Mark was born on July 2, 1974 in Germany. He attended USF and played basketball for the Dons in 1998. He returned to Germany to play most recently for EnBW Ludigsburg in the BBL.
To that end, Brovelli has successfully endeavored to make the Dons bigger up front. In addition to returning big men like Art Wallace, Samson Fong, and redshirt transfer Jermaine Galloway, the Dons have recruited seven-footer Mark Nees, a freshman who is currently playing for the German Junior National Team. "I've always felt that we've been a really competitive team and exciting and we've always had great perimeter players. We'll still have very good perimeter players, but now we're getting a little bit bigger, and I've always thought to take the next step up to the next level that you have to do to win a championship is to get bigger... So now you look at Mark Nees at seven feet, you look at Samson at seven feet, Art Wallace 6-10, Jermaine Galloway 6-9, Booker T. 6-7, Johnny Duggan 6-7, Tyrone Paul jumps... I think our front line is going to be a lot stronger with that size in there." Brovelli, though, has no plans to slow the running ways of the team that finished last season ranked eighth in the nation in scoring, at 88.9 points per contest. "We want to continue to be more up-tempo because I think that's a great style, and I think our guys fit into that style well. We hope to be a better defensive team... It will be a little different in terms of our offensive movement. We might now have to come off of more picks, passing and picks, more than just all dribble-penetration... In terms of up-tempo, we're staying with the up-tempo style (TheFoghorn)."
