Big Sky Conference

Weber State signs Rahe to 8-year extension

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Editor’s note: this story was originally reported by Brett Hein of the Ogden Standard-Examiner. 

The Big Sky Conference’s all-time leader in league victories will be staying in Ogden well into the next decade.

Randy Rahe, Weber State’s 10th-year head men’s basketball coach, signed a lucrative contract extension through the 2023-24 season, first reported by the Standard-Examiner in Ogden, Utah. Rahe, the four-time Big Sky Coach of the Year, is 129-43 against conference competition over the last 10 seasons. His win total surpassed longtime Montana State head coach Mick Durham for the most against Big Sky opponents since the league was founded in 1963.

Weber State head coach Randy Rahe

Weber State head coach Randy Rahe

“I’ve always said it’s an honor and privilege to be the basketball coach here, and I still feel that way every bit as strongly,” Rahe told SE sportswriter Brett Hein. “Weber State has an incredible tradition and history.”

Rahe was rumored to be among the top candidates for the opening at Boise State. Instead, he will lead Weber State for the foreseeable future. The contract reportedly includes a base salary of $342,594, up from the base salary of $312,594 in his previous contract. His previous contract included more than $112,000.

Rahe is the 50th-highest paid head coach among the 68 head coaches of NCAA Tournament team. By comparison, University of Utah head coach Larry Krystowiak had a base salary of $2.575 million last season according to a report from USA Today. Rahe makes more than San Jose State head coach Dave Wojcik ($331,008) and Air Force (undisclosed) among the 12 men’s basketball programs.

Randy Rahe accepts trophy

Weber State head coach Randy Rahe accepts his third Big Sky Tournament championship trophy in Reno in March/ photo by Brooks Nuanez

 

The 55-year-old Rahe has claimed five regular-season league titles and three BSC Tournament championships. Weber posted a 26-9 record last season, winning the regular-season title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years. Rahe is 208-113 during his 10 years at WSU, his first head coaching job after serving an assistant at Rocky Mountain schools like Colorado (1989-90), Denver (1990-91), Colorado State (1991-1998), Utah State (1998-2004) and Utah (2004-2006).

Weber’s season ended March 18 with a 71-53 loss to Xavier in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats defeated Montana to win the Big Sky title in Reno, Nevada earlier that month. Five days after the Xavier loss, Rahe signed the contract extension according to the report from the Standard-Examiner.

 “Stew Morrill gave me this advice a long time ago: Never take a job for money. You take a job for the fit for you and your family — is it a place where you feel like you can be successful?” Rahe told Hein and the Standard-Examiner.

“I have a pretty damn good job if we do what we’re supposed to. We want to be in a position to challenge for a conference championship every year, and jobs like that are hard to come by.”

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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