Marino Casem returns to Alcorn State as Athletics Director

ALCORN STATE, Miss. - Marino H. Casem, the man who made Alcorn State University a household name during his 20-year reign as athletics director between 1966 and 1986, has returned to the university on an interim basis in the same capacity. He will be here to assist the department in its NCAA certification process during this

Marino Casem

transition period.

Casem will serve as Alcorn State’s chief athletics administrator for a second term until the university hires a permanent replacement for the post which was previously held by Lloyd Hill, who retired in June 2000. The Memphis, Tennessee native served in this capacity from August 2000 to March 2001 while assistant athletics director for compliance and business affairs Robert H.J. Raines served as the athletics director from April to June during his absence.
“It feels a little strange but I’m happy to be back here on an interim basis to assist the university,” stated Casem, who also gained acclaim at Alcorn State’s all-time winningest football coach during his prior stint at Alcorn State. “The program’s on solid ground here. My role will be to make sure it stays that way until a new athletic director is brought in.”

When he previously worked at Alcorn State, Casem brought national acclaim to the university. As athletics director, he assembled a winning team of coaches and staff members who made Alcorn State one of the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s revered powers. The university produced an Olympic Gold Medalist, a world record holder in the 100-yard dash, first round draft picks in basketball and football, and built a world-class athletics complex and arena under Casem’s tutelage. As head football coach from 1964 to 1985, he captured seven conference championships, seven national black college championships, and was named both the National Black College and SWAC Coach-of-the-Year a total of seven times.
Casem resigned from his dual roles at Alcorn State in 1986 to become athletics director at rival Southern University. At Southern, he inherited a relatively dormant program in all sports but quickly converted it into the top overall sports program in the SWAC. Between 1986 and his retirement in 1999, Casem guided Southern to seven SWAC Commissioner Cups, six SWAC men’s all-sport trophies, and nine SWAC women’s all-sport trophies. The various teams at Southern captured a total of 59 championships during Casem’s stint at the Baton Rouge university.

Throughout his career in athletics, Casem has served on many national committees. Some of the NCAA committees are as follows: NCAA Special Events, NCAA I-AA Football, NCAA Football Television, NCAA Football Rules and the NCAA Executive Committee. Other committees include the include the USOC Minority Task Force and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Visiting Committee.

In addition, Casem has received numerous awards and citations throughout his professional career. A few of his notables are as follows: Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame (1992), Alcorn State University Hall of Honor (1993), Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame (1994), All-America Football Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award (1994), Football Writers Association of America Citation of Honor (1994), Alcorn State University Hall of Fame (1996), The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame’s Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award (1998) and The Louisiana Association of Athletic Directors’ The Carl Maddox Award (1999).
Casem and his wife Betty currently reside in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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