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Left: Newly hired Weber State men's basketball assistant coach Shaun Vandiver. Right: newly hired WSU football assistant, and former player, Daniel Wright Jr.

Photos supplied, WSU Athletics

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Weber State running back Daniel Wright (23) rushes the ball against Northern Arizona on Saturday, March 27, 2021, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.

Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics

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Wyoming men's basketball assistant coach Shaun Vandiver is seen during a game Jan. 13, 2024, in Laramie, Wyo.

Troy Babbitt, Wyoming Athletics

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Shaun Vandiver

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Daniel Wright Jr.

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Weber State athletics announced the hires of assistant coaches for both the men’s basketball and football staffs Monday in Shaun Vandiver and Daniel Wright Jr.

Vandiver joins the bench of fourth-year head coach Eric Duft on the men’s basketball staff after his most recent seven years at Wyoming. The 6-foot-10 former Colorado standout will coach big men for Weber State.

“I’m excited to come to Weber State, which is a great basketball program with tremendous history and tradition,” Vandiver said in a news release. “My relationships with coach Duft, as well as Jeff Linder, Phil Beckner and Tim O’Flanigan, played a big part in my coming to Weber State. I can’t wait to get to work and get after it to help us win and be successful.”

Vandiver coached for Wyoming head coaches Allen Edwards (2018-20), Linder (2020-24) and Sundance Wicks (2024-25).

“He’s the elder statesman,” Wicks said about Vandiver last October, as reported by KGAB/7220 Sports. “He’s a role model. He’s a mentor. He’s a guy who’s lived it.”

“We are very excited to have Shaun join our staff at Weber State,” Duft said in a statement. “He was a great player and brings a tremendous amount of knowledge to the court. He is exceptional at coaching the big guys and is a tireless recruiter. Shaun and his wife Danielle will be great role models for the young men in our program.”

Vandiver, 56, began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Colorado and then a graduate assistant at Wyoming. He later returned to Laramie from 2005-10 as an assistant coach to Steve McClain and Heath Schroyer. In between, he spent a year each as an assistant coach at Bowling Green and Northern Colorado.

Vandiver left Wyoming to be an assistant coach for Leon Rice at Boise State for one season, then became head coach at Emporia State, a Division II school in Kansas, where he worked from 2011-18.

An Illinois native, Vandiver began his college career at Hutchinson Community College before going to Colorado where he became a two-time All-Big 8 First Team selection. Vandiver is fifth all-time in scoring at the school with 1,876 points in 91 games. He averaged 20.6 points and 10.6 rebounds over his three seasons at Colorado, was a first-round pick by the Golden State Warriors in 1991 and, after failing to reach a contract agreement with the team, played a nine-year professional career in Spain and Italy.

Vandiver takes the spot on the bench left by Leonard Perry, who left the staff after one season. Associate head coach Dan Russell and assistant Jorge Ruiz enter their fourth seasons as WSU assistants under Duft, with Duft in his 20th season overall at the school and Ruiz in his eighth season at WSU after working as director of operations.

Sources indicate Vandiver’s addition may be one of a few adjustments for the staff and the program at large this summer following the team’s 12-22 mark in the 2024-25 season.

Duft’s contract renewal came paired with “a forthcoming infusion of significant resources,” WSU athletic director Tim Crompton said in March. One such commitment was made known in April with $1 million donated by the Wheelwright Lumber Company family. Others may come to light soon.

Former player returns to WSU as football assistant

WSU announced former running back Daniel Wright Jr. as the football team’s new running backs coach, ostensibly completing the coaching staff for the 2025 season.

“Truly blessed, forever thankful!” Wright posted on social media site X upon the announcement of his hire. “Weber State Weber State GREAT GREAT GREAT.”

Wright played at Weber State in 2019 and the spring 2021 season. He ran for 33 yards in a 2019 game against Idaho State, then played in all six spring 2021 games, totaling 303 yards and three rushing touchdowns, including 91 yards against Southern Illinois in the playoffs.

Wright graduated as a first-generation college student with a degree in communication and a minor in psychology, and transferred to Tarleton State. In one season with the Texans, he rushed for 443 yards and two touchdowns, adding 15 catches for 172 yards and two more touchdowns.

He began coaching in 2023 with American River College (California), where he started his playing career, and moved to East Central University, a Division II college in Oklahoma, to coach the 2024 season. While in Oklahoma, he earned a master’s degree in sports administration.

Wright is one of several changes on head coach Mickey Mental’s staff following the 2024 season in which the Wildcats went 4-8, though the first change to the offensive staff. Wright replaces David Fiefia, who left WSU after three seasons to become head coach at Farmington High School where his family lives.

WSU legend Jamie Martin was also brought aboard as an offensive analyst. Mental (third year, head coach and offensive coordinator), Brent Myers (12th year, associate head coach and offensive line), Skyler Ridley (seventh year, receivers), Robert Conley (sixth year, tight ends) and Zach Larson (third year, quarterbacks) all return.

The defensive staff has undergone more change. Grant Duff (co-defensive coordinator, defensive tackles, Idaho State), Matty Ah You (linebackers, Colorado State) and Andre Dyson (cornerbacks, retired) left the staff after many years in Ogden.

The new defensive hires to replace them are former WSU player Keilan Benjamin (cornerbacks), Justin Mullgrav (linebackers) and Brady Daigh (defensive tackles). Joe Dale was elevated to sole defensive coordinator and will continue to coach safeties in his ninth season on staff. James Cowser (third year, defensive ends) also returns.

The 2025 season begins Aug. 30 with a road game at James Madison.