Charles Ruffing enters his first season with the Western Illinois men’s basketball program after spending the past two seasons as the head coach at Bryant & Stratton College in Wisconsin.
During his tenure at Bryant & Stratton, Ruffing led the Bobcats to the most successful stretch in program history. The team captured the Region IV Championship and finished with a 29-7 record, setting a new school record for wins. The Bobcats also made their first-ever appearance in the NJCAA National Tournament, where they earned their first national tournament victory.
Ruffing’s accomplishments earned him recognition as both the WBCA Junior College Coach of the Year and the NJCAA Region IV Coach of the Year. Under his leadership, Bryant & Stratton achieved its highest national ranking in program history at No. 11, while also setting multiple program records, including a 14-game winning streak, a single-game scoring record of 114 points, and the highest team GPA in school history (3.6). In his first season, Ruffing guided the Bobcats to a 23-10 record and a Region IV championship game appearance.
Before his time at Bryant & Stratton, Ruffing gained extensive collegiate coaching experience as an assistant at several NCAA Division III programs. At Marian University, he helped lead the Sabres to their second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, improving the team’s win total by 15 from the previous season. He also served as an assistant coach at Wisconsin Lutheran College and Rockford University, helping guide Wisconsin Lutheran to a program-record 16 conference wins and its first NACC Conference Championship in 2019–20. While at Rockford, he contributed to a program record for conference wins and the team’s first NACC Tournament berth since 2012.
Ruffing also spent one season as the head coach of the West Bend East High School boys’ basketball team, leading the program to its first WIAA Division I Regional Championship in 20 years.
A native of De Pere, Wisconsin, Ruffing played collegiately at Marian University and Concordia University Chicago. He appeared in 50 games for Marian, totaling 86 points, 64 rebounds, and 80 assists, including 58 assists as a sophomore—second most on the team. At Concordia-Chicago, he concluded his playing career as a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Scholar-Athlete.
