Robert Lee Marlin (born March 5, 1959) is an American college basketball coach who is the current head men's basketball coach for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team. Previously, he was the head coach at

Sam Houston State Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

from 1998 to 2010.

Early life and education

Born in

Tupelo, Mississippi Tupelo () is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. With an estimated population of 38,300, Tupelo is the sixth-largest city in Mississippi and is considered a commercial, industrial, and cultural hub of North ...

, Marlin graduated from

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

in 1981 with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in physical education. Marlin completed a master's degree in health and physical education at Northeast Louisiana University (now the

University of Louisiana at Monroe The University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it became the Northeast Ce ...

) in 1983.

Coaching career

Early assistant positions (1983–1990)

While attending graduate school at Northeast Louisiana, Marlin was a graduate assistant for the Northeast Louisiana Indians men's basketball team under

Mike Vining Mike Vining (born October 26, 1944) is an American retired college basketball coach. He was head men's basketball coach at the University of Louisiana at Monroe from 1981 to 2005. During his time at Louisiana–Monroe, he led the team to seven N ...

from 1981 to 1983, during which Northeast Louisiana made the 1982 NCAA tournament. After graduate school, Marlin worked in his first full-time coaching job as an assistant at Houston Baptist from 1983 to 1989 under

Gene Iba Clarence Eugene Iba (born November 5, 1940) is a former American college basketball coach. He was previously the Pittsburg State Gorillas men's basketball coach until 2010. He was head coach at Houston Baptist from 1977 to 1985, Baylor from 1985 ...

and Tommy Jones. Marlin helped Houston Baptist qualify for the 1984 NCAA tournament. In the 1989–90 season, Marlin was an assistant at

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an ...

under

Dana Altman Dana Dean Altman (born June 16, 1958) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach of the Oregon Ducks men's team. Previously he was head coach at Creighton, Kansas State and Marshall. Altman has won conference coach of the y ...

on a team that finished second in the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

Pensacola Junior College (1990–1995)

Marlin's first head coaching position was at Pensacola Junior College (now

Pensacola State College Pensacola State College (PSC), formerly Pensacola Junior College, is a public college in Pensacola, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. The main campus, located in Pensacola, was opened in 1948 and was the first institute of high ...

) from 1990 to 1995. In five seasons, Marlin led Pensacola to a 123–35 record and the 1993

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

national championship, for which he won NJCAA Coach of the Year honors. Additionally, 27 players who played under Marlin won athletic scholarships from four-year schools.

Alabama assistant (1995–1998)

Returning to the NCAA Division I level, Marlin was an assistant coach at

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

from 1995 to 1998 under David Hobbs. During this time, Alabama finished third in the

1996 National Invitation Tournament The 1996 National Invitation Tournament was the 1996 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. Selected teams Below is a list of the 32 teams selected for the tournament.

Sam Houston State (1998–2010)

, Marlin was head coach from 1998 to 2010. With a cumulative 225–131 record, Marlin led the Bearkats to four

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it ...

regular season titles (2000, 2003, 2009, and 2010) and two Southland Conference tournament titles and NCAA Tournament automatic qualifications (2003 and 2010), including the program's first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament appearance in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

Louisiana (2010–present)

The

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

hired Marlin as head coach for the

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

team on March 29, 2010. In 10 seasons, Marlin has a cumulative 188–143 record at Louisiana (Louisiana–Lafayette before 2017), with two

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams partici ...

regular season titles (2011 and 2018) and the

2014 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament The 2014 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament was held in New Orleans, LA from March 13 to March 16 at the Lakefront Arena. The tournament winner received an automatic bid into the 2014 NCAA tournament The 2014 NCAA Division I me ...

championship with an automatic qualification to the 2014 NCAA tournament. On March 7, 2019, Marlin became the fifth coach in Sun Belt Conference history to earn 100 league victories after Louisiana earned a come-from-behind 77-72 win at Little Rock. Louisiana appeared in the

CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was an American men's college basketball postseason tournament founded by Collegeinsider.com. The tournament was oriented toward schools that did not get selected for the NCAA Division I men's b ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, and 2016. In the 2017–18 season, Louisiana reached a school record 27 wins with a first-place finish in the Sun Belt and NIT appearance. Days prior to the NIT first round game against in-state opponent

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, Marlin questioned why Louisiana had a lower seed than LSU. On March 14, 2018, LSU won the NIT first round game at home 84–76 over Louisiana. Late in the game, Marlin and LSU coach

Will Wade Frank William Wade (born November 26, 1982) is an American college basketball coach. He has served as the head coach at three institutions: Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball, Chattanooga from 2013 to 2015, VCU Rams men's basketball, VCU from 20 ...

were confrontational towards each other, even needing to be restrained.

Head coaching record

Junior college

College

References

External links

Louisiana profile

Sam Houston State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marlin, Bob 1959 births Living people Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball coaches American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Mississippi Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball coaches Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks men's basketball coaches Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball coaches Mississippi State University alumni Pensacola State Pirates men's basketball coaches Sam Houston Bearkats men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Tupelo, Mississippi University of Louisiana at Monroe alumni