OGDEN — Weber State’s search for a new men’s basketball assistant coach technically ranged as far as one seat away.

Head coach Randy Rahe has promoted director of operations Jorge Ruiz to assistant coach. Ruiz has been at Weber State since 2018 and moves onto the coaching bench after four seasons with the Wildcats.

“I am really excited to promote Jorge Ruiz into a full-time coaching position,” Rahe told the Standard-Examiner. “He has worked extremely hard throughout his career to get where he is and I have great confidence that he will do an excellent job in this new role.”

The opening came when six-year assistant David Marek left for an assistant coaching job at Loyola Marymount. Eric Daniels, entering his fourth season at WSU, moves up to the third spot on Weber’s bench and Ruiz becomes the most junior coach on staff.

Associate head coach Eric Duft has been on the WSU staff for all 16 seasons since Rahe’s hire in 2006.

Ruiz, a California native, worked as a student manager under head coaches Herb Sendek and Bobby Hurley for two seasons at Arizona State. He coached for a year as an assistant at his alma mater, Rancho Cucamonga High School, then graduated from Grand Canyon University while working for two seasons under Dan Majerle.

“I’m excited (Rahe) has entrusted me with this opportunity,” Ruiz said. “I’ve got a village to thank for sure … I’ve worked for really good people and have been very fortunate, and that’s what put me in position at such a young age is being around really good people who took care of me throughout my career. I owe a lot to them.”

Ruiz also coached during events in the Adidas and Nike summer circuits, and at team camps.

He was responsible for video scouting at GCU and joined WSU’s staff as video coordinator for the 2018-19 season. He was promoted to director of operations in 2019.

Ruiz belongs to the Latino Association of Basketball Coaches, an organization dedicated to empowering and mentoring Latinx coaches at all levels.

“I’m happy and excited to represent the Latino community … We’re a small percentage of college coaches, so I’m glad to be part of the small percentage that’s been given that opportunity and trusted with it,” Ruiz said.

Video coordinator Brady Antonopoulos has been promoted to take over for Ruiz as director of basketball operations, a role that oversees the logistics of running a program such as travel management and schedule and recruiting coordination.

The operations director is not permitted to coach on the court during workouts or practices, though that restriction was temporarily lifted for the eight-week summer workout period of 2021 to help alleviate the effects of COVID-19, a period in which Ruiz was allowed to work with players on the court.

Antonopoulos joined WSU’s support staff ahead of the 2021-22 season after working as a manager and a walk-on player at Massachusetts.

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