DUE WEST, S.C. – Hanging outside the Peeler family home is a large sign that reads: Welcome to Erskine!

Never has a sign been more accurate.  For the past 27 years, Mark Peeler has worked as either a basketball coach, athletic director or some other capacity in the athletic department for Erskine College and he has raised his children in four different houses, all within 500 yards of campus.

His oldest daughter, Hope, graduated from Erskine magna cum laude in 2021, while oldest son Jenkins, a 2024 cum laude graduate from–you guessed it–Erskine currently serves as his father’s top assistant coach on the Flying Fleet’s men’s basketball team. 

And if that doesn’t effectively reflect the deep family connection with this Christian liberal arts college, maybe it also should be mentioned that youngest son, Max, completes the Peeler Trinity as a junior guard and team-leading scorer (15.7 ppg) while playing for his dad and older brother.

“The kids lived Erskine growing up,” says Peeler, who has served as AD for 23 years and 21 years as the Fleet’s men’s basketball coach. “They were on campus all the time for all kinds of events.  They’re all really extroverted kids who like to socialize with people.  I think Erskine had a real impact on them.”
Peeler said it was not unusual during their childhoods for him to ask Max and Jenkins to run a camera at soccer games or do some kind of job at volleyball matches.  

“They were just workers,” he said proudly.

And even now during Erskine’s football season, Max handles public address announcer duties for home games while older brother Jenkins helps broadcast the games online as the school’s color analyst.

“Erskine is home,” flatly states Jenkins, who spent his freshman year at Erskine as the football team’s placekicker and punter. “I remember every single home basketball game from when I was a kid.”

For Max, it’s about the school colors and…ugh…Erskine bling.

“I’ve only known Erskine my whole life,” he admits.  “I bleed maroon and gold. 

You should see my closet.  My whole wardrobe is Erskine stuff.  And it’s all free!”

Peeler arrived at Erskine in 1999, a rather humble entrance as the school’s new men’s basketball coach.

“I wanted my kids to grow up on the campus,” he shared.  “When I first came here, I thought I would only be here for a couple of years,” he said.  “It turned into a lot more.  I guess God had different plans for me.”

Indeed.  Under his guidance as AD, he has seen remarkable growth and much success in Erskine sports.  Since 2000, Peeler has witnessed the number of student-athletes grow by 80 percent, personally spearheaded record fund-raising, and has overseen a steady increase of intercollegiate sports from 10 programs in 2004 to 24 sports today.

Along the way, the Flying Fleet have soared to 27 Conference Carolinas championships.  He won over 200 games as Erskine’s head basketball coach from 1999-2018 before stepping away to concentrate solely on his athletic director’s duties.

But when Max enrolled as a freshman, he had a change of heart and returned to the head basketball post in 2023-24.  Inheriting a program that endured records of 0-28 and 3-25 the previous two seasons, Peeler has re-energized Erskine basketball with back-to-back double-digit win campaigns.

Older son Jenkins, who kicked the first two extra points for Erskine (vs. Barton College) in 2018 during the school’s first football season after a 68-year absence, decided to quit the gridiron after one season.

“I also coached the women’s basketball team for three years and I asked Jenkins to help me as an assistant,” recalls the senior Peeler.  “I told him, ‘You know as much about basketball as I do, so come join me.’”



A self-described excitable coach, Peeler also feels Jenkins is a perfect complement to him on the bench and at practice.

“He’s a much calmer person than I am so he’s a good asset to have.

I’m a very passionate person, so he’s a good compliment.  Jenkins not only knows basketball, but he knows me.”

Peeler, who has also served on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee and NCAA Men’s Basketball Committees and continues to be an adjunct professor at Erskine teaching Health and Wellness and a variety of Sports Management leadership courses, believes that Jenkins could be a very successful head coach if he wants to pursue that path.

“I don’t know what he wants to do,” he said.  “He’s a very successful social influencer.  Right now, he doesn’t appear to aspire to coach, but I think he’d be very good at it.”

Jenkins, who majored in history and has already been offered teaching jobs, balances his coaching with a burgeoning career as an independent movie and television show marketer.  In fact, he’s been invited by studios to cover movie premieres in Hollywood.

“I’m kind of a big nerd,” admits Jenkins, whose YouTube channel handle is “Jenks.”  “I make videos, especially about a lot of superhero films.  In LA, I covered press events for Superman and The Fantastic Four at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. I have a lot of fun, and I think I know what I’m talking about.”

For the present, however, he said he’s just trying to enjoy the unique experience of coaching his younger brother and assisting his father.

“I’m having a blast.  It's so much fun.  We have a dynamic where it works.  With my dad, I’m not scared to say what I’m seeing or disagreeing with him.  It probably works better than most people think.”
Jenkins says talking basketball with his father is nothing new.  He’s been doing it his whole life.

“I’ve grown up watching him coach and I know what he’s trying to get out of his players.  We both know what the end game is.  We’ve been talking basketball since I was four years old, so I’m used to speaking his language.”

It’s just a bonus that his dad has always been the person he wanted to emulate.

“I see my dad as my biggest inspiration,” said Jenkins.  “I’ve always tried to be like him and live up to his standards as the ideal.  He is also one of my best friends.  When something happens, he's the first person I talk to.”



Peeler, the coach, also knows how unique the arrangement is to have both sons involved in his program–particularly the younger Max.

