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Eric Duft, a native of Kansas, grew up playing, and later coaching, basketball in the Sunflower State. But for the last 16 years, as an assistant coach for he has called Ogden his home. During those years, he has had many opportunities to pursue higher positions elsewhere, but one ambition kept him a Wildcat. In May 2022, that ambition became a reality.

“The reason I stayed is because I wanted to be the head coach,” Duft said, following the retirement of longtime head coach Randy Rahe. “I wanted to be loyal to Coach Rahe and help him every way I could, but, when he decided to move on, I wanted to be in a position to be the next head coach.”

Duft’s decision was also about family. He and his wife Sherri have four children, Jaret, Halle, Easton and Kourt. “My wife has been an unbelievable supporter of me throughout my career,” Duft said. “Our kids have grown up here and they have lived and died with every win and loss.”

Rahe retired with 316 career wins, the most in 91¶ÌÊÓƵ and Big Sky Conference history. As an assistant coach, Duft helped the Wildcats to five Big Sky titles and three trips to the NCAA Tournament.

As the 10th head coach in Weber State’s Division I history, Duft has high expectations for his squad.

“We want to be fearless in our pursuit of excellence, on and off the court,” he said. “We want to be a championship team on the court and be a championship team off the court, in every area of life. We want our players to develop as people, as students and as players, and give a great product to the university and the community that people can be proud of in every way.”