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Eastern Washington gives head coach Jim Hayford a new five-year contract

Kevin Ollie, Jim Hayford

Kevin Ollie, Jim Hayford

AP

After a successful late-season surge in the Big Sky, Eastern Washington announced a new five-year deal for head coach Jim Hayford on Friday. The Eagles finished 15-16 overall and 10-10 in the Big Sky last season but the program went 7-4 in its last 11 league games without a single senior on the roster.

Eastern Washington hadn’t reached the 15-win mark since the 2003-04 season and Hayford is 40-54 in three seasons at the helm.

The new deal for Hayford scraps the remaining two years of the coach’s original five-year contract and runs through the 2018-19 season.

“I am very grateful to Dr. Arevalo and Bill Chaves for this new contract,” said Hayford in the release. “I am very thankful to have the opportunity to coach and direct the Eastern men’s basketball program and lead us into new seasons of success.”

The Eagles will be led by rising juniors Tyler Harvey and Venky Jois in the 2014-15 season. The 6-foot-4 Harvey is coming off of an All-Big Sky First Team selection after averaging 21.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while the 6-foot-7 Jois averaged 13.4 points and eight rebounds per game last season.

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