Siloam Springs Herald Leader

Assistants Eshnaur, Kisner not returning to JBU

- By Graham Thomas Staff Writer ■ gthomas@nwadg.com

John Brown University’s recent announceme­nt of a 5.9 percent reduction in its operating budget included cuts in the athletics department.

Longtime assistant women’s basketball coach Von Eshnaur and men’s basketball assistant Tim Kisner will not be returning to their respective programs, both confirmed this week.

Eshnaur was the women’s basketball assistant for 18 seasons.

His primary responsibi­lity was recruiting coordinato­r. He also was the coordinato­r of the Walton Lifetime Health Complex, according to his biography on JBU’s athletics website.

“I’ve enjoyed my time at JBU and really enjoyed all the players I’ve been involved with,” Eshnaur said. “I get choked up just thinking about it. It’s a big part of our lives. I’ve really enjoyed the players and still enjoy talking to them from time to time. It’s not just about basketball. Basketball is a small part of it. It’s about the relationsh­ips that have been developed.

“I have nothing bad to say about anything, it’s just been a really good experience.”

In Eshnaur’s time at JBU, alongside head coach Jeff Soderquist, the women’s basketball program reached the national tournament five times, including a final four appearance in 2014.

The Golden Eagles also had national tournament appearance­s in 2004, 2006, 2011 and in 2016 JBU advanced to the round of 16.

JBU has missed the national tournament each of the last three seasons, including a 9-20 mark in 2019-20.

Eshnaur, who will turn 57 in May, said he and Soderquist have become close over the years.

“Working with Coach Soderquist has been a good experience,” Eshnaur said. “He’s become a good friend. He really has. We’ve been through a lot together, including the passing away of both of our parents — a lot of life things.”

Soderquist said he will miss having Eshnaur by his side on the bench.

“Von means the world to me and he is like a brother,” Soderquist said. “He has worked for me for the last 18 years. We have raised our kids together, grieved our parents’ deaths together and have spent countless hours coaching this game we both love. I will miss him not being on the sidelines with me. He has been an awesome assistant coach and did this roll wonderfull­y. All the players that have played while he was here absolutely love their Coach E. I wish nothing but the best for him — he deserves it.”

Kisner, 41, has been the men’s assistant for the last two seasons, during which the Golden Eagles won 51 games and reached the NAIA national tournament twice.

The JBU men have also played in the finals of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament championsh­ip game each of the last two seasons.

With Kisner on the bench assisting head coach Jason Beschta, the Golden Eagles went 23-11 overall and 15-7 in the Sooner Athletic Conference in 2018-19, advancing to the NAIA National Tournament.

This season, the Golden Eagles went 28-5 overall and 17-3 in league play, finishing second to Mid-America Christian. JBU finished the season ranked No. 9 in the nation.

JBU qualified for the national tournament for the second straight year before it was canceled due to concerns over the coronaviru­s.

“I want to thank Coach Beschta and our players for the last two years,” Kisner said. “Being able to coach at JBU has been a wonderful opportunit­y and the relationsh­ips that we have developed will last forever. We have won 51 games in the last two years with two conference tournament final appearance­s and two NAIA national tournament appearance­s and I’m very proud to be a part of that.

“We have developed great friendship­s in not just the JBU community but the Siloam Springs community as well. We will cherish our time here from my son Junior’s basketball and baseball teams’ families, SSBA (Siloam Springs Basketball Associatio­n), our Journey Church family and countless other relationsh­ips that we’ve been afforded. We don’t always understand these things and sometimes (they’re) very difficult to work through, but we are trusting that God has a great plan in front of us.”

Beschta said Kisner had a tremendous impact in his two years at JBU.

“I am so thankful for these last two years Tim was able to be here with his family and add so much to JBU and our basketball family,” Beschta said. “Tim has made such an impact in our players’ lives and on the tremendous success our team has earned.”

Both Eshnaur and Kisner will finish out their contracts at JBU, which run through May. Both confirmed they were given a severance.

John Brown spokespers­on Julie Gumm said JBU doesn’t comment on employee matters but issued a statement from JBU’s finance department.

“The decision to make these staffing reductions was an economic decision, not a performanc­e issue,” Kim Hadley, vice president for finance and administra­tion said. “As we work to keep JBU’s tuition as affordable as possible, we have to continue to realign our student-to-employee ratio. We know this is difficult and we are committed to working with the affected employees and providing transition­al services.”

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