Legendary Winthrop Coach Mark Cooke Passes Away

Longtime Division 1 head coach Mark Cooke passed away over the weekend.

Cooke spent thirty-three years as a college softball coach, including 29 of those years as the head coach at Winthrop. Prior to his retirement following the 2018 season, Cooke spent nearly three decades developing and setting records with the Eagles.

During his tenure at Winthrop, Cooke set a program and Big South Conference record with 767 career wins, and added a second Big South record with 218 victories within league play. A three-time Big South Coach of the Year, his team won conference titles four times and played in the Big South championship game an additional seven times.

From a player development perspective, Cooke shepherded five Big South Players of the Year, four conference Rookies of the year, and 91 all-conference selections.

In 2019, Cooke was inducted into the Winthrop Athletic Hall of Fame.

Early in his career at Winthrop, Cooke spent seven years as the Eagles’ volleyball coach in addition to his softball coaching duties. Prior to his tenure at Winthrop, Cooke was the head coach at USC Spartanburg (now USC Upstate) and was an assistant coach at Spartanburg Methodist and Northeast Louisiana (now Louisiana-Monroe).

A victor of more than 800 games during his career as a head coach, Cooke’s 700th career win came in spectacular fashion when his Eagles upset 9th-ranked Tennessee in 2012.

He is survived by his wife and two sons.