Weber State University Athletics
Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- randyrahe@weber.edu
- Season:
- 16th
After 16 years as the head coach at Weber State and as the Big Sky’s winningest coach, Randy Rahe retired in May 2022.
Rahe left Weber State as the school and the Big Sky’s all-time leader in wins with 316.
Rahe assumed the reins of the Weber State program in 2006 and guided the Wildcats to a career record of 316-191 in 16 seasons at the helm. He led Weber State to five Big Sky Championships, three trips to the NCAA Tournament, and was named Big Sky Coach of the Year four times.
He coached six players to Big Sky MVP honors, including NBA superstar Damian Lillard, who was twice named conference MVP. Lillard also earned All-American honors in 2012. Joel Bolomboy was also named MVP in 2016 and was selected in the NBA Draft. Rahe coached 41 players to all-conference honors.
He finished his career with a 198-85 record in Big Sky Conference games, the most games coached and most victories in conference history.
Rahe has coached college basketball for more than 35 years, with stops as an assistant coach at Colorado College, Colorado, Denver, Colorado State, Utah State, and Utah, prior to coming to Weber State.
He led Weber State to Big Sky titles in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014, and 2016, and appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 2007, 2014, and 2016. He had winning seasons in 14 of the 16 seasons and his Wildcat teams won 20 or more games nine times and advanced to national postseason play nine times. He guided the Wildcats to 25 wins in 2011-12, 26 wins in 2015-16, and a school-record 30 wins in the 2012-13 season.
The Wildcats finished in the top three in the Big Sky standings in 13 of Rahe’s 16 seasons at Weber State. WSU also won at least 10 Big Sky games in 14 of his 16 seasons.
During the 2021-22 season, Rahe reached two coaching milestones, while leading the Wildcats to his ninth 20th win season in 16 years. He won his 300th career game in Weber State’s win over Green Bay on November 21. On February 12, he coached in his 500th career game at Weber State. He is the only coach in WSU or Big Sky history two win 300 games or coach 500 games.
In 2018, Rahe became the Big Sky Conference’s all-time leader in wins. He is also Weber State’s career leader in wins and conference wins. He has also coached 41 Big Sky All-Conference performers, including Koby McEwen, Dillon Jones and Seikou Sisoho Jawara in 2021-22. McEwen was also named the Big Sky Newcomer of the Year.
Rahe had great success at the Dee Events Center where he ammassed a career record of 187-45 (.806) at home. He was also an incredible 113-27 (.807) home record in Big Sky games. The Wildcats led the Big Sky in attendance for 11-straight seasons and had and one of the best attendances of any school in the western United States. In 2013-14, WSU set a Big Sky record with 27 straight conference regular season home victories.
In 2020-21, Weber State was a perfect 11-0 at home, just the fourth time since the Dee Events Center was built that WSU was undefeated at home.
In 2019-20, Rahe guided Jerrick Harding to become Weber State's all-time leading scoring and third in Big Sky history. Harding earned All-Big Sky honors in each of his final three seasons.
In 2016-17, the Wildcats won 20 games and posted a 12-6 conference record and advanced to the championship game of the Big Sky Tournament. WSU also advanced to the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Rahe coached Jeremy Senglin to First Team All-Conference and All-District honors. Senglin made the most 3-pointers became the Big Sky’s career leader in 3-pointers.
During the 2015-16 season, Rahe led the Wildcats to a 26-9 season that included a Big Sky regular season title and the conference postseason tournament championship. Weber State also made its second trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last three years. Rahe coached Joel Bolomboy to Big Sky MVP and Defensive Player of the Year honors as well as Jeremy Senglin to first-team All-Big Sky honors. Bolomboy was drafted in the second round of the 2016 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz.
The Wildcats also won the Big Sky title during the 2013-14 season, their fourth title in eight years. Weber State also hosted and won the conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 15th time. The Wildcats fell by nine points to Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
He also led the Wildcats to Big Sky regular season titles in 2007, 2009 and 2010.
In addition to being named Big Sky Coach of the Year for a record four times, Rahe has also been a finalist for the Skip Prosser Award, honoring the nation’s head coaches who also exhibit strong moral character.
He has coached five players to Big Sky MVP honors six times. Joel Bolomboy won the honor in 2016, and Davion Berry won in 2014. Damian Lillard won the award in 2010 and 2012, Kellen McCoy in 2009 and David Patten in 2007.
Rahe recruited and coached Lillard to All-American status in 2012, the first player in Big Sky history to be named to an All-American team. Lillard is second in Weber State history in career scoring and career 3-pointers and is the school’s all-time leader in free throws and free throw percentage. Lillard went on to be the first player in Weber State history to be drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft when he was selected sixth overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2012 NBA Draft. He was named Rookie of the Year in 2013 and is a five-time NBA All-Star and All-NBA performer. In 2017, Lillard’s No. 1 jersey was retired at Weber State.
A native of Bancroft, Iowa, Rahe was named the ninth coach in Weber State history in March 2006. In his first season as head coach, with just three returning players from the previous season, Rahe put together a squad of newcomers and began the process of restoring the winning tradition of Wildcat basketball. That season he surpassed all expectations, leading the Wildcats to a 20-12 record and a tie for the Big Sky Conference regular-season title. The Wildcats then won the postseason conference tournament and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament. In the 2007-08 season Rahe led the Wildcats to a 16-14 overall record and a third place finish in the Big Sky. During the 2008-09 season, Weber State finished 15-1 in Big Sky Conference play and won the conference regular season title. WSU became the first Big Sky team ever to finish 8-0 on the road in conference action. WSU senior Kellen McCoy was named the Big Sky MVP.
In the 2009-10 season the Wildcats had another strong year where they repeated as Big Sky champions. WSU posted a 20-11 overall record and a 13-3 mark in Big Sky play. Lillard, a sophomore that season, was honored as the Big Sky MVP. WSU advanced to the NIT for the second-straight season, losing at Cincinnati in the first round.
The 2010-11 season was another outstanding coaching job by Rahe. Despite losing Lillard to a season-ending injury just nine games into the season, the Wildcats still managed to post a season record of 18-14 and make a run at the Big Sky title. They also finished 11-5 in the Big Sky, taking third in the league standings. After starting the Big Sky season with a pair of road losses, the Wildcats won 11 of their next 13 league games to get into a fight for the league title. WSU beat Eastern Washington in the first round of the conference tournament, before losing in the semifinals of the tournament. The ‘Cats also advanced to the College Basketball Invitational where they lost to Oregon in the first round. Two players (Scott Bamforth and Kyle Bullinger) earned First Team Big Sky All-Conference honors.
During the 2011-12 season, Weber State posted a 25-7 overall record and a 14-2 record in Big Sky Conference play and again advanced to postseason play where the Wildcats won a first round game in the collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament. Weber State also led the nation in free throw percentage at 81.4 percent, the single-best team percentage in the history of the Big Sky Conference. WSU also set a school record for three-point field goals made.
The season was highlighted by the play of Lillard who became and All-American, District VIII Player of the Year, and Big Sky MVP as he put together perhaps the greatest season in school history, finishing second in the nation in scoring at 24.5 points per game. Lillard set a school record for single-season points with 784, the third most points in Big Sky history and became the first player in the history of the conference to earn All-American honors. He was also a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, John Wooden Award and Oscar Robertson Award.
After losing Lillard to the NBA, Rahe led the Wildcats to a historic season in 2012-13 as the Wildcats won a Big Sky record 30 games, the first time in conference history to do so. WSU finished the year 30-7 overall and won a record 18 Big Sky games and advanced to postseason play for the fifth straight season. WSU also became the first team in Big Sky history to advance to the championship game of a national postseason tournament where they lost to East Carolina in the championship game of the Collegeinsider.com Tournament. The Wildcats also set a school record with 17 home wins and tied a school record with 11 road wins.
During the season, the Wildcats were the best shooting team in the country, finishing first in the nation in field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage. The ‘Cats also finished in the top 10 in the nation in four other categories and were one of just eight teams in the nation to win 30 games during the season. Davion Berry, Scott Bamforth, Kyle Tresnak and Frank Otis all earned Big Sky All-Conference honors. Coach Rahe was also honored as the 2013 Utah Sportsperson of the Year by the Utah/Idaho Chapter of the National M.S. Society.
Rahe was a two-sport athlete at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa as a point guard on the men’s basketball team and a shortstop on the baseball team. He earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1982. He began his coaching career on the high school level in Colorado. During his tenure as the head coach at Stratton High School (1985-88) he was twice named District Coach of the Year leading his teams to district and league championships in 1986, 1987 and 1988. His teams posted an overall mark of 54-17, earning two third-place finishes in state tournaments.
Rahe got his first taste of coaching on the collegiate level in 1988-89, when he joined the staff at Colorado College as an assistant. He went on to serve as an assistant at the University of Colorado (1989-90) and the University of Denver (1990-91) before beginning his long association with Stew Morrill at Colorado State and Utah State.
Following Morrill to Utah State, Rahe was part of an Aggie staff which, in six seasons, helped the team compile a 143-48 record, winning five Big West Conference championships, earn three appearances in the NCAA Tournament with a first round win over Ohio State and two NIT berths. In his last season (2003-04) at USU, the Aggies were ranked as high as 19th in the nation. From Utah State Rahe went to the University of Utah in 2004-05 where he would spend the next two seasons as an assistant coach under Ray Giacoletti. In his first season with the Utes, Utah finished 29-6, won the Mountain West Championship, and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. They were led that season by Andrew Bogut who earned National Player of the Year honors and went on to become the first pick in the 2005 NBA Draft.
Rahe was born June 12, 1960. He and his wife Laura are the parents of two sons, Luke and Kade. Laura is a women’s basketball official in the Mountain West, WAC and West Coast Conferences.
RANDY RAHE AT WEBER STATE
| YEAR | OVERALL | BIG SKY | FINISH | POSTSEASON | BIG SKY MVP |
| 2006-07 | 20-12 | 11-5 | 1st | NCAA 1st Round | David Patten |
| 2007-08 | 16-14 | 10-6 | 3rd | ||
| 2008-09 | 21-10 | 15-1 | 1st | NIT 1st Round | Kellen McCoy |
| 2009-10 | 20-11 | 13-3 | 1st | NIT 1st Round | Damian Lillard |
| 2010-11 | 18-14 | 11-5 | 3rd | CBI 1st Round | |
| 2011-12 | 25-7 | 14-2 | 2nd | CIT 2nd Round | Damian Lillard |
| 2012-13 | 30-7 | 18-2 | 2nd | CIT Runner-up | |
| 2013-14 | 19-12 | 14-6 | 1st | NCAA 1st Round | Davion Berry |
| 2014-15 | 13-17 | 8-10 | 7th | ||
| 2015-16 | 26-9 | 15-3 | 1st | NCAA 1st Round | Joel Bolomboy |
| 2016-17 | 20-14 | 12-6 | 3rd | CIT 2nd Round | |
| 2017-18 | 20-11 | 13-5 | t3rd | ||
| 2018-19 | 18-15 | 11-9 | t4th | ||
| 2019-20 | 12-20 | 8-12 | t8th | ||
| 2020-21 | 17-6 | 12-3 | t2nd | ||
| 2021-22 | 21-12 | 13-7 | t3rd | ||
| TOTAL | 316-191 | 198-85 |
