Jaren Marino enters his fourth season as Director of Basketball Operations after joining the Radford men's basketball staff in September 2017. He was originally brought into the fold as a Assistant Director of Basketball Operations and received a promotion following the 2018-19 academic year.
Marino is the lone holdover from the Mike Jones era of the Radford men's basketball program, serving as the bridge into Darris Nichols' time as the Highlanders' head coach. His duties include the daily scheduling of team activities, leading communication within the program, coordination of travel, and much more.
He has played an integral role in the success of the program over the last five years, helping the Highlanders accumulate a record of 81-47, including a 51-19 mark in Big South play. Radford has won two Big South regular season titles, one Big South Tournament title, and made one NCAA Tournament appearance in his tenure.
A sterling 21-11 record in the 2019-20 season carried them to their second straight regular season conference title. The season featured wins over Northwestern, Richmond and James Madison.
The 2018-19 season saw the Highlanders go 22-11 overall and 12-4 in conference play to win a share of the Big South regular season title for the first time since 2008-09. The team reached the Big South Tournament championship game for the second consecutive season as well.
He also played an integral role in Radford's 2018 run to a Big South championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament that included the program's first ever NCAA Tournament victory. No one knows how to "bring the juice" like Coach Marino.
When hired, then-head coach Mike Jones had this to say of Marino: “We are excited to welcome Jaren to our staff. He is coming off one of the most successful seasons ever at Louisburg College where he was an integral part of that success. He brings a diversified skill set to our program with relentless energy and enthusiasm, which will be a welcomed addition to our team. He will relate very well with our players and staff, and will help us have success on many levels.”
Prior to being hired at Radford, Marino spent the 2016 season at Louisburg College in Louisburg, N.C. While at Louisburg College he was in charge of the strength and conditioning program and prepared scouting reports for games, helped with player development and assisted in travel coordination.
The Hurricanes posted a 30-5 record with a 19-1 conference record and made it to the NJCAA National Championship. He also spent time organizing film exchange programs and was the video coordinator.
Marino began his coaching career at his alma mater as a student assistant from 2015-2016, and finished his degree in 2016. Some of his duties included scouting, strength and conditioning, player development, practice and in-game coaching, and assisting with summer camps.
Marino played for West Virginia Tech from 2011 to 2015, and earned a starting role his last three seasons. He also served as team captain his junior and senior years. Named to the All-Conference team twice, and scoring over 1000 points during his collegiate career, he helped lead his team to win the regular season conference championship in 2012 and to the NAIA National Tournament in 2015. During his time at Tech, he was a part of teams that averaged over 20 wins per season.
