Eric Duft

Last updated
Eric Duft
Current position
TitleHead coach
Team Weber State
Conference Big Sky
Record38–27 (.585)
Biographical details
Born (1972-12-26) December 26, 1972 (age 51)
Sterling, Kansas, U.S.
Playing career
1991–1995 Sterling (KS)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1995–1997Central CC (KS) (assistant)
1997–1998Central CC (KS)
1998–1999 Cowley CC (assistant)
1999–2006 Hutchinson CC (assistant)
2006–2022 Weber State (assistant)
2022–presentWeber State
Head coaching record
Overall38–27 (.585)

Eric Preston Duft [1] (born December 26, 1972) is an American basketball coach who is the current head coach of the Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team. [2]

Contents

Playing career

After playing at Sterling High School in Kansas, Duft would continue his college playing career at local Sterling College, where he played four seasons of basketball. [3]

Coaching career

Duft's first coaching position came at Central Community College in Kansas as an assistant coach for two seasons, before spending a lone season as the team's head coach. He'd then move on to an assistant coaching position at Cowley Community College, before spending the next seven seasons as an assistant coach at Hutchinson Community College, where he worked under former Utah State head coach Tim Duryea. [4]

In 2006, he was hired as an assistant coach under Randy Rahe at Weber State, and remained on staff through Rahe's entire coaching tenure, which included three NCAA tournament appearances and five Big Sky Conference regular season titles. After Rahe announced his retirement on May 17, 2022, Duft was promoted to head coach two days later, making him the 10th head coach in Weber State basketball history. [5] [6]

Head coaching record

NCAA D1

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Weber State Wildcats (Big Sky)(2022–present)
2022–23 Weber State 18–1512–63rd
2023–24 Weber State 20–1211–74th
Weber State:38–27 (.585)23–13 (.639)
Total:38–27 (.585)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Manning</span> American basketball player and coach

Daniel Ricardo Manning is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is an assistant men's basketball coach at the University of Colorado. Manning played high-school basketball at Walter Hines Page High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, as well as Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Kansas. He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks, and played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years. After retiring from professional basketball Manning became an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Kansas. He won the national championship with the Jayhawks in 1988 as a player, and again as an assistant in 2008. He is the all-time leading scorer in Kansas basketball history with 2,951 points. The next closest player to his point total is Nick Collison, who is 854 points behind Manning.

Rex Andrew Walters Sr. is an American professional basketball coach and former player who last served as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Previously, he was the associate head coach at Wake Forest University under Danny Manning. Prior to Wake Forest, he spent time at Nevada under Eric Musselman. He has made head coaching stops with the Grand Rapids Drive, the University of San Francisco and Florida Atlantic University.

Danny Barrett is an American football coach and former player who is the running backs coach for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He served as the interim head coach for the UCF Knights in 2015, and is a former Canadian Football League (CFL) quarterback. He has been the head coach of the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders and the running backs coach of the Miami Dolphins.

Grant Billmeier is a former American professional basketball player and current head coach of the NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randy Peele</span> American mens college basketball coach (born 1957)

Randy Peele is an American college basketball coach. Peele served as the head men's basketball coach at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro from 1995 to 1999 and Winthrop University to 2007 to 2012.

Randy Michael Rahe is an American college basketball coach and the former head men's basketball coach at Weber State University. Randy Rahe was hired on March 23, 2006, as the 9th coach in Weber State's 47-year history. Rahe announced his retirement May 16, 2022 through the University, Rahe came to WSU from the University of Utah where he was an assistant under former coach Ray Giacoletti. Rahe was also an assistant under Stew Morrill for 13 seasons, first at Colorado State University and then at Utah State University. Rahe posted a record of 54–17 as a high school coach in Colorado from 1985 to 1988. He has also been an assistant coach at Colorado College, Colorado and Denver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weber State Wildcats</span> Athletic teams representing Weber State University

The Weber State Wildcats are the varsity athletic teams representing Weber State University in Ogden, Utah in intercollegiate athletics, sponsoring 16 teams. The Wildcats compete in NCAA Division I FCS and are charter members (1963) of the Big Sky Conference. The mascot is Waldo the Wildcat and team colors are purple and white, with black as an accessory color.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jory Collins</span> American basketball coach (born 1978)

Jory Michael Collins is an American women's college basketball coach currently serving as the head coach for the North Dakota State program. From 2010 until 2018, Collins was the head coach at Emporia State University. Collins led the Emporia State Lady Hornets to eight consecutive winning seasons. Collins is the second winningest coach in Emporia State history with a record of 199–58 (.774).

Brian Patrick Jankowski is a former American NCAA Division I football and basketball player for Weber State University. He played tight end for five years at the NCAA Division I FCS level and one season of basketball at the NCAA Division I level. He is currently training to become an American General Dentist and is set to graduate in 2019 from Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health in Mesa, Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Linder</span> American basketball coach (born 1977)

Jeffrey Michael Linder is an American college basketball coach and current men's assistant basketball coach at Texas Tech. Linder was previously an assistant coach at Emporia State, Midland, Weber State, San Francisco, and Boise State from 2001 to 2016.

Antonio Javier Pujol is an American college basketball coach, and the current head coach of the North Alabama Lions men's basketball team.

Brett Ballard is an American college men's basketball coach currently coaching at Washburn University. Prior to his current position, Ballard was an assistant coach for at Wake Forest University from 2014 to 2017, and the University of Tulsa from 2012 to 2014. He served as Baker University's head men's basketball coach from 2010 to 2012, and in various positions with the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team from 2003 to 2010.

Eric Nicholas Henderson is an American basketball coach. He currently coaches the South Dakota State Jackrabbits men's basketball team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Smiley</span> American basketball coach

Stephen Christopher Smiley is an American basketball coach who is the current head coach of the Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team.

Brad Korn is an American basketball coach who is the current head coach of the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks men's basketball team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Wulbrun</span> American basketball coach

Jeff Wulbrun is an American basketball coach who is the current head coach of the University of Denver Pioneers men's basketball team.

Greg Young is an American basketball coach who is currently the associate head coach for the Troy Trojans. He was most recently the head coach of the UT Arlington Mavericks men's basketball team.

The 2021–22 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Weber State University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by 16th-year head coach Randy Rahe, played their home games at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah, as members of the Big Sky Conference. After the season, Rahe would retire as the winningest coach in Weber State and Big Sky conference history. He would be succeeded by assistant coach Eric Duft.

Talvin Hester is an American basketball coach who is the current head coach of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs men's basketball team.

The 2022–23 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Weber State University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by first-year head coach Eric Duft, played their home games at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah, as members of the Big Sky Conference.

References

  1. "2012 Faculty & Staff Giving" (PDF), WSU News, vol. 16, no. 5, Weber State University, p. 6, April 2013, retrieved December 7, 2023
  2. "Eric Duft - Head Coach - Staff Directory". Weber State University Athletics.
  3. "Sterling native Eric Duft named as new Head Coach at Weber State". Hutch Post. May 19, 2022.
  4. "'Honored and privileged': Randy Rahe retires at Weber State; Eric Duft named new men's basketball coach".
  5. "Retirement time for both Randy and Laura Rahe". Weber State University Athletics.
  6. "Eric Duft takes over as new Weber State head coach". Weber State University Athletics.