Marcus Kirkland

Marcus Kirkland enters his 13th season at Wingate in 2023-24, marking his 11th year as the number one assistant and 9th year as the Associate Head Coach. In his first two years on staff, Kirkland helped lead the Bulldogs to a pair of SAC Tournament titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances.

The Bulldogs returned to the SAC Tournament championship game in 2016, while once again advancing to the NCAA regional semifinals. Wingate's fourth NCAA Tournament bid in six years came in 2016-17, when the 'Dogs overcame a 3-7 start to earn an at-large bid.

Kirkland has specialized in working with the Bulldog post players. Wingate led the league in blocked shots during Kirkland's first season, thanks to having three players ranked in the top five in the league. Odell Turner finished third in the SAC, followed by Deion Turman in fourth and Jeff Parker in fifth. In conference play, the Bulldogs were second in rebounding and number one in scoring defense. Academic All-District honoree Keith Griffin was second in the SAC in blocked shots in 2015-16, while leading the league in 2016-17 while also earning a spot on the 2017 Allstate NABC Good Works Team. Wingate was once again the league-leader in blocked shots, piling up 5.5 blocks per game.

In the summer of 2014, Turman and Parker signed contracts to play basketball professionally in Europe.

Turman earned All-SAC honors during the 2013-14 season. He averaged 13.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, adding 22 blocked shots while shooting 49 percent from the field. He piled up 13 double-doubles on the season.

During the 2012-13 season, Turner earned second team All-SAC honors, averaging 11.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. He also finished his career as the league’s all-time career leader in rebounding. Turman averaged 9.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in the 2012-13 season, shooting a league-best 63.5 percent from the field. Parker added 5.5 points per game on 64.8 percent shooting from the field, adding a team-best 41 blocks.

Kirkland brings a wealth of experience to his position. In addition to college and AAU coaching stops, Kirkland has trained post players from the NBA to high school.

Kirkland spent seven years as the head coach for the Hoop Nation AAU team. He was a volunteer assistant coach for one year at Livingstone College. Kirkland served two years as an assistant coach at Reading College.

A Hampton University graduate, Kirkland played professionally for five years in Italy. Kirkland has extensive camp coaching background, including seven years at NBA and University of Connecticut standout Donyell Marshall’s camp.

Kirkland and his wife Renee have a daughter (Kerri, 21) and a son (Marcus, Jr., 17). Kirkland’s dad (Wilbur) was a two-time college All-American and an NBA draft pick. A 10-year Italian professional league veteran, Wilbur Kirkland played one season each for the Philadelphia 76ers and the ABA’s Pittsburgh Pipers. His mom (Elaine) was a high school principal and educator for 30 years. She holds a Doctor of Education degree.