Kirk Speraw

Kirk Crittendon Speraw (born August 21, 1956) is an American former basketball coach who was most recently an assistant basketball coach at the University of Iowa. Speraw previously served as the head coach for the men's basketball team at University of Central Florida (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. 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 on the basketball team.

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 under Lon Kruger and served in that position from 1990 to 1993. Florida made the National Invitation Tournament in 1992 and 1993 and advanced to the 1992 NIT semifinals. Among players Speraw coached at Florida were Andrew DeClercq, who would later play in the NBA. 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.

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's staff at Iowa, Speraw's alma mater. Following the 2021-2022 season, Speraw announced his retirement from coaching.

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.