Marietta College Athletics

In his seven years as the head women's basketball coach at Marietta College, Kole Vivian has led the Pioneers to new heights in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Prior to the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, the Pioneers were the only program in the OAC to finish in the top four in the league standings each of the previous four seasons. The team’s 14 wins in 2019-20 also ran their four year win mark to 72 games, setting a program record.

“The success we have had in recent years is because of the people we have in and around the program,” Coach Vivian said. “Our coaching staff is incredible. Our student-athletes have bought into our concepts on the court, have been great teammates, and have been tremendous in the classroom. Our alumni and administration have been supportive of everything we have done. Marietta College is such a special place because of the people around us.”

Marietta has led the OAC in scoring three of the last four years and finished as the league leader in attendance four straight seasons until last winter when fans were prevented from attending games due to COVID. Under Vivian's direction, the Pioneers have qualified for the OAC Tournament in each of his fives seasons as head coach. The 2019 edition of the Pioneers finished as one of the best teams in the OAC despite playing the fifth strongest schedule in the nation.

“The support we get from our community is so unique and makes this such a special experience for our student-athletes,” Vivian said. “For a campus with 1200 students to have multiple games each season playing in front of over 1000 fans is unbelievable.”

In 2017-18, the Pioneers had the most special season in program history as they went 24-5 and set a record for wins by a Marietta College women’s basketball team. Marietta captured the OAC Tournament championship for the first time in program history and earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

Vivian was rewarded for the Pioneers' success with several Coach of the Year honors. Vivian was named OAC Coach of the Year, WBCA NCAA Division III Region 6 Coach of the Year and D3hoops.com Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year.

After four years as Marietta's top assistant, Vivian was promoted to head coach of the Pioneer program in the Spring of 2016. In his first year at the helm, the Pioneers finished 16-11 marking the program's first winning season since 1993-94. The 16 victories were the most for Marietta since going 20-7 in 1989-90.

Prior to Marietta, Vivian spent four years as an assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. During his time at UW-Stevens Point, the Pointers made the NCAA tournament four consecutive years, including three Sweet 16s and an Elite 8 appearance. Amid Vivian’s tenure as an assistant coach, the Pointers went 101-19, captured two regular season conference titles and four conference tournament titles.

Vivian received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a minor in Sociology from UW-Stevens Point in 2008. He earned a Masters of Science in General Education from Stevens Point in 2010.

Vivian's Coaching Honors:
Ohio Athletic Conference Coach of the Year: 2018
WBCA NCAA Division III Region 6 Coach of the Year: 2018
D3hoops.com Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year: 2018
 

Year	School	Overall Record	OAC Record
2016-17	Marietta	16-11	9-9 OAC Tourn.
2017-18	Marietta	24-5 NCAA Tourn.	14-4 OAC Tourn. Champs
2018-19	Marietta	18-9	12-6 OAC Tourn.
2019-20	Marietta	14-13	9-9 OAC Tourn.
2020-21	Marietta	6-7	6-6 OAC Tourn.
2021-22	Marietta	22-6 NCAA Tourn.	14-4 OAC Tourn.
2022-23	Marietta	22-8 NCAA Sweet 16	14-4 OAC Tourn.
2023-24	Marietta	21-7 NCAA Tourn.	15-3 OAC Tourn.
Career	8 years	143-66 .684	93-45 .674

All-Time Marietta College Women's Basketball Coaching Records