Eastern men's basketball assistant Craig Ehlo steps down

After two seasons as an assistant coach for the Eastern Washington University men’s basketball program, Craig Ehlo has stepped down July 11, EWU head coach Jim Hayford said.

Ehlo, who spent 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association playing with Houston, Cleveland, Atlanta and Seattle, joined the Eastern coaching staff shortly after Hayford was hired on March 29, 2011. Besides assisting with recruiting and on-floor coaching, Ehlo was EWU’s primary coach handling individual player development.

“I am very grateful for having the opportunity to work with a great friend in building the foundation of EWU basketball,” Hayford said. “Craig is a wonderful person and it will be great to see him back on the TV doing broadcast work. We owe a big thanks to Craig for all his contributions.”

Ehlo settled in Spokane after leaving the NBA following the 1996-97 season. Following his retirement from professional basketball, Ehlo worked extensively as a television analyst, including full schedules for the Seattle SuperSonics and Gonzaga Bulldogs. He has also worked on broadcasts for his alma mater, Washington State University, as well as EWU.

He has already been selected to the Washington State University Hall of Fame (2009) and the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame (1996), and was one of 10 inaugural basketball inductees into the Pacific-10 Conference Hall of Honor (2002). In addition, he was one of 12 inaugural inductees into the Lubbock Independent School District Athletics Hall of Honor in 2010 and had his jersey retired by Monterey High School in Lubbock, Texas in 1995.

Ehlo played at Odessa Junior College in Texas, then concluded his collegiate playing career at WSU in Pullman, Wash. He helped lead the 1982-83 Cougars to a 22-6 record and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Ehlo eventually returned to Washington State to earn his bachelor’s degree in 1999.

His son, Austin Ehlo, currently attends EWU after playing football for two seasons at Whitworth. He was a walk-on receiver in the spring for the Eagle Football team, and is expected to re-join the squad when classes resume in September.