Kirk Crittendon Speraw (born August 21, 1956) is a former American basketball coach who was most recently an assistant basketball coach at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

. Speraw previously served as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for the men's basketball team at

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

(UCF) from 1993 to 2010, during which UCF made four appearances in the NCAA tournament.

Early life and education

Kirk Crittendon Speraw was born and raised in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

. Before Kirk went to high school, his father Eugene "Bud" Speraw was an assistant basketball coach at Sioux City Central High School. Kirk followed his father to Sioux City Central games and helped keep statistics. Kirk later attended Sioux City North High School and lettered in basketball and four other sports, playing at

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

on the basketball team. Graduating in 1975, Speraw turned down scholarships from smaller schools to walk on at the

. Playing under head coach

Lute Olson Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (September 22, 1934 – August 27, 2020) was an American basketball coach, who was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the head c ...

, Speraw lettered in the 1977–78 and 1978–79 seasons, during the latter of which Iowa won the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

regular season title and made the NCAA tournament.

Coaching career

After graduating from Iowa in 1979, Speraw joined Olson's staff at Iowa as a graduate assistant. In the 1979–80 season, Iowa made the Final Four. From 1980 to 1982, Speraw was assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

, then a Division II school, under Floyd Theard. Speraw again coached at the Division II level as an assistant at

Florida Southern Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. The college offers 50 undergradu ...

from 1982 to 1987, including for Florida Southern's third-place finish in the 1986 NCAA tournament. Speraw got his first head coaching job in 1987 at

Pensacola Junior College Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal c ...

. In three seasons, Speraw led Pensacola to an 82–21 record and three straight

Panhandle Conference The Panhandle Conference is a conference within the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 8. The conference consists of four state colleges and one community college located in Florida. Members Member institutions are Chipo ...

titles. In 1990, Speraw was named NABC/Kodak National Junior College Coach of the Year and Florida Junior College Coach of the Year, after Pensacola went 31–7 and finished fifth nationally. After three seasons at Pensacola, Speraw returned to the Division I level for the first time in a near-decade as an assistant coach at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

under

Lon Kruger Lonnie Duane Kruger (born August 19, 1952) is a retired American college and professional basketball coach who was most recently the men's basketball head coach of the University of Oklahoma. Kruger played college basketball for Kansas State Uni ...

and served in that position from 1990 to 1993. Florida made the National Invitation Tournament in 1992 and

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

and advanced to the 1992 NIT semifinals. Among players Speraw coached at Florida were Andrew DeClercq, who would later play in the NBA.

UCF (1993–2010)

On July 28, 1993, the

(UCF) hired Speraw as its men's basketball head coach. Inheriting a team that finished 10–17 in the previous season, Speraw led UCF to a 21–9 finish, Atlantic Sun tournament title, and the program's debut NCAA Tournament appearance in his first season. Speraw's most successful season at UCF was 2003–04, when the Knights finished 25–6, received votes for the top 25, won the Atlantic Sun championship, and reached the NCAA tournament. Conference USA named Speraw the men's basketball Coach of the Year for the 2006–07 season. On March 15, 2010, UCF fired Kirk Speraw as head basketball coach. On February 20, 2012, UCF announced that it was vacating its wins from the 2008–2009 and 2009–2010 seasons after it was discovered that there was an ineligible player on the team.

Iowa assistant (2010–2022)

On April 23, 2010, Speraw joined

Fran McCaffery Francis John McCaffery (born May 23, 1959) is an American college basketball coach and the current men's basketball head coach at the University of Iowa. He has taken four Division I programs to postseason tournaments, including the Iowa Hawkey ...

's staff at Iowa, Speraw's alma mater. Following the 2021-2022 season, Speraw announced his retirement from coaching.https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sports/college/iowa/basketball-men/2022/05/11/iowa-basketball-assistant-coach-kirk-speraw-retire/9731562002/>

Head coaching record

* UCF had its wins from the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons vacated after it was ruled that there was ineligible player for the Knights.

Personal life

Speraw is married and has four children.

References

External links

Iowa biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Speraw, Kirk 1956 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Iowa Basketball players from Iowa Denver Pioneers men's basketball coaches Florida Gators men's basketball coaches Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball coaches Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball players Pensacola State Pirates men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Sioux City, Iowa UCF Knights men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Guards (basketball) North High School (Sioux City, Iowa) alumni