Marvin Speight (September 5, 1921 – March 13, 2017) was an American basketball coach who served as head coach at

Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...

. Born in

Hickory Plains, Arkansas Hickory Plains is an unincorporated community in Prairie County, Arkansas, United States. Hickory Plains is located at the junction of Arkansas highways 13 and 38, west of Des Arc. Hickory Plains has a post office A post office is a pu ...

, Speight went on to be a standout at Beebe High School and played collegiately at the

University of Central Arkansas The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1907 as the Arkansas State Normal School, the university is one of the oldest in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As the state's only n ...

. His collegiate career was split due to his service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Coaching career

High school

After college, Speight went on to take the head coaching job at tiny Moro High School in eastern Arkansas where he held the position of head basketball coach. He left Moro to take the coaching job at

Searcy High School Searcy High School (SHS) is a comprehensive public high school serving the community of Searcy, Arkansas, United States. Located in White County, Searcy High School is the sole high school managed by the Searcy School District and serves stude ...

ASU-Beebe

Speight was offered the head coaching position at what is now

Arkansas State University-Beebe Arkansas State University-Beebe (Beebe State) is a public community college in Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the ...

in 1953. He would find success at Beebe the town where he played high school ball. He remained at ASU-Beebe until 1963 when he took the job at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Arkansas State University

Speight took over for John Rauth in 1963 at Arkansas State and guided the Indians to several postseason appearances, with their best season coming in the 1966 campaign. Speight also coached ASU star

Jerry Rook Jerry G. Rook (October 27, 1943 – August 25, 2019) was an American basketball player, best known for his success at Arkansas State University. He played one season for the New Orleans Buccaneers in the American Basketball Association (ABA). Hi ...

for Rook's final two seasons. Speight remained with the school until 1969 when he stepped down to engage in teaching full-time.

References

1921 births 2017 deaths American military personnel of World War II Arkansas State Red Wolves men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Arkansas Basketball players from Arkansas Central Arkansas Bears basketball players People from Beebe, Arkansas People from Prairie County, Arkansas American men's basketball players {{US-basketball-coach-stub