Michael Mailhot named new Clark basketball coach

New Clark men’s basketball coach Michael Mailhot grew up in Norwich, Conn., attended and played basketball at Emmanuel College, and spent three seasons as an assistant at Nichols, so returning to New England was part of the lure when the Cougars’ job became available. “I’m excited to be back,” said Mailhot, who, for the last seven years was an assistant at the University of Chicago. “Clark checked a lot of boxes for me,” Mailhot said. “It’s a great academic institution with a proud basketball tradition. The chance to coach and compete in one of best Division 3 conferences (NEWMAC) in the country is really exciting to me as well.”  Mailhot replaces Tyler Simms, who departed Clark in June for an assistant coaching position at Bucknell. In seven seasons at Clark, Simms went 91-68 and guided the Cougars to the 2025 NEWMAC championship and an automatic NCAA Tournament berth. “I want to coach somewhere where basketball is really important and there are expectations to win,” Mailhot said. “There’s a great foundation here and all the pieces are in place to build and win at a high level and compete for championship in that league and compete on national stage. Clark is not a place where success is new; I’ll be trying to sustain that and build upon it.” At the University of Chicago, Mailhot helped the Maroons to consecutive NCAA Division 3 Tournament appearances in 2024-25 and 2025-26. This past season, Chicago advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight and earned a No. 1 national ranking. “It was such a great experience building it to where we got,” Mailhot said. “The best part was seeing those guys go from freshmen and sophomores to ranked in the country and competing on the national stage. It was just a blast.” At Nichols, where Mailhot earned his master’s degree, he coached under Tom Glynn and, in 2016-17, helped the Bison to the program’s first conference tourney title and NCAA appearance. “It was great getting to work with Coach Glynn and be part of building something special there,” Mailhot said. Mailhot is the 19th men’s basketball coach in Clark history. “Throughout the search process,” Clark director of athletics Trish Cronin said, “Michael stood out for his passion for developing student-athletes, his vision for building a championship caliber program, and his commitment to the values that define Clark University. His experience recruiting and developing talented student-athletes, combined with his success at some of the nation’s top Division 3 programs, made him the ideal choice to lead our program.” Mailhot, who brings 13 years of coaching experience, was also previously an assistant at Coast Guard, Emmanuel and Muhlenberg. “Having played Division 3 basketball and coaching at this level for the past 13 years,” Mailhot said, “I have an understanding of what this experience is like for these student-athletes, what it takes to be successful and how to build a program and compete at a high level. To have that opportunity to lead a storied program at a great place like Clark and have a chance to get back home to New England felt like a perfect fit.” –Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JenTolandTG. This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Michael Mailhot named new Clark basketball coach