Marcus Dunham has followed a familiar path into his chosen profession.

“I fell right into the family business, so to speak,” he said.

The third-generation coach was recently hired to direct the boys basketball program at Honaker High School. 

“I was tickled to death,” Dunham said of landing the job. “That’s been a lifelong goal of mine since I’ve been real little. Since I’ve been about 5, 6-years-old and tagging along with my dad to practice.”

Dunham takes over for Waylon Hart, who resigned last season after five years on the job. Dunham had assisted Hart for the past four.

“Coach Hart and I had a great relationship,” Dunham said. “He was kind of grooming me for that job. It’s a goal I’ve had for years – to become a head coach at the high school level.”

The 28-year-old Dunham is a 2000 graduate of Northwood and was a multi-sport standout for the Panthers.

He also has coaching bloodlines.

His grandfather, Mark Dunham, was the head basketball and football coach at Rich Valley High School from 1947-1957 and later was the basketball coach at Richlands.

His father, Stan Dunham, had head coaching stints at Rich Valley and Northwood high schools. He’s currently the principal at Northwood.

“That’s all I’ve known,” Marcus Dunham said. “I’ve been around it in some form or another all my life. As soon as I got out of college, I took a job right into the coaching ranks.”

Dunham inherits a talented team.

The Tigers went just 12-14 last season, but used a late-season surge to reach the quarterfinals of the VHSL Group A, Division 2 tournament.

“We’ve got some great talent coming back and some experience,” Dunham said. “All of them played in that state quarterfinal game last year and have that big-game experience under their belt.”

Dunham plans to use a more fast-paced offensive strategy this season, but will keep most of the system that made the Tigers one of the Black Diamond District’s top teams last winter intact.

He’s been pleased with the Tigers’ dedication to basketball during the offseason.

“Every kid in this program has worked really hard this summer,” Dunham said. “It’s the best turnout for camps this year than we’ve had in my four years working with the program. We took a dozen or
more kids to both camps we went to this year.”

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