When Mark Arthur came to Southwestern Christian University in the spring of 1991, the small private bible college did not have a single intercollegiate athletic program. However, it this wasn’t always the case. In the 60’s & 70’s, the school was a junior college and competed in the Bi-State conference of the NJCAA. Arthur attended and played basketball for the Eagles from 1978 – 1980. While competing at OCSC, Arthur earned his Associate of Arts Degree before transferring to Central State University in Edmond, OK. where he earned his bachelor's & master’s degrees in education.
He then returned to SCU in the spring of 1991, to assume the role of financial aid director. He and the President began discussing ways we could grow the institution. Coach Arthur immediately began to look at the possibility of re-launching the men’s basketball team. He knew bringing back intercollegiate athletics would build school spirit and give the institution an additional avenue to recruit to. In the fall of 1992, the men’s program was rebirthed and Coach Arthur was selected to lead the team.
After 32 years, the athletic department is thriving and has grown to 13 sports with 340 student-athletes competing. Coach Arthur led the athletic program into membership with the NCCAA in 1993. As sports were added, the athletic department grew, and it was time to take the next step. In 2010, Arthur led SCU through the acceptance process with the NAIA and joined the Midwest Athletic Conference. In 2014, SCU was given the opportunity to join the powerful Sooner Athletic Conference. Though Arthur states “We were not prepared for this conference in many aspects, but for the future growth of our programs it was a blessing for us”.
At the close of the 2011-12 basketball season, Arthur announced his retirement from leading the men’s basketball program after 20 years. He felt the athletic department was at a point where it needed full-time supervision to become more successful. Arthur saw this as a new challenge and accepted the change. He stated, “In life, we all need new challenges to keep us motivated and this is how I approached it”.
In his 20 years leading the SCU men’s basketball program, Arthur compiled an overall record of 404-329. In 2008, the institution highlighted Coach Arthur’s success by naming the court in Pickens-Springer gymnasium “Mark Arthur Court”. He led the men’s teams to multiple national titles at the NCCAA level and was named region coach of the year several times and NCCAA National Coach of the Year 2007.
In 2015, Coach Arthur took over the women’s basketball program and has been leading the ladies ever since. He has an overall record of 127-113 (.529) and has appeared in 4 NCCAA National Tournaments and 1 NAIA National Tournament. Coach Arthur led the Lady Eagles to 2022, NCCAA Division I National Championship where they defeated Oakland City University for the national title. He was also named NCCAA Division I National Coach of the Year. The 2022 success was followed up in 2023, with the SCU Lady Eagles winning the Sooner Athletic Conference Post-season Tournament Championship.
Coach Arthur has led many basketball mission trips with student-athletes Colombia, and South America. He continues to make a huge impact on and off the court on our campus and in the lives of the SCU student/athletes. Coach Arthur has been married to his wife Karlene, for 41 years, and they have a son Jon who is AD and Head Football Coach at Bethany High School, and a daughter Eve who is a traveling nurse. He and Karlene currently have 4 grandchildren.