Jeff Culver, who led UCCS to its first RMAC championship in program history, is in his 14th season as the Head Coach of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball program in 2025-26. He's coached the only NBA Draft pick and the only All-Americans in program history.
2024-25 was a return to form for Coach Culver and the Men's Basketball program, as the team finished 17-12 and returned to the RMAC postseason for the first time in two seasons. The Mountain Lions owned a stellar 10-4 record on their home court, going 11-9 in conference action. Redshirt-Senior forward William Becker stood out for the Mountain Lions during the season, collecting a First Team All-RMAC Selection, and earning his first career Defensive Player of the Year honor in his final season with the Mountain Lions.
The 2023-24 season saw the team slide to a 12-16 record as the team was riddled with injury throughout the season. Despite the adversity the squad achieved a season best win streak of four games during the month of January, as the team narrowly missed the playoffs at the start of March.
The 2022-23Â UCCS Men's Basketball team finished the season with a record of 15-14 making it the fifth straight, full-length season, with a winning record. The Mountain Lions finished the conference schedule with a 9-13 record, missing the RMAC tournament.Â
The 2021-22 team (21-9, 15-7 RMAC) posted one of their strongest starts in recent memory after beginning 5-0 for the first time in seven years and ending the season 12-3 in their final 15 games. That marked just the third time in program history that the Mountain Lions have won 20 or more games, with two of those seasons coming under the direction of Culver. The impressive season stretched into the postseason with the Mountain Lions making their first RMAC Semifinal appearance while winning their first RMAC Tournament game since the 2014-15 season after claiming a 74-71 statement win over Colorado School of Mines in front of a home UCCS crowd.
Statistically, UCCS posted the second most team assists (496), rebounds (1,203), and the third most team blocks (108) in program history. As a team, UCCS was a dominant force in the rebounding column by recording a positive 7.8 rebounding margin for the highest margin in the conference and eighth highest rebounding margin in all of DII. The highest offensive and defensive rebounds per game average in the conference also belonged to the Mountain Lions as they brought in an average of 11.40 defensive rebounds per game and 28.70 defensive rebounds per game. Culver wrapped up the season by coaching two All-RMAC selections in Alijah Comithier (First Team) and Jon'il Fugett (Second Team) with the Mountain Lions also garnering three RMAC All-Academic Team honors, led by Geoff Kelly who received first team distinctions.
The Mountain Lions 2019-20 season finished with the fifth best record in the RMAC (13-9) and a 17-11 overall record. The season saw Blend Avdili and Padiet Wang each eclipse the 1,000 scoring mark, while Wang also became UCCS' all-time steals leader. Avdili and Wang, who both signed professional contracts during the summer of 2020, each earned All-RMAC Second Team honors. Wang also became the first player in program history to be named the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year. The Mountain Lions defense was one of the best in the league as UCCS ranked second in blocked shots (4.57/game) and third in defense and defensive field goal percentage (68.9 ppg, 43.0 FG percent). UCCS also held the best rebounding margin in the RMAC (+5.8) and ranked second in assists (4.57/game). Academically, Geoff Kelly (Honorable Roll) and Wang (First Team) earned RMAC All-Academic accolades.
Culver closed out his seventh season at UCCS with a 17-12 overall record and an impressive 12-1 home record. The Mountain Lions tied for fifth place in the RMAC regular season standings, posting a 14-8 league record. Culver produced three All-RMAC Second Team performers - Blend Avdili, Dalton Walker and Padiet Wang. Wang also earned Academic All-RMAC First Team honors, while Geoff Kelly was named to the Academic All-RMAC Honor Roll. Culver was invited by USA Basketball to coach at two separate clinics, as well as being a Court Coach at the USA U19 World Cup Training Camp in Colorado Springs, Colo.
After a 5-21 record in his first season, Culver orchestrated the greatest turnaround in NCAA Division II the next year with a 21-9 record, a trip to the RMAC Tournament championship game and the first berth in the NCAA Division II National Tournament. The Mountain Lions were recognized with a "Spirit of the Springs" award by then-Mayor Steve Bach.
Culver continued the momentum with an RMACÂ Tournament Championship in 2015 and a second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament. UCCS finished with a 27-6 record and were ranked as high as No. 2 in the NABCÂ Division II National Poll after a 14-0 start to the season.
The Mountain Lions qualified for the RMAC Tournament for the third consecutive season in 2015-16 and the coached the second All-American in program history in Alex Welsh. The entire senior class of Welsh, Dalton Patten and Kendall Godley signed professional contracts and are currently playing in Europe this season. UCCSÂ qualified for the conference tournament again in 2016-17 as the No. 6 seed.
In the 2017-18 season, Culver helped guide the Mountain Lions to their fifth consecutive conference tournament appearance. Culver also helped coach three players who were named to the All-RMAC team, including first team All-RMAC Elijah Ross. On the academic side, four Mountain Lions were named to the RMAC All-Academic team.
Culver came to UCCS after a seven-year career at Johnson & Wales, where he also doubled as athletic director for the final six years. He took the Wildcats to three Association of Independent Institutions championships and three appearances in the NAIA Division II National Tournament. He was the A.I.I. Coach of the Year three times, and was the first coach in Johnson & Wales history to earn conference coach of the year honors in any sport.
Culver was the only four-year head coach to offer Derrick White a scholarship out of high school, and he would become a two-time All-American and the No. 29 pick by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2017 NBA Draft. White played with Alex Welsh, the other All-American in program history, and the two hold the top spots in the UCCS career scoring records.
The Wildcats had four student-athletes earn a spot on the All-A.I.I. Teams. Johnson & Wales set a program record for victories in a season in the 2009-10 season.
As athletic director at Johnson & Wales, Culver led a $7 million renovation to campus athletic facilities. The Wildcats added varsity sport programs in women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s cross country.
Before Johnson & Wales, he was the Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at the University of Northern Colorado when the school was in transition to Division I. He’s also been the Assistant Director of Basketball Operations at Colorado State, Head Varsity Boys Basketball Coach at Alexander Dawson High School in Lafayette, Colo.; and operated two businesses in Fort Collins.
Culver earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1995.
