Mark Potter spoke to the student body on Tuesday, Feb. 13. He is a teacher, husband and 30-year head basketball coach who discusses his battle with depression during the height of his basketball coaching career.

Potter began his talk by discussing his background as a basketball coach, teacher, and husband. He also spoke about others’ stories. One was a fellow coach who was struggling as he was and had committed suicide. He spoke about how this impacted him and those close to the coach. He reminded all of the students how everything you say has an impact. He spoke about all the signs that others can see when someone is struggling. Some of these are irritability, exhaustion, and not feeling motivated. His wife could not make it to the presentation, but she usually talks about her side of the story and how she could tell something was off about Potter. He ended the talk by asking some questions to the student body about what they could do to help someone in need.

Potter left coaching to pursue his passion for educating and motivating people from all occupations. He was named Coach of the Year five times and named one of the top 15 most influential people in the Wichita sports world. He has been inducted into the Cowley College Hall of Fame, the Newman University Hall of Fame, the Wichita Sports Hall of Fame, and most recently, the National Baseball Congress Hall of Fame. The basketball court at Newman University was named ‘The Potter Family Court’ in 2013.