Jeff Rutter joined the Western Michigan men's basketball staff as an assistant coach in May of 2022. The 2025-26 season will be his fourth with the Broncos.
The 2024-25 campaign saw Western Michigan return to the MAC Tournament, making it back-to-back appearances in Cleveland for the Broncos for the first time since the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. Junior guard Chansey Willis Jr. paced the MAC in both scoring and assists, and was named to the All-MAC Second Team, the program's first Second Team selection since Thomas Wilder in 2016. The Broncos also continued to dominate the glass, leading the league in offensive rebounding for the third straight season. Western Michigan's 13.2 offensive boards per game ranked 24th in NCAA Division I, and its overall average of 37.8 rebounds was second-best in the MAC and 54th in the country. The Brown and Gold led the league with five Academic All-MAC selections, tied for the most in program history, and set new program records with four CSC Academic All-District honorees and seven named to the NABC Honors Court.
In Rutter's second season, WMU had a pair of guards earn accolades from the MAC, with sophomore JaVaughn Hannah becoming the third player in program history to win the MAC Sixth Man of the Year award, and B. Artis White being selected All-MAC Honorable Mention. Hannah and Max Burton were Academic All-MAC honorees, and the duo also became the first Broncos to receive Academic All-District selections since 2019. Western Michigan continued to hit from long range, as it buried 253 triples, surpassing the 250 from the 2022-23 campaign as the second-highest mark in program history. WMU continued to assert itself on the glass as well, leading the MAC in offensive rebounding (12.6/game, 34th nationally), and ranking among the top-3 in the conference in total rebounding and rebounding margin.
During his first season in Kalamazoo, Rutter aided in the development of a pair of Bronco guards who received All-MAC accolades, with senior Lamar Norman Jr. earning Honorable Mention recognition and freshman Seth Hubbard being named to the All-Freshman Team. During the season, Norman became the 45th player in WMU program history to surpass 1,000 career points. Behind Norman and Hubbard, WMU hit 250 three-pointers, which was then the second-highest, single-season total in program history. Western Michigan also led the MAC in both rebounding margin (+4.7/game, 34th nationally) and offensive rebounding (12.2/game, 27th nationally).
Rutter arrived in Kalamazoo having spent the previous five seasons at Miami University. During his time in Oxford, he helped guide the RedHawks to 70 wins and an appearance in the 2018 CBI.
Several Miami players earned All-MAC honors with Rutter on the Miami sidelines, including Darrian Ringo, an All-MAC Defensive Team honoree who was the only player in the country to finish in the top-10 in both steals and assists. Mekhi Lairy, Dae Dae Grant, Dalonte Brown and Nike Sibande were named to the All-Freshman Team, with Sibande also being named the MAC Freshman of the Year and becoming an All-Conference selection. Grant also received All-MAC recognition, and Brown exceeded 1,500 points and 800 rebounds in his career. MU also had seven Academic All-MAC performers during his tenure.
Before his time in Oxford, Rutter spent four seasons at Drake, primarily as an assistant coach. He then took over as the interim head coach for the Bulldogs for the remainder of the 2016-17 season. While at Drake, Rutter was the lead recruiter for the program’s all-time leading scorer and three-time Missouri Valley Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year Reed Timmer. Timmer also earned a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team. Additionally, Rutter helped the Bulldogs land First Team All-Conference selection Nick McGlynn, and recruited a group that led the nation with seven NABC Honors Court selections.
During his stint as interim head coach, Rutter helped Drake to a five-game home winning streak, its first win at Missouri State in 25 years, and a third-place finish in the MVC in scoring. The Bulldogs were also the top three-point shooting team in the league.
Before his time at Drake, Rutter served for seven seasons on staff at Iowa State. While in Ames, he coached 13 All-Big 12 student-athletes and 32 players who went on to play professionally, including nine who reached the NBA. The Cyclones made a pair of NCAA Tournaments during his time there, and won their first-round game on both occasions. Rutter’s first four seasons at Iowa State were as an assistant under Greg McDermott, before assuming the director of operations role under Fred Hoiberg.
After serving as a graduate assistant at North Dakota State from 1990-92, Rutter began his coaching career as a full-time assistant at NDSU from 1992-95. He helped the Bison win the 1995 NCC Championship and advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament in both 1994 and 1995.
Following his time at NDSU, he spent a season as an assistant at Stetson before becoming the head coach at University of Wisconsin-Parkside from 1996-03. Rutter then moved on to Northern Iowa for three seasons, where he helped the Panthers make three consecutive NCAA Tournaments, before following Coach McDermott to Iowa State.
Rutter and his wife, Shari, have a son, AJ, and daughter-in-law, Rachel.
