John Weber enters his third season as the Head Baseball Coach and Director of Athletics at Purdue University North Central.

In just his second season Weber's Panthers set the single season wins mark by finishing 32-20 in 2006. PNC also won the CCAC Tournament and received an automatic bid into the NAIA Regionals. It was just the second time in the program's history that PNC had qualified for the post season.

The Panthers also reached their highest regional ranking (third) in 2006, and were ranked for five weeks throughout the year - just the second season PNC ever received recognition.

Weber, who already is the all-time winningest coach at PNC, led the Panthers to an 18-23-1 record in his first season in 2004. The 18 wins is the third highest single-season win total in the history of the program. Weber started his new position in October, 2004 and took over the program with just 16 eligible players. He has already averaged more wins per season than the previous single season wins mark at PNC.  

Prior to Purdue North Central Weber was the Head Baseball Coach, Sports Information Director and a teacher at Lakeland College in Sheboygan, WI for six years.   

On the diamond, Weber established himself as the most successful coach in the history of Lakeland College in any sport.  Prior to his arrival the baseball team had won only two conference titles in 60 years.  Weber's teams won Lake Michigan Conference titles in his last four years and also earned the program's first-ever  NCAA tournament appearances in 2002 and 2003. In 2002 Weber led Lakeland to a 5th place finish at the Division III College World Series, becoming the smallest college ever to make a Division III, CWS appearance with an enrollment of just over 700.

Weber received numerous honors for his team's accomplishments, including being named the LMC Coach of the Year his last four seasons.  He was also selected as the 2002 Midwest Regional and Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association College Coach of the Year, and was a featured speaker at the 2004 American Baseball Coaches Association national convention.

Weber left Lakeland as the all-time victories leader with the best winning percentage in the program's history.  Weber's teamsDuring his tenure, Lakeland set virtually every team and individual mark, including wins in a season three times.  In fact, Weber's teams averaged more wins per season than the previous single season wins record at Lakeland. Weber's teams were nationally and regionally ranked several times, reaching a high of 5th nationally in 2002 and a high of 1st regionally several times.  Weber coached 46 All-Conference selections at Lakeland, including three Players of the Year.

Off the field Weber was equally successful. He had nearly 50 Academic All-Conference selections and a team GPA of almost 3.0. As SID, Weber oversaw the daily management of the department. He developed the school's first athletic website and was responsible for all written content.  Weber also wrote all press releases, designed media guides and hosted a local television show. 

Prior to Lakeland Weber was the Associate Head Coach at Lewis University (Romeoville, IL) in 1998, where he led the pitchers to the second best ERA out of the prestigious 12-team Great Lakes Valley Conference.  Weber worked under legendary coach Irish O'Reilly during this time.  Before Lewis, Weber coached at Morton Community College in Cicero , IL where he served as head coach for the 1997 season and built the program from 12 to 40 players in one year.

Weber started his career at Benedictine University in Lisle, IL as a graduate assistant under another legendary coach, John Ostrowski.  In Weber's first season as pitching coach his staff led the nation in ERA at 2.49, down from 6.40 the previous year. 

Weber is known for recognizing and developing talent in both his players and his coaches.  Seven of his former assistant coaches became head coaches at the collegiate level, while 11 of his former players were either drafted or signed to professional contracts, including nine pitchers.

Weber graduated from Lewis in 1993 with a Bachelor's degree in Marketing.  He attended school on a baseball and academic scholarship and played for O'Reilly as a right handed pitcher.  During this time the Flyers made two Division II CWS appearances, finishing 3rd in 1990 and 4th in 1992.  Fifteen of Weber's team mates moved on to professional baseball with three making the major leagues. 

While coaching at Benedictine, Weber earned his Master's degree in Management and Organizational Behavior with an emphasis in Human Resources in 1996.

Weber attended Benet Academy High School in Lisle, IL and graduated in 1989, the same year he led the Redwings to their only trip to state for baseball.  The Redwings finished 31-9 under Marty Wiora as Weber finished 14-3 on the mound and played shortstop when not pitching.

Weber, 35, and his wife Erin are both natives of Lisle, IL.  They have two daughters (Hope, age 3 and Kate, age 1) and reside in Valparaiso.

Chet Ebner enters his fifth season as an assistant coach for the Panthers.  Ebner will make the transition this season and serve as the Panthers hitting coach, while continuing on as bench coach.

Ebner has been a key part of the staff that led the Panthers to the PNC single season wins mark in 2006 (32) and just their second-ever NAIA tournament bid. The Panthers set numerous team and individual records while hitting .327 as a team in 2006.

Last season Ebner oversaw the pitching staff and led them to 4.41 ERA. The veteran mentor had several players rank in the top ten for individual statistics within the CCAC, including ERA (Jim Erdelac, 10 th at 3.22), wins (Tony Robb (t- th at 6) and strikeouts per nine innings (Erdelac, 2nd at 10.01).  

Prior to joining PNC, Ebner was an assistant varsity coach at Hebron High School for three years where he also was the hitting, pitching and bench coach.

Ebner, who been coaching baseball in some capacity for over 20 years, founded the Northwest Indiana Pioneer Baseball Club in the summertime.  In their first year (2000) the Pioneers represented Indiana at the AAU Nationals in Orlando, FL.

Gary Demski enters his second year as a member of the Purdue North Central baseball staff. 

Demski will serve as a bench coach and will oversee the Panthers defense, specifically infield play, while assisting with the hitters.  He will also assist with recruiting, fund-raising, and team travel. 

Demski helped lead PNC to a record setting season in 2006 as the infield set a team record by turning 37 double plays. He also assisted Coach Ebner in leading PNC to a .327 team batting average this past season.

Demski currently serves the Purdue University North Central campus as the Director of Student Activities.  He has held this position since July 1st, 2003.

Demski graduated from Indiana University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology.  He completed his master's degree in Sports Administration from Valparaiso University in December, 2005. 

Demski is a native of South Bend, IN. and played high school baseball at South Bend Washington (1987-1991) under the tutelage of former head coach Rick Tomaszewski, a member of the Indiana High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame. 

While at Washington, Demski was a member of the 1988 Sectional Championship team and played an integral role on the 1990 Northern Indiana Conference Championship team (13-0) as a second baseman and pitcher.

Former Panther Jason Stuebe enters his second year as an assistant coach with the Purdue North Central baseball program. 

Stuebe, who concluded his baseball eligibility in 2005, graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor's degree in Liberal Studies and a minor in Law and Commerce. Jason plans on continuing his education by pursuing his MBA.

This past season Stuebe served as pitching coach and first base coach for the Panthers. PNC finished with a school record of 32 wins in 2006 as the pitching staff set nearly every team and individual mark while accumulating a 4.69 ERA.

On the diamond, Stuebe started his college career at Calumet College of St. Joseph. At Calumet College he was a member of the first-ever baseball team at the school.  In fact, he started and earned the program's first victory in the first game played in school history. 

After two years at Calumet College, Steube transferred to Purdue North Central. While at PNC, he set many school records at the time, and still holds records for wins in a season (7) and saves in a career (7).

Steube was also selected as the CCAC First-Team All-Conference relief pitcher and as the Region VII Second Team relief pitcher during his junior year.  That year he finished 7-1 with a 2.22 ERA to help lead the Panthers to their first regional appearance in school history and the school single season wins mark (22) at the time.

Stuebe currently serves as a Second Assistant Store Manager at McDonalds in Highland.  He is single and resides in Munster, IN.