Charles Graham Spoonhour (June 23, 1939 – February 1, 2012) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach. Spoonhour was born in

Mulberry, Kansas Mulberry is a city in Crawford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 409. History Mulberry was founded about 1875 as a mining town. Mulberry was named from a grove of wild mulberry trees that sto ...

, attended high school in

Rogers, Arkansas Rogers is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, United States. Located in the Ozarks, it is part of the Northwest Arkansas region, one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country. Rogers was the location of the first Walmart store, whose corpo ...

, and received an education degree from the

University of the Ozarks University of the Ozarks (U of O) is a private university in Clarksville, Arkansas. Enrollment averages around 900 students, representing 25 countries. U of O is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). History University of the Oz ...

. He spent seven seasons as a high school basketball coach, then fourteen seasons bouncing between Division I assistant coaching positions and junior college head coaching positions. This included a four-year stretch from 1969 to 1973 as an assistant coach on the staff of head coach Bill Thomas at then- Division II

Southwest Missouri State Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

(now Missouri State). Ten years later, Spoonhour was on the staff of

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

coach

Moe Iba Henry W. "Moe" Iba (born May 31, 1939) is an American former basketball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Memphis State University, now known as the University of Memphis, from 1966 to 1970, Nebraska from 1980 to 1986, and Te ...

, when he was hired as head coach of SMS for the 1983–84 season, a year after the Bears had moved up to Division I. He led the Bears to five NCAA tournament appearances in a six-season stretch from 1987 to 1992. His best season was in 1986–87 when the Bears won the

Mid-Continent Conference The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

with a 13–1 mark and finished 28–6. Behind future

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

Winston Garland Winston Kinnard Garland (born December 19, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player at the point guard position. He played collegiately at the Southeastern Community College (Iowa) for two seasons (1983–84 and 1984–85), an ...

, they made it to the second round of the 1987 NCAA tournament as a #13-seed, beating fourth-seeded Clemson, 65–60, before losing to fifth-seeded

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, 67–63. After the 1991–92 season, he went to

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

, where he led the Billikens to three NCAA tournament appearances in seven seasons. In 2001, he went to the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

, where he retired from coaching following the 2003-04 season. Spoonhour was known for wearing sweaters and slacks while coaching. In 2010, he was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and placed on the recipient list for a lung transplant. He received the lung transplant at

Duke University Medical Center Duke University Hospital is a 957-acute care bed academic tertiary care facility located in Durham, North Carolina. Established in 1930, it is the flagship teaching hospital for the Duke University Health System, a network of physicians and hosp ...

in August 2010, and was said to be in good condition, according to the

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...

. He spent the next six months recuperating at Duke. On February 1, 2012, Spoonhour died at the age of 72. On April 6, 2012, Spoonhour's son,

Jay Spoonhour Jay Thomas Spoonhour (born October 14, 1970) is an American basketball coach. He was the head men's basketball coach at Eastern Illinois University, a position he had held from 2012 until 2021. Previously, Spoonhour served as the head coach at M ...

, was named the head men's basketball coach at

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spoonhour, Charlie 1939 births 2012 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Kansas Basketball players from Kansas High school basketball coaches in the United States Missouri State Bears basketball coaches Moberly Greyhounds men's basketball coaches Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball coaches Lung transplant recipients Ozarks Eagles men's basketball players Sportspeople from Chapel Hill, North Carolina People from Crawford County, Kansas People from Rogers, Arkansas Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball coaches UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball coaches University of Arkansas alumni