Coaching Staff

Duane Sheldon

Head Coach
(419) 448-2006
dsheldon@heidelberg.edu

Duane Sheldon is beginning his sixth season as the head coach for the Heidelberg Fighting Student Princes. Sheldon was named the 18th head coach in Heidelberg College history in August of 2002, and was also named interim Athletic Director for Heidelberg in July of 2007.
 
Last year, he led the Berg to an overall record of 13-13 and a 9-9 mark in the Ohio Athletic Conference; also guiding Heidelberg to its 45th appearance in the OAC Tournament and first since 2004. Aside from the team’s success in 2006-07, Ron Higgins became the 24th player in the history of the program to score 1,000 points. Higgins was the first recruit who Sheldon brought in after taking over the reigns during the 2002-03 season.
 
Sheldon came to Heidelberg after working as an assistant coach for the Baldwin-Wallace College Yellow Jackets from 1999 to 2002 under veteran head coach Steve Bankson. During that time, the Yellow Jackets had been ranked as high as eighth in the nation.

Before joining the Baldwin-Wallace coaching staff, Sheldon was the head coach at Midpark High School for five seasons. He was named the Associated Press Northeast Ohio Coach of the Year in 1997-98 for guiding his team to an 18-4 record. He followed that up with a 21-2 season in 1998-99 when he was named Pioneer Conference Coach of the Year and his team was ranked eighth in the final Ohio AP poll. In just five years, Midpark went from a 4-17 record to having the best record in school history. They broke 82 school records, won a conference championship and two sectional championships.

Sheldon graduated from Strongsville High School in 1989 and received his bachelor's degree in health and physical education from Baldwin-Wallace College in 1993. He also earned his master of education degree from Ashland University in 2000. At Strongsville, Sheldon was a co-captain, a two-year letterman and earned all-conference honors. He was a co-captain and three-time letter winner at Baldwin-Wallace while also earning First Team Academic All-OAC honors.

From 1994-2002 Sheldon was a health and physical education teacher at Midpark High School where he served as the department head for three years.

Sheldon resides in Tiffin with his wife, Laura, and their children, Jacy, Ajay and Emmy.
 

Zach Robertson

Assistant Coach
(419) 448-2179
aroberts@heidelberg.edu

Zach Robertson begins his second year as a graduate assistant at Heidelberg College for the 2007-08 season.  Robertson spent the previous two seasons coaching in the Junior College ranks at Cleveland State Community College (Cleveland, Tennessee) and North Iowa Area Community College (Mason City, Iowa), respectively.
 
At both institutions, Robertson assumed responsibility in all aspects and phases of the basketball programs. The Toronto, Ohio native also has experience on the summer basketball camp circuit, having worked at Notre Dame, North Carolina, Army, Ohio State, Illinois, Wake Forest, Louisville, and Indiana.
 
Robertson served as a student manager for four years (1999-2003) at West Liberty State College, while earning a bachelor's degree in secondary education with an emphasis on social studies.  He is currently pursuing a master's degree in education at Heidelberg.

 

Ron Higgins

Assistant Coach
(419) 448-2179
rhiggins@heidelberg.edu

Beginning his first year as assistant coach for Heidelberg is Ron Higgins. Higgins, a 2007 Heidelberg graduate, was a center for the Berg where he became the 24th player in Heidelberg history to record 1,000 points, currently standing at number 20 on the list with 1,033. He was named to the All-Ohio Athletic Conference Honorable Mention Team and the Academic All-OAC Team for the 2004-05 season. He also holds the record for highest career field goal percentage at the Berg with .536.
 
Higgins is a native of Vermillion, Ohio and attended Firelands High School where he earned all-Ohio, all-district and all-county honors.
 
From Heidelberg, he earned a bachelor's degree in sports management, and is currently pursuing a master's degree in education.