By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Western Illinois University named Chad Boudreau the interim head men’s basketball coach on Friday as reports indicated Rob Jeter was finalizing a deal to become Southern Utah’s new head coach.

Boudreau has been the Leathernecks’ associate head coach for the last three seasons.

The announcement from athletics director Paul Bubb came after ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Jeter, who had been WIU’s coach since 2020, was heading to Southern Utah.

The Leathernecks are coming off a 16-14 season, including a 9-9 record and a fourth-place finish in the Summit League.

Boudreau, a Farmington, Iowa native, was the head coach at Highland College in Freeport, Illinois for three seasons before coming to WIU. He led the Cougars to three consecutive Arrowhead Conference titles with undefeated conference marks in 2019 and 2020. He was the conference’s coach of the year in all three seasons and was named NJCAA Region IV Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2020. 

Boudreau was an assistant on Jeter’s staff at the University of Milwaukee from 2005-2016. Boudreau helped lead the Panthers to Horizon League championships in 2006, 2011, and 2014. Milwaukee also qualified for six postseason tournaments during the 11-year stretch.

Boudreau was the lead assistant at Indian Hills Community College from 1999-2005 and recruited two eventual NBA draft picks. Indian Hills went on to advance to the NJCAA Final Four during his tenure. 

Boudreau graduated from Hannibal-LaGrange College with a bachelor’s degree in education in 1995 and from Southwest Baptist University with a master’s degree in education in 1999. He began his coaching career as a women’s basketball graduate assistant at HLGC. 

Photo: Western Illinois associate head coach Chad Boudreau has been named the program’s interim head coach. (Photo courtesy of WIU Athletic Communications)