“I realize how special this is,” he said.  “It’s an incredible opportunity as a father.  Max has wanted to play college basketball since he was a little boy.  He used to dream about playing at a Division-I program like Kentucky, but he didn’t grow big enough.  Then one day he told me he was going to Erskine.  He’s one of the reasons I came back to coaching.”

The coach also said he’s keenly aware of the potential challenges in coaching his own son.

“It’s a complex dynamic for sure.  Some will say it’s ‘daddy ball.’  I remember telling him up front that he had to block out what people say about him playing because he’s, my son.”

Any animosity or concerns have quickly evaporated because Max has blossomed as the best shooter on the team this year.

“Max has certainly lived up to his part of it,” says Peeler with appreciation. “We’re just a better team with him on the floor.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the coach isn’t harder on his son than any other player on the Erskine team.

“There’s no question that I’m harder on him than anyone else,” Coach Peeler said matter-of-factly.  “The thing about him is he’s responded to it.  I’ve watched him develop.  He really understands the game.  He’s got such great knowledge and is a really good shooter.  He’s just a very smart player.”

“But he’s way harder on himself,” Peeler adds with a grin.  “If anything, that’s where Jenkins plays a critical role.  He can remind him that ‘dad knows how good you are even if he’s yelling at you!’”

Max just shrugged his shoulders when asked about his father’s tough-love approach to coaching him.

“It’s something I’ve gotten used to.  It’s just part of the game.  It’s about learning how to be tough, both mentally and physically.  Dad has always emphasized defense in his coaching which adds to that toughness.”

That toughness has served him well.  After graduating high school as an undersized (6-0, 135) and physically limited prospect, Max has worked tirelessly to improve at the margins.

“I’m not big and I’ve never had quick feet,” he said.  “I wasn’t faster or jumped higher than the other kids. So, I’ve learned to be quick with my hands and get shots off fast. I’ve got to be smarter than everybody else.”

Max is majoring in sports management.  

“My dream is to become a GM on a sports team someday,” he said.  “I have always loved baseball and have been a huge Braves fan.  I still am.  I especially love the front office part.  I used to play MLB The Show (video game) growing up. I would be the GM, making trades.  I just loved the idea of building a roster.”

While Jenkins said he’s always looked up to his dad growing up, Max claims that his brother has been his biggest influence.  He also said that it’s very natural to take directions from Jenkins, the assistant coach.

“I’ve always listened to my brother,” said Max.  “He’s much smarter than I am.  I don't always agree.  But he knows what he's talking about.  I really look up to him.  I have always called him ‘The Golden Child.’  He’s not as intense as dad and I are but he’s more studious. He’s a great brother.”

That’s not to say that his big brother didn’t assert his seniority at times while they were growing up.

“We used to play one-on-one basketball,” Max said.   “He was always bigger than me and would push me around sometimes.   That led to a few fights.” 

Their father, however, remembers a time when the two boys conspired together to rattle a game official at one of his Erskine games.

“One night at an Erskine game, I had a referee come up to me and say, ‘that No. 2, your son (Max), I remember throwing him out of the game when he was nine years old.”

Apparently, Max and Jenkins were screaming at the official and got the heave-ho.

“They were so proud at nine and 11 to be thrown out of a game,” the coach said. “I remember afterwards talking about it.  It was kind of embarrassing for the dad part of me.  I still have a poster in my office of us winning that game against Lees-McCrae and you can spot Max and Jenkins on the pile!”

Jenkins just laughed when recounting the same story.

“Actually, I think we probably got kicked out a couple times.  We were yelling at the refs or players on the other team.  We probably deserved it.”

He also said his father, the coach, was so laser-focused on the sidelines, he was oblivious to it all.

“He tunes it out.  He didn’t even notice it.  I think he didn’t even realize we got thrown out until years later!”

While neither are part of the Peeler Trifecta, the senior Peeler is just as proud of his two daughters.

Oldest child, Hope, who now lives and works in Charleston, S.C., may not have played sports at Erskine but she certainly is an obsessed supporter of its sports teams.

“Hope is an ardent fan when it comes to Erskine,” the coach says.  “She bleeds Erskine. She still reminds me of that girl that was in the movie, ‘Remember the Titans.’  (Sheryl, daughter of the football coach played by actor Bill Patton). She hasn’t changed, even now.”

Youngest daughter, Charlee, is 13 years old and lives in Kentucky with her mother, Maggie Durbin (the Peelers divorced in 2021).  Some day she might very well become the family’s greatest athlete.

“Charlee plays basketball and volleyball,” said her father.  “She’s the tallest (5-7) girl in seventh grade and has aspirations to play Division I college volleyball.”



Mark Peeler, now 63, hopes to see Charlee compete in college like her brothers did.  As for retiring from Erskine, the thought hasn’t even crossed his mind yet.

“It’s amazing the amount of energy and passion I still have,” said the coach.  “I still feel young at what I’m doing.  When it’s time to go, I’ll go.  You don’t want to hang around too long.  Hopefully I made Erskine better than I found it.”

More than anything, the family patriarch feels gratitude for the special journey he and his children took at a place called Erskine College.

“To have Max on the team and Jenkins coaching with me, I don’t think there’s anything in my 40 years of coaching that can match the last two years with them.”

Bob Rose is a longtime sports public relations executive who has worked for the San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, the NFL Cardinals, Cal, Stanford and other organizations. Bob works with the Conference Carolinas office to help tell the stories of the tremendous student-athletes, coaches and administrators in Conference Carolinas.