Jay Spoonhour

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Jay Spoonhour
Current position
TitleAssistant Coach
TeamMissouri State
ConferenceMissouri Valley
Biographical details
Born (1970-10-14) October 14, 1970 (age 53)
Springfield, Missouri, U.S.
Playing career
1990–1994Pittsburg State
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1994–1996Central Missouri State (GA)
1996–1999Saint Louis (assistant)
2000Valparaiso (assistant)
2000–2001Wabash Valley
2001–2004UNLV (assistant)
2004UNLV (interim HC)
2004–2006Missouri (GA)
2006–2009UTSA (assistant)
2009–2012Moberly Area CC
2012–2021Eastern Illinois
2023-PresentMissouri State (assistant)
Head coaching record
Overall224–189 (college)
Tournaments1–1 (CIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
NJCAA Division I (2001)

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.[1][2] Previously, Spoonhour served as the head coach at Moberly Area Community College in Missouri. He has also held several assistant jobs, including at Saint Louis, UNLV, Missouri and Texas-San Antonio. He served as the interim head coach of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels in 2004 after his father, Charlie Spoonhour, resigned mid-season.

Career[edit]

Spoonhour started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Central Missouri State (1994–96). He then held assistant coaching positions at Valparaiso (2000) and Saint Louis (1996–1999) before accepting his first head coaching position at Wabash Valley College. In his one and only season at Wabash, he led the team to a 36-1 overall record and won the 2001 NJCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. He was named the National Junior College Coach of the Year by both the NABC and NJCAA.

Following the national title season, Spoonhour joined his father's staff at UNLV as an assistant. He spent three seasons in Las Vegas and in 2004, he took over as the interim head coach after his father resigned midseason. In the 10 games that the younger Spoonhour coached, the Runnin' Rebels went 6–4, including an appearance in the Mountain West Conference title game and an opening round loss in the 2004 NIT.

He then went on to spend two seasons as an assistant at Missouri and three as an assistant at Texas-San Antonio before being hired as the head coach of Moberly Area Community College in Moberly, Missouri. In his three years there (2009–12), Spoonhour had a record of 63–27.

On April 6, 2012, Spoonhour was hired as the next head men's basketball coach at Eastern Illinois University of the Ohio Valley Conference. Spoonhour was chosen over a list of final candidates that also included Vanderbilt assistant David Cason, Oregon assistant Brian Fish, Nevada assistant Doug Novsek and Xavier assistant Kareem Richardson.[1]

In his first season as head coach, the Panthers finished 11–21 overall, but managed to make the conference tournament for the first time since the 2009–10 season. The Panthers were eliminated in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament by Southeast Missouri State.

Personal life[edit]

Jay is the son of former Missouri State, Saint Louis and UNLV head coach Charlie Spoonhour. He graduated from Glendale High School (Springfield, Missouri) in 1989 and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in physical education from Pittsburg State University. He was a four-year letter winner in basketball at Pittsburg State, earning honorable mention all-conference honors as a senior. He is married to Nicole and has three children, Gracie, Charlie and Sam.[3]

Head coaching record[edit]

Junior college[edit]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Wabash Valley Warriors (Great Rivers Athletic) (2000–2001)
2000–01 Wabash Valley 36–1 1st NJCAA Division I Champion
Wabash Valley: 36–1 (.973)
Moberly Greyhounds (Missouri Community College Athletic Conference) (2009–2012)
2009–10 Moberly 25–6
2010–11 Moberly 17–13
2011–12 Moberly 21–8
Moberly: 63–27 (.700)
Total: 99–28 (.780)

      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

College[edit]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
UNLV Runnin' Rebels (Mountain West Conference) (2004)
2003–04 UNLV 6–4 4–2 4th
UNLV: 6–4 (.600) 4–2 (.667)
Eastern Illinois Panthers (Ohio Valley Conference) (2012–2021)
2012–13 Eastern Illinois 11–21 6–10 3rd (West)
2013–14 Eastern Illinois 11–19 7–9 T–3rd (West)
2014–15 Eastern Illinois 18–15 9–7 3rd (West) CIT Second Round
2015–16 Eastern Illinois 13–17 9–7 3rd (West)
2016–17 Eastern Illinois 14–15 6–10 5th (West)
2017–18 Eastern Illinois 12–19 7–11 8th
2018–19 Eastern Illinois 14–18 7–11 6th
2019–20 Eastern Illinois 17–15 9–9 T–5th
2020–21 Eastern Illinois 9–18 6–14 T–9th
Eastern Illinois: 119–157 (.431) 66–88 (.429)
Total: 125–161 (.437)

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Powers, Scott. "EIU hires Jay Spoonhour".
  2. ^ "Eastern Illinois announces it's not renewing men's basketball coach Jay Spoonhour's contract". jg-tc.com. March 4, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  3. ^ "Jay Spoonhour". Eastern Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved April 6, 2016.

External links[edit]

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