Jeff Neubauer
Encyclopedia
Jeff Neubauer is an American college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....

 coach and the current head men's basketball coach at Eastern Kentucky University
Eastern Kentucky University
Eastern Kentucky University, commonly referred to as Eastern or by the acronym EKU by local residents, is an undergraduate and graduate teaching and research institution located in Richmond, Kentucky, U.S.A.. EKU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...

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The 2011-12 season will be Jeff Neubauer's seventh year as head coach at Eastern Kentucky University. The Colonels have twice reached the postseason in six years under Neubauer and twice reached the 20-win plateau. This past February, Neubauer became just the third EKU coach in program history to reach 100 career victories when the Colonels defeated Jacksonville State, 57-51.

In Neubauer’s second season at EKU, the Colonels went dancing in the 2007 NCAA tournament after defeating Austin Peay in the Ohio Valley Conference championship game, 63-62. The 2006-07 Eastern squad won the OVC title without a first team all-conference player on the roster.

Eastern Kentucky also advanced to postseason play in 2010 when the Colonels earned a spot in the College Basketball Invitational thanks in part to setting a program single-season record with 15 home victories.

“We have been very fortunate here at EKU to attract and coach a group of outstanding young men,” Neubauer said. “We have been incredibly pleased with the way that our teams have competed and represented the University throughout our first six years. It is our intention to continue to build on the unselfishness and consistency that we have continually encouraged here at EKU.”

Neubauer, 40, is quickly moving up the all-time EKU coaching win chart. He is currently third on that list with 102 victories and a .542 career winning percentage at Eastern Kentucky. This past season, the Colonels won five consecutive road games in January, their longest such streak since 1965, while holding the opposition to just 54.6 points per game in that stretch.

In 2008-09, the Colonels were especially impressive against opponents from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) with victories over Ball State, Ohio and 2009 NCAA tournament participant, Akron. Former EKU player Mike Rose led the nation in three-point shooting that year at 48.1 percent.

Under Neubauer’s guidance, the Colonels went on an amazing run at the end of 2006-07, winning 11 of 13 games to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament. During that stretch, EKU shot 47.5 percent from the floor while holding the opposition to just 59.8 points per game.

The 2006-07 Eastern Kentucky team led the nation in fewest fouls per game (13.6) and also paced the Ohio Valley Conference in field goal percentage (46.2).

In his first season as head coach, Neubauer and the 2005-06 Colonels qualified for the season-ending OVC tournament. Along the way, EKU tallied five conference road victories, the most by an Eastern squad in over 30 years. The Colonels nearly pulled off a dramatic upset over Big Ten opponent Wisconsin at the Paradise Jam tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but fell to the Badgers in double-overtime.

Neubauer has coached six all-conference players, an OVC Co-Freshman of the Year, an OVC tournament MVP and the program’s top two all-time leading scorers in his six years at Eastern Kentucky.

Before arriving at Eastern Kentucky, Neubauer served three seasons as the top assistant at West Virginia under head coach John Beilein where he helped fuel the Mountaineers’ rapid rise to national prominence.

The rebuilding process at West Virginia culminated in the Mountaineers’ dramatic run through the 2005 NCAA tournament. WVU earned triumphs over five top-20 programs in the regular season that year before reaching the Big East tournament’s championship game. Then, after upsetting second-seeded Wake Forest in double overtime in the NCAA tournament’s second round, the Mountaineers knocked off Bobby Knight’s Texas Tech team in the Sweet 16. The spirited march came to a halt when the University of Louisville prevailed in overtime to complete a highly-contested Elite Eight battle. West Virginia finished 2004-05 ranked 12th in the country.

In 2003-04, West Virginia secured its first NIT victories since 1997 while also defeating a pair of nationally-ranked opponents.

Neubauer followed Beilein to Morgantown, W.Va., in 2002 after the two enjoyed similar success together for five years at the University of Richmond, where the Spiders won 100 games. While at Richmond, Neubauer helped recruit and coach numerous all-conference players, a pair of league rookies of the year, a conference player of the year and a student-athlete of the year.

In Neubauer’s second season at Richmond, the Spiders qualified for the NCAA tournament and then proceeded to surprise SEC foe South Carolina in the opening round, 62-61. Richmond earned a winning record in five of the six years Neubauer was on staff while notching NIT victories in both 2001 and 2002.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years and I’ve had a lot of assistants, and Jeff’s basketball IQ is just terrific,” Beilein said. “He understands the game and is not afraid to be innovative, but he also knows how important it is to be fundamentally sound.”

Prior to Richmond, Neubauer served three seasons as a graduate assistant coach at The Citadel, where he also earned an MBA degree.

A native of Slidell, La., Neubauer was an outstanding student-athlete at La Salle University in Philadelphia, where he played point guard under head coach William “Speedy” Morris. The Explorers went 30-2 and earned an NCAA tournament berth in Neubauer’s freshman season. La Salle accumulated two more postseason berths and an overall record of 83-36 during his four years on the squad. Neubauer, team captain as a senior, earned honorable mention GTE All-Academic accolades as a cum laude graduate in finance.

He is married to the former Karen Feret of Hackettstown, N.J.

Head coaching record

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