Jeff Linder

Jeffrey Michael Linder (born June 21, 1977) is an American college basketball coach and current men's basketball head coach at Wyoming. Linder was previously an assistant coach at Emporia State, Midland, Weber State, San Francisco, and Boise State from 2001 to 2016.

Jeff Linder
Linder in 2016 with Boise State.
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamWyoming
ConferenceMountain West
Record48–42 (.533)
Biographical details
Born (1977-06-21) June 21, 1977
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Playing career
1995–1996Mesa State
1997–2000Western State
Position(s)Point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2001–2004Emporia State (assistant)
2004–2006Midland (assistant)
2006–2008Weber State (assistant)
2008–2010San Francisco (assistant)
2010–2016Boise State (assistant)
2016–2020Northern Colorado
2020–presentWyoming
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2000–2001Colorado (asst. director of basketball operations)
Head coaching record
Overall128–92 (.582)
Tournaments0–1 (NCAA Division I)
4–0 (CIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
CIT (2018)
Awards
Big Sky Coach of the Year (2019)

From 2016 to 2020, Linder was head coach at Northern Colorado. In the midst of an NCAA investigation and sanctions over rules violations from the previous head coach, Linder led Northern Colorado to three straight winning seasons and the 2018 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament title. In 2019, the Big Sky Conference named Linder the Coach of the Year in men's basketball. Linder became head coach at Wyoming in 2020.

Early life and education

Born on June 21, 1977, in Denver, Linder grew up in Lafayette, Colorado, and graduated from Centaurus High School in 1995.[1][2] After high school, Linder first attended Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University) on a basketball scholarship. In 1997, Linder transferred to Western State College of Colorado (now Western Colorado University), where he played basketball from 1997 to 2000 playing at point guard.[3][1] As a senior in 1999–2000, Linder was an All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honorable mention for averaging 4.9 assists per game, second best in the conference.[3]

Coaching career

Early coaching career (2000–2016)

In 2000, Linder got his first college basketball job as assistant director of basketball operations under Ricardo Patton at Colorado.[4] He then was an assistant at Emporia State from 2001 to 2004 under David Moe and Midland College from 2004 to 2006 under Grant McCasland.[5][4]

Returning to NCAA Division I, Linder became an assistant coach at Weber State under Randy Rahe in 2006. At Weber State, Linder helped guide the 2006–07 team to Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament titles, resulting in an appearance in the NCAA tournament. Linder also helped recruit future top-10 NBA Draft pick Damian Lillard.[5]

Then in 2008, Linder was an assistant coach at San Francisco under Rex Walters, who promoted Linder to associate head coach in 2009.[5] San Francisco upset no. 8 Gonzaga 81–77 in overtime on January 30, 2010.[5]

From 2010 to 2016, Linder was an assistant coach at Boise State; he was the associate head coach beginning in 2013.[5] Linder helped Boise State qualify for the NCAA Tournament in 2013 and 2015, the first at-large NCAA bids in program history.[5] Boise State led the Mountain West Conference in points per game in three of his first five seasons and shared the 2014–15 Mountain West regular season title with San Diego State.[5][6]

Northern Colorado (2016–2020)

On May 1, 2016, Linder was hired by Northern Colorado as the 19th men's basketball head coach in program history.[7] Linder entered Northern Colorado after the firing of B. J. Hill for numerous NCAA rules violations.[8] After an 11–18 debut season in 2016–17, Linder led Northern Colorado to three straight seasons with 20 or more wins.[8] The 2017–18 team had a school record 26 wins and won the 2018 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.[9]

In 2018–19, Linder was named the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year after leading Northern Colorado to an all time best 15–5 conference record.[10] Northern Colorado went 15–5 in Big Sky play again in 2019–20.[8]

Wyoming (2020–present)

On March 17, 2020, Linder was hired at Wyoming as the 22nd head coach in program history.[11] Inheriting a team that won only two conference games,[12] Linder led Wyoming to a 14–11 (7–9 Mountain West Conference) regular season record in his debut season.[13]

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Northern Colorado Bears (Big Sky Conference) (2016–2020)
2016–17 Northern Colorado 11–187–118th
2017–18 Northern Colorado 26–1211–75thCIT champion
2018–19 Northern Colorado 21–1115–52nd
2019–20 Northern Colorado 22–915–52nd
Northern Colorado: 80–50 (.615)48–28 (.632)
Wyoming Cowboys (Mountain West Conference) (2020–present)
2020–21 Wyoming 14–117–98th
2021–22 Wyoming 25–913–54thNCAA Division I First Four
2022–23 Wyoming 9–224–1411th
Wyoming: 48–42 (.533)24–28 (.462)
Total:128–92 (.582)

      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

References
  1. 2009-10 USF Men's Basketball Media Guide. University of San Francisco. 2009. p. 51. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  2. "Men's Basketball (Roster)". Western State College of Colorado. Archived from the original on June 25, 1998. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  3. "1999-2000 Game Stories/News (Men's Basketball)". Western State College of Colorado. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  4. "Jeff Linder". Kauffman Sports Management Group. Archived from the original on January 29, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  5. "Jeff Linder". broncosports.com. Boise State University. 2015. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017.
  6. "2014-15 Mountain West Conference Season Summary".
  7. "Jeff Linder". University of Northern Colorado. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  8. Rooney, Pat (March 17, 2020). "Centaurus alum, former CU staffer Jeff Linder taking over at Wyoming". Boulder Daily Camera. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  9. "Jeff Linder". University of Wyoming. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  10. "Northern Colorado's Jeff Linder Named #BIGSKYMBB Coach of the Year" (Press release). Big Sky Conference. March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  11. Seeman, Nick (March 17, 2020). "Jeff Linder Named Head Coach of Cowboy Basketball Program". GoWyo.com. University of Wyoming. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  12. "2019-20 Wyoming Cowboys Roster and Stats".
  13. "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule".
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