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Kirk Speraw

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Kirk Speraw
Kirk Speraw and "Kirk's Jerks" on the UCF campus.
Biographical details
Born(1956-08-21)August 21, 1956(age 68)
Sioux City, Iowa,U.S.
Playing career
1977–1979Iowa
Position(s)Guard
Coaching career (HCunless noted)
1979–1980Iowa(asst.)
1980–1982Denver(asst.)
1982–1987Florida Southern(asst.)
1987–1990Pensacola JC
1990–1993Florida(asst.)
1993–2010UCF
2010–2022Iowa (asst.)
Head coaching record
Overall247–233 (.515)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
4A-Sun tournament(1994,1996,2004,2005)
A-Sunregular season (2005)
Awards
C-USACoach of the Year (2007) UCF Athletics Hall of Fame (2024)

Kirk Crittendon Speraw(born August 21, 1956) is a former American basketball coach who was most recently an assistant basketball coach at theUniversity of Iowa.Speraw previously served as thehead coachfor the men's basketball team atUniversity of Central Florida(UCF) from 1993 to 2010, during which UCF made four appearances in theNCAA tournament.

Early life and education

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Kirk Crittendon Speraw was born and raised inSioux City, Iowa.Before Kirk went to high school, his father Eugene "Bud" Speraw was an assistant basketball coach atSioux City Central High School.Kirk followed his father to Sioux City Central games and helped keep statistics.[1]Kirk later attendedSioux City North High Schooland lettered in basketball and four other sports, playing atguardon the basketball team.[1]

Graduating in 1975, Speraw turned down scholarships from smaller schools towalk onat theUniversity of Iowa.[1]Playing under head coachLute Olson,Speraw lettered in the 1977–78 and1978–79seasons, during the latter of which Iowa won theBig Ten Conferenceregular season title and made theNCAA tournament.[2]

Coaching career

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After graduating from Iowa in 1979, Speraw joined Olson's staff at Iowa as a graduate assistant. In the1979–80season, Iowa made theFinal Four.[2]

From 1980 to 1982, Speraw was assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at theUniversity of Denver,then aDivision IIschool, underFloyd Theard.[2]Speraw again coached at the Division II level as an assistant atFlorida Southernfrom 1982 to 1987, including for Florida Southern's third-place finish in the1986 NCAA tournament.[2]

Speraw got his first head coaching job in 1987 atPensacola Junior College.In three seasons, Speraw led Pensacola to an 82–21 record and three straightPanhandle Conferencetitles. 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.[3]

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 theUniversity of FloridaunderLon Krugerand served in that position from 1990 to 1993. Florida made theNational Invitation Tournamentin1992and1993and advanced to the 1992 NIT semifinals. Among players Speraw coached at Florida wereAndrew DeClercq,who would later play in the NBA.[3]

UCF (1993–2010)

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On July 28, 1993, theUniversity of Central Florida(UCF) hired Speraw as its men's basketball head coach.[4]Inheriting a team that finished 10–17 in the previous season, Speraw led UCF to a 21–9 finish,Atlantic Sun tournamenttitle, and the program'sdebut NCAA Tournament appearancein his first season.[5]

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 theNCAA tournament.[3]

Conference USAnamed Speraw the men's basketball Coach of the Year for the 2006–07 season.[3]

On March 15, 2010, UCF fired Kirk Speraw as head basketball coach.[6]

On February 20, 2012, UCF announced that it was vacating its wins from the2008–2009and2009–2010seasons after it was discovered that there was an ineligible player on the team.[7]

Iowa assistant (2010–2022)

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On April 23, 2010, Speraw joinedFran McCaffery's staff at Iowa, Speraw's alma mater.[8]Following the 2021-2022 season, Speraw announced his retirement from coaching.[9]

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
UCF Knights(Atlantic Sun Conference)(1993–2005)
1993–94 UCF 21–9 11–5 2nd NCAA Division I Round of 64
1994–95 UCF 11–16 7–9 T–5th
1995–96 UCF 11–19 6–10 T–3rd (East) NCAA Division I Round of 64
1996–97 UCF 7–19 4–12 6th (East)
1997–98 UCF 17–11 11–5 3rd (East)
1998–99 UCF 19–10 13–3 2nd
1999–2000 UCF 14–18 10–8 T–5th
2000–01 UCF 8–23 3–15 10th
2001–02 UCF 17–12 12–8 T–4th
2002–03 UCF 21–11 11–5 3rd (South)
2003–04 UCF 25–6 17–3 2nd NCAA Division I Round of 64
2004–05 UCF 24–9 13–7 T–1st NCAA Division I Round of 64
UCF Knights(Conference USA)(2005–2010)
2005–06 UCF 14–15 7–7 5th
2006–07 UCF 22–9 11–5 2nd
2007–08 UCF 16–15 9–7 4th
2008–09 UCF* 17–14* 7–9* 6th*
2009–10 UCF* 15–17* 6–10* 9th*
UCF: 247–233* (.515) 145–128* (.531)
Total: 247–233* (.515)

National champion Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion

* 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.[7]

Personal life

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Speraw is married and has four children.[2]

References

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  1. ^abcSchmadtke, Alan (March 13, 2005)."A quiet storm".Orlando Sentinel.RetrievedMay 19,2017.
  2. ^abcde"Kirk Speraw".University of Iowa Athletics. Archived fromthe originalon June 12, 2017.RetrievedMay 19,2017.
  3. ^abcd"Kirk Speraw".UCF Knights. Archived fromthe originalon April 6, 2009.RetrievedMay 19,2017.
  4. ^Greene, Jerry (July 29, 1993)."Speraw Targets Next Level for UCF".Orlando Sentinel.RetrievedMay 19,2017.
  5. ^"Central Florida Knights School History".SR CBB.RetrievedMay 19,2017.
  6. ^Limon, Iliana (March 15, 2010)."UCF fires men's basketball coach Kirk Speraw".Orlando Sentinel.RetrievedMay 19,2017.
  7. ^ab"UCF responds to NCAA concerning alleged infractions (PDF)"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2015-07-25.Retrieved2012-02-21.
  8. ^Poe, Barry (April 23, 2010)."Speraw named to Iowa basketball coaching staff".Sioux City Journal.RetrievedMay 19,2017.
  9. ^Kennington Lloyd Smith (11 May 2022)."Kirk Speraw, Iowa basketball assistant and former UCF coach, retiring".HawkCentral.Retrieved3 February2024.
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