBA and later as an assistant at Vanderbilt, I coached against or recruited future Trevecca players. Mac Heaberlin comes to mind. We followed his career at Trevecca along with Avery Patton and Charles Brooks. There were some great games as Trevecca battled against Lipscomb and Belmont for supremacy in Nashville and very often to be the best in the NAIA.
Mark Elliott's connection grew more personal when his son Matthew decided to play basketball at Trevecca, "I learned to love Trevecca over the past five years as I watched my son, Matthew, grow and mature through all the experiences of the university. Matthew is a great example of how Trevecca's mission statement can permeate itself into the life of an athlete."
In the couple of years before becoming Trevecca's athletic director, Mark Elliott's college basketball coach become involved in Trevecca's athletic future. Elliott says that added another thread that has led him to Trevecca: "C.M. Newton, after consulting Trevecca during the athletic department self study, is very encouraged about the potential impact the Trojan athletic department can make on this campus and in this city."
After graduating from Vanderbilt in 1980, he played for five years in the New York Mets minor league system. He was head basketball coach at Montgomery Bell Academy for five years (1982-1988) before moving to Vanderbilt as an assistant coach and then serving his last four years as Vanderbilt's director of basketball operations. Prior to joining A-Game, he worked in sales management for Franklin-based Fitness Systems for 16 years.
Elliott is married to Roseann (Ro) and together they have five children, Amy Ross, Daniel, Matthew, Christopher, and Marygrace. He graduated from Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, Tenn.
