Golden Eagle Women's Basketball
Coaches

Jeff Soderquist
Head Coach

Soderquist, after spending six years with the JBU men's basketball team, is in his eleventh season as head coach of the Golden Eagles women’s basketball team. A 1993 graduate of John Brown University, Soderquist spent two seasons as a student assistant coach and four years as an assistant coach with the men's squad.

As the winningest coach in school history with 144 career wins, Soderquist and his team have celebrated many successes. He has taken his team to the NAIA National Tournament in 2003-04 and again in 2005-06. In the 2003-04 season, Soderquist’s team won a team record 21 games which earned him the honor as Sooner Athletic Coach of the Year. His team has also established a number of other team records including the most conference wins in school history with 12 in 2005-2006, the best defensive team in school history giving up a stingy 55.6 points per game in 2003-04, the most points scored in a season with 2207 in 2003-04, and the best shooting team with a school record of 287 three pointers in the 2002-03.

A 1988 graduate of Rogers High School in Rogers, Arkansas, Soderquist was recruited to play basketball at JBU. A shoulder injury prevented him from taking advantage of that opportunity, but head coach John Sheehy requested that he join the team as a student assistant. Upon graduation, he became one of the men's assistant basketball coaches and took over the head coaching responsibilities of the men's tennis team. In the fall of 1994, he became Sheehy's head assistant as well as JBU's sports information director.

Soderquist's wife, Amy, is also a 1993 graduate of John Brown University. Jeff and Amy are the proud parents of a seven-year-old daughter, Kacey, and a four-year-old son, Breck.

Von Eshnaur
Assistant Coach

After 16 years experience in coaching at the junior and senior high school level, Von Eshnaur is beginning his sixth season with the Golden Eagles. Eshnaur’s primary responsibilities have come while working with the women’s basketball team, and as the recruiting coordinator, he has been instrumental in bringing in quality athletes to the JBU program. Along with his coaching duties, Eshnaur is also in his second year as coordinator of the Walton Lifetime Health Complex, the fitness center on the campus of JBU. Eshnaur has also coached football, tennis, cross-country, and baseball.

Eshnaur graduated with a BSE from the University of Arkansas in 1986. He also attended Northwest Arkansas Community College on a basketball and baseball scholarship prior to transferring to the University of Arkansas.

Von and his wife Dawn have 3 boys—Benjamin, 20; Christopher, 18; and Nicholas, 14.