Credit: Bella Schreiber

New girls varsity basketball coach Stephen Marks stands with his son after being a referee for a Wayland alumni players versus current players game.

Starting in the 2024-2025 season, WHS has brought on Stephen Marks as the new girls varsity basketball coach. As a lifelong basketball player and coach for a multitude of different teams, Marks said he hopes to bring the Wayland girls basketball program to a new level.

Marks attended two different colleges for basketball: Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, which is Division II, and then Ithaca College in Upstate New York, which is Division III. Following his graduation, Marks quickly moved on to coaching at the high school he went to, Walt Whippen High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and has been coaching ever since.

“I’ve been coaching basketball for over 20 years and it’s the biggest passion of my life, other than my family,” Marks said.

Marks has acted as an athletic director, coached girls and boys high school teams, college teams and young kids. Most recently, Marks led the Medfield girls varsity basketball team to a state championship, and he hopes to do the same with the Wayland girls basketball team.

“To be honest, when this job opened up I wasn’t even looking for a head coaching job, but I had to apply and really wanted this job because it was here at Wayland,” Marks said.

Both senior captain Annie McQuilkin and senior Olivia Todd were in agreement that under Marks guidance, the team has bonded and fosters an inclusive and engaging environment.

“This year, we’re much more focused on winning as a team, and we’re focusing on the team aspect of it instead of individual players,” Todd said. “We just play really well as a team and understand each other’s playing styles. I feel like we are able to communicate without actually communicating if that makes sense.”

Something both Marks and McQuilkin emphasized was the importance of youth sports and connection between youth and high school programs. Since being hired, Marks has had numerous meetings with members of the Wayland youth basketball board, various youth coaches and has made sure that the middle school team is incorporating the same style of plays as the high school team. His goal is for all Wayland basketball programs to be one, not a mix of individual programs.

“I would say in past years, Coach [Amanda] Rukstalis and Coach Mike [Brown] did a good job with involving the youth, making the program well known and making younger players excited to play basketball so I’m hoping Coach Marks continues that,” McQuilkin said. “I was so excited to play, because of Coach Rukstalis and Coach [Brown’s] commitment, putting an emphasis on the youth and continuing our community is important.”

To continue team unity and positive thinking, Marks has a tradition of saying a quote at the start of each practice. Originating from his own high school coach, Marks believes that it centers players and allows everyone to get on the same page. Todd expressed her appreciation for this practice, and mentioned that it was something Rukstalis also used to do.

Wayland girls basketball now has three “pillars” they must live by: commitment, character and competition. Each quote connects back to one of the pillars, and is supposed to remind the players and coaches about the importance of the values and how it impacts the team.

In order to keep players engaged and encouraged, Marks and the coaching staff implemented a game ball award at the end of each game to the “player of the game.” When a player is awarded the ball, they must take it home, write their own quote on it and then present it to the new player of the game after the following game. His hope is that at the end of the year there will be one basketball representing the strong culture and inspiring quotes that encapsulate Wayland girls high school basketball.

“I am most excited for the opportunity that these girls have,” Marks said. “This is their last chance to put on the Wayland jersey, play for their town and play with the girls they grew up with. I’m honored to be able to be a part of that with them.”

Due to low numbers in players, there are more inexperienced players on varsity than in prior years. Some of the players either haven’t played before or don’t play as their main sport, meaning Marks has had to focus more on the fundamentals of the game. Some said that his style of coaching has turned from less ‘traditional’ coaches, and instead allows the team to play to their unique strengths and freestyle more than the average team.

“For now it’s less of play calling and more of us trying to get fast breaks, quick steals and we try to score on the run,” McQuilkin said. “Instead of setting a play, he tries to let us decide what to do and what to be like. He wants us to be less robotic, which I like.”

Something that Marks values is having a high level of fun, healthy competition during practices. He believes that in order to play competitively, a team must practice competitively. He wants practices and games to be fun and competitive while also allowing them to try new things.

“I want to thank everybody for welcoming me and my family to the Wayland community with open arms,” Marks said. “Our program isn’t just Wayland girl’s basketball; it’s part of the Wayland athletic program, it’s part of the WHS and it’s part of the Wayland community. We don’t look at ourselves as some separate entity. We are part of this community and we want the community to feel the same about our program. We hope to see people at the games and supporting us and we will continue to support them.”