PRICE — Brad Barton, a former Weber State University basketball player and the first-year head coach at USU Eastern, was found dead in his apartment Tuesday afternoon of undetermined causes.
Price police Sgt. Bill Barnes said there was no sign of foul play at the apartment near the college, the Price Sun Advocate reported. Barton's body was discovered by an assistant coach, who had come to check when he became concerned about not hearing from Barton since Monday. Barnes said the state medical examiner's office is involved in trying to determine the cause of death.
The basketball team has been notified by USU Eastern athletic director Dave Paur and crisis counseling is being provided.
Barton, 31, was named permanent head coach in June, having served as interim coach during the previous season. During his interim season, he helped guide the team to a record of 23-7, with three of those losses coming at the hands of the eventual national champion, College of Southern Idaho.
He had been head assistant coach at USU Eastern under Chris Craig, who left before the 2010-11 season. Barton had also served as an assistant coach under Mike Ostlund at Snow College from 2006-07. He played high school basketball at Davis High and went on to captain Weber State's Big Sky Conference championship team of 2003.