Rusty Grafel enters his third season as assistant coach at Fort Hays State in 2025-26. This is Grafel’s second stint on the men’s basketball coaching staff at FHSU after serving as a graduate assistant from 2007-2009 following his three years playing for the Tigers from 2004-2007.
In 2023-24, Grafel helped coach FHSU to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016. The Tigers returned to the national tournament in 2024-25 as well. In the last two years as an assistant coach, the Tigers have produced six all-conference selections and the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year once. FHSU led NCAA Division II in scoring defense the last two years allowing just 57.9 points per game in 2023-24 and then 59.9 per game in 2024-25.
Grafel has been a coach at the NJCAA and NCAA Division I levels after his two years as a graduate assistant at FHSU. He started his journey as an assistant coach at Colby (Kan.) Community College for three years from 2009-12. He then elevated into the head coaching job at Colby from 2012-19. In 2019-20, Grafel moved on to become an graduate assistant coach at Texas Tech for a year. After that, he became the Director of Basketball Operations at Georgia Southern University where he spent three years from 2020-23.
As a head coach at Colby Community College, Grafel led the Trojans to 104 wins over seven seasons. He coached 13 All-KJCCC selections over the seven seasons, including three first-team selections, a conference defensive player of the year, and a conference freshman of the year.
As a player, Grafel played one year at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College before transferring to FHSU. He helped Hutchinson to a conference title during the 2003-04 season. Grafel helped FHSU to a combined record of 58-29 over his three seasons in Hays. He was a member of the 2005-06 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season championship team that finished 27-4 overall, made the NCAA regional semifinal, and held the No. 1 ranking in the NABC Division II Top 25 Poll at a point that season.
Grafel holds a bachelor’s in sports management and a master’s in sports administration from Fort Hays State University.
