
There is a new head coach for Eastern women’s basketball team, but he is not a new face.
Interim head coach Marqus McGlothan got promoted over the summer after old head coach Matt Bollant left the program in May 2024.
McGlothan was a part of Bollant’s staff starting in 2022. He came on as an assistant coach, and from his time with Bollant, McGlothan said that he has learned a lot from the former head coach.
“It was an opportunity for me to learn and coach at the Division I level,” McGlothan said.
This was McGlothan’s first Division I level coaching job, however he had experience since high school.
He said his dad gave him some hard truths in high school, so instead of continuing to play basketball, he switched to coaching.
“I knew I wanted to coach,” McGlothan said. “I actually started coaching when I was 17. My dad was just like, ‘Hey, look, you’re short, you’re slow. You’re not going to make a lot of money playing basketball. So, figure something else out.’”
After he graduated high school, McGlothan started out being a student manager at Michigan State. He was only there for two years and then went to St. Cloud University where he graduated.
He said he then got an offer to become a grad assistant at the University of Washington, but he had to stay close to home because of family, and he started his own business because of it, Development Through Athletics Academy.
“My son was about to be born, so I stayed,” McGlothan said. “Obviously I stayed, took care of my son, my responsibilities and started my own training business.”
McGlothan said that he started it with DJ Phillips, and he continues to run the business today. At DTA Academy, McGlothan said multiple professional players trained there including Nate Wolters and McKinley Wright IV.
From that training business, McGlothan said he started an Amateur Athletic Union program with the same name. He ended up winning coach of the year and on that team, he had current Eastern women’s basketball guard Charita “Tiny” Lewis.
He then got an offer to be an assistant at St. Cloud State University where he was for a year. During COVID-19, he started training former Eastern basketball player Lariah Washington, and that is how he got his foot into the door at Eastern.
Senior transfer guard Kiyley Flowers said McGlothan lets the team play freely and practice taking risks, which she said makes the team better as a whole.
“He has confidence in me, and he believes in me,” Flowers said. “He trusts me, and I trust him, and I feel like that’s the part about this team that I don’t feel like I had in the past was like the trust with the coach.”
Eastern has been on a good start with McGlothan as they are currently 10-2 in conference and tied for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference.
“For me, my goal right now is to help build this and turn this into a real successful powerhouse of a mid-major,” McGlothan said.
Patrick Schmitz can be reached at 581-2812 or at pfschmitz@eiu.edu.