Bio

Eric Nitsche (pronounced Nitch-ee) enters his third season as head coach of the Butler Grizzlies ahead of the 2026-27 season.

Last season, Nitsche coached the Grizzlies to the 2026 NJCAA Plains District Championship, defeating Barton in Great Bend 111-103 in the championship game. The victory was the program's second district championship in the last four years and seventh all-time. The Plains District Championship secured the Grizzlies a place at the 2026 NJCAA Men's Basketball Championship. Butler defeated Snow in its opening game, but fell to the eventual national champion and No. 1-seeded Howard College in a double overtime thriller, 134-128. Butler also claimed a share of the KJCCC regular season title for the first time since 2015, splitting the honor with Barton. Nitsche was voted as the 2026 KJCCC Men's Basketball Coach of the Year in a year where he also saw the Grizzlies rank second in all of NJCAA Division I in scoring average as well as fourth in steals and assists. Nitsche also coached Tristan Hankins to a plethora of awards, including being the program's first NJCAA All-American selection since 2010. Hankins was also named the KJCCC Co-Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, while also being a first-team all-conference choice.

Nitsche's first season as a head coach saw him lead Butler to a 22-11 overall record, 15-9 in the Jayhawk. The Grizzlies advanced to the Region 6 semifinals after playoff wins over Pratt at home and Hutchinson on the road. The Grizzlies climbed to No. 5 in the NJCAA D1 rankings in December after wins over No. 11 Indian Hills, No. 14 NEO A&M and No. 6 Barton, the program's highest ranking since the 2014-15 season. Butler played eight games vs. top-25 opponents, going 4-4 in those games. One of those wins saw Nitsche and the Grizzlies snag a top-five win in the regular season finale over No. 5 Cowley. Butler went on to take Cowley down to the wire in the Region 6 semifinals but ultimately fell 58-54 to end the season. Nitsche helped develop the KJCCC Defensive Player of the Year in freshman Emeka Opurum who went on to sign with Auburn University while two others were named All-KJCCC honorees.

Prior to being named the head coach at Butler, Nitsche was a veteran Jayhawk Conference coach having spent 14 seasons as an assistant with stops at KCKCC, Cowley and Hutchinson.

He spent the 10 seasons prior to Butler as the lead assistant for Tommy DeSalme at both Cowley and Hutchinson. Both programs saw immense success with Nitsche on staff. He helped lead Hutchinson to the NJCAA National Tournament in two out of three seasons on staff as well as helping Cowley to two berths including an appearance in the 2021 NJCAA Tournament Championship game.

Most recently, Nitsche served three seasons at Hutchinson where he was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2023-24 season. The Blue Dragons amassed a record of 75-28 with Nitsche on staff, leading the KJCCC in points per game all three seasons. Hutchinson advanced to the second round (2022) and quarterfinals (2024) in the two seasons they qualified for the national tournament. Nitsche mentored an All-American in all three seasons with the Blue Dragons, Angelo Stuart in 2022, Aaron Franklin in 2023 and Kamryn Thomas in 2024.

Prior to Hutchinson, Nitsche was an assistant coach at Cowley for seven seasons. He helped pave the way for one of the most successful stretches of basketball in Cowley history as the Tigers won 133 games across seven seasons. The last two seasons in Arkansas City saw the Tigers qualify for two NJCAA National Tournaments. The 2019-20 team led the country in points per game, averaging 109.8 on the way to a Jayhawk East championship, later receiving an at-large bid to the national tournament. The following season saw Cowley average 109.0 points per game, second best in the nation as they finished 24-5, were co-champions of the Jayhawk East and won the Region VI title. That team advanced all the way to the NJCAA championship game before falling 108-99 to Coffeyville. Nitsche mentored a back-to-back All-American at Cowley in Dalen Ridgnal, only the third two-time All-American in Tiger program history.

In April 2020, Nitsche was named one of the 50 most impactful coaches in JUCO basketball by Silverwaves Media while at Cowley.

His coaching career began at Kansas City Kansas CC as an assistant coach from 2010-13 where the Blue Devils had a 66-30 overall record across his time in Kansas City.

Nitsche, a Mission, Kan., native, was an All-City basketball and football player at Shawnee Mission North High School, graduating in 2005. He went on to play his first two years of college basketball at Kansas City Kansas Community College before spending his final two seasons at the University of Saint Mary. He led his college teams to 20-plus wins all four years and finished in the top-10 in career three-point field goal percentage at both schools.

Nitsche and his wife, Hannah, have three sons: Blake, Jack and Luke.