Born and raised in Lancaster, Doug graduated from Conestoga Valley High School in 1981, where he earned four varsity letters – two in basketball, one in football and one in soccer.
Doug stayed connected to athletics through coaching starting in 1984-85 as an assistant boys basketball coach at CV. After eight seasons assisting the Buckskins, Kraft became the head men’s coach at Thaddeus Stevens for twoseasons (1991-93) before entering four-year college coaching for the next 16 seasons
Kraft spent four years as a men’s assistant at East Stroudsburg University (1994-98), three years as head men’s coach and assistant athletic director at Marywood University (1998-2001), seven seasons as associate head men’s coach at DeSales University (2001-2008) and two years as an assistant coach at St. Francis, PA (2008-10).
Most notably, Doug earned the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year award in 1999-2000 and was awarded a key to the city of Scranton in 2001.
In the past, he also has enjoyed successful stints as an assistant track & field coach at Conestoga Valley, assistant girls basketball coach at Manheim Township and Lancaster Summer Swim League head coach at Eden Manor.
Since 2012, Kraft has been heavily involved with local boys AAU basketball as head coach of the Cats AAU 17U. He received the Lancaster County Sports Hall of Fame Volunteer of the Year Award in 2019.
A Millersville University graduate, Doug became a member of the Board of Directors of Lancaster County Sports Hall of Fame in 2020 and currently chairs the Awards Committee.