Eric Haut Promoted to Assistant Men's Basketball Coach
7/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
A four-year letterwinner and an All-MAC Second Team pick his senior season, Haut came back to Kent State after serving one season as a graduate assistant at Western Kentucky.
"I knew near the end of my playing career that I wanted to coach and being able to do that here at Kent State, I couldn't have asked for things to work out better," Haut said.
"I'm thrilled to have Eric back at Kent State," said Christian. "He is the epitome of everything we want in our players. He overachiever as a player and was a tremendously hard worker, which has spilled over into his coaching career. He saw the things on the floor as a player that coaches see. He is going to be a superstar in this business."
As a player at Kent State, Haut was part of the 2002 Elite Eight team and is one of the top three-point shooters in school history. He scored 983 career points and connected on 200 three-pointers, second most in school history behind former teammate Trevor Huffman.
After finishing his playing career with the Flashes, Haut worked as a graduate assistant at Western Kentucky under head coach Darrin Horn during the 2004-05 season.
"I learned a lot during my time at Western Kentucky, but when the opportunity to come back here presented itself, I could not pass it up," Haut said. "I have a passion for Kent State and for this program and there is no place I'd rather start my coaching career."
For his career, the sharp-shooting Haut was a .405 (200-494) three-point shooter and also was excellent from the charity stripe, connecting on 141-of-168 (.839) attempts. In his junior season, Haut knocked down 84-of-202 (.416) three-point attempts, the second-highest made three pointers in a single-season in Kent State history.
In his four years, Haut played 123 career games, fifth-most all-time, helping Kent State to a combined 98-34 (.742) record from 2000-2004. He played on four straight MAC East Division championship teams and played in three consecutive MAC Tournament championship games.
Haut, originally from Lansing, Mich., is engaged to former Kent State gymnast Jenny Eckel. The couple reside in Stow.
