Weber State University Athletics
Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- ericduft@weber.edu
- Season:
- 3rd season as head coach (19th at WSU)
The 2024-25 season was the third year for Eric Duft as the head coach of the Weber State men’s basketball program, and was his 19th season on the coaching staff with the Wildcats. Duft also acts as the General Manager of the Wildcat program.
After serving as an assistant coach with the Wildcats for many years, Duft was named the 10th head coach at Weber State in May 2022 after the retirement of longtime head coach Randy Rahe. Duft spent 16 seasons as an assistant coach under Rahe at Weber State.
After three seasons as head coach, Duft has led the Wildcats to 50 wins and has coached five players to All-Big Sky honors, including one conference MVP, and an NBA Draft pick. In his 16 seasons as an assistant coach, he also coached multiple all-conference and MVP players, including Damian Lillard, and was a part of five Big Sky Championships and three trips to the NCAA Tournament.
In the 2024-25 season, he coached Blaise Threatt to first-team All-Big Sky honors after Threatt led the Wildcats in points, rebounds, assists, and steals, and was the only player in the country to average at least 20 points, five rebounds, and four assists per game.
During the 2023-24 season, Duft led Weber State to 20 wins, including a road win at No. 23 Saint Mary’s, WSU’s first win against a ranked opponent in 23 years. Weber State also beat NCAA Tournament teams Yale and South Dakota State during the season.
He also coached WSU’s Dillon Jones to Big Sky MVP honors and to the first round of the NBA Draft in 2024. Jones also earned All-District and All-Big Sky first-team honors. He was also a top-five finalist for the Julius Erving Award, given to the top small forward in the country. Jones was drafted 26th overall in the NBA Draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder and joins Damian Lillard as the only two first round draft picks in Weber State history.
In his first season as head coach in 2022-23, Duft led the Wildcats to an 18-15 overall record and a trip to the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament.
He was named one of 10 finalists in the country for the Joe B. Hall Award, presented annually to the top first-time head coach in Division I basketball.
After a slow start to the season, Duft helped lead the Wildcats to a 75-72 win at previously undefeated Utah State. WSU posted a 12-6 record in Big Sky play to finish third in the league standings and beat Sacramento State in the first round of the conference tournament, before a double-overtime loss to Montana State in the semifinals.
Duft coached Wildcat sophomore Dillon Jones to first-team All-District honors and unanimous first-team All-Big Sky honors. Steven Verplancken also earned third-team all-conference honors.
During his 16 years as an assistant coach at Weber State, Duft helped lead the Wildcats to five Big Sky titles and three trips to the NCAA Tournament. He coached over 500 games as an assistant coach at Weber State.
Duft also helped coach six Big Sky Conference MVP’s, including Lillard who won the honor twice. He also helped lead the Wildcats to postseason tournament appearances in nine seasons and the Wildcats finished in the top three of the Big Sky in 13 of 16 seasons.
Duft was primarily responsible for the offensive play calling as an assistant coach and the Wildcats regularly ranked as one of the top offensive teams in the Big Sky.
Prior to coming to Weber State, he spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Hutchinson Junior College in Hutchinson, Kansas. He served two seasons under Tim Duryea, who later was the head coach at Utah State, and five seasons under Chad Wintz. The 2003-04 team posted a 29-4 record and were ranked among the top five in the country during the course of the season.
A native of Sterling, Kansas, Duft graduated from Sterling High in 1991, where he was the class valedictorian. He attended Sterling College where he was a four-year letterman, and graduated in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education.
Prior to his coaching stint at Hutchinson JC, Duft spent one season as an assistant coach at Cowley County (Kansas) CC in 1998-99. He also served as an assistant coach at Central (Kansas) Community College from 1995-97 and was the head coach for the 1997-98 season before going to Cowley CC.
He and his wife, Sherri, are the parents of four children Jaret, Halle, Easton and Kourt.
