Chris Faulkner
	Head Coach cfaulkner@ngcsu.edu 706-867-2808

Chris Faulkner is in his seventh year as head men’s basketball coach at North Georgia during 2009-10. During his first six seasons at the helm, the Saints basketball program has accumulated a record of 92-86, leading the 2008-09 team to the quarterfinals of the Peach Belt Conference basketball tournament, with a record of 15-12, and a fifth place regular season finish.

Coach Faulkner first became involved with North Georgia as a player in 1989. Since then, he has continued to work with the university’s basketball program for the past 15 years as a player, assistant, and head coach. Faulkner is a 1993 graduate of North Georgia College where he received a B.S. in physical education and a M.Ed. in education in 1995. Faulkner played four years of collegiate basketball at North Georgia (1989-1993) and in the 1992-1993 season, he served as team captain. He also participated in international summer play in Costa Rica, Spain, and was a recipient of the Will D. Young Scholarship.
   
After finishing his playing career at North Georgia, he assumed the role of assistant coach in 1993. Faulkner spent four seasons as the assistant under former head coach and now athletic director Randy Dunn. In 1996, Faulkner helped Dunn lead the team to the Conference championship and the program’s third appearance at the NAIA National Tournament. In 1997, he was named head basketball coach at Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia.
   
After taking the helm at Piedmont in 1997, he led the basketball program during the transitional period from NAIA to NCAA Division III and into the newly formed Great South Athletic Conference (GSAC). After finishing the 2002-03 season with a tenure best 17-10 record and GSAC tournament runner-up, Faulkner was named the GSAC Coach of the Year. In addition to this basketball duties he also served as head of the men’s and women’s golf teams. Faulkner’s teams have produced eight All-Conference players, one All-American, and numerous Academic All-Conference selections.
   
In May 2003, Faulkner returned to his alma mater as head men’s basketball coach. His 2003-04 team produced the Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference “Newcomer of the Year” as well as an All-Freshman Team member. In 2004-05, he led the Saints to a record breaking season as they finished second in the Southern States Athletic Conference with a 23-10 overall record. His team set new school records for points (3015), scoring average (91.4 ppg), and conference wins (16). It also marked the first time the men’s basketball team had won 20 or more games since the 1995-1996 season. In addition, he coached the conference “Player of the Year” and NAIA All-American as well as two NAIA Academic All-Americans. Along with his coaching duties, he serves as an instructor in the Department of Health and Physical Education.
   
Coach Faulkner and his wife, Daphney, reside in Dahlonega with their two sons, Augustus and Cal.