Quick Facts
Biography
Charles Graham Spoonhour (June 23, 1939 – February 1, 2012) was an American high school and college basketball coach.
Spoonhour was born in Mulberry, Kansas, attended high school in Rogers, Arkansas, and received an education degree from the University of the Ozarks. He spent seven seasons as a high school basketball coach, then fourteen seasons bouncing between Division I assistant coaching positions and junior college head coaching positions. This included a four-year stretch from 1969 to 1973 as an assistant coach on the staff of head coach Bill Thomas at then-Division II Missouri State.
Ten years later, Spoonhour was on the staff of Nebraska coach Moe Iba, when he was hired as the head coach of Missouri State for the 1983-84 season, a year after the Bears had moved up to Division I. He led the Bears to five NCAA Tournament appearances in a six-season stretch from 1987 to 1992. His best season was in 1986-87 when the Bears won the Mid-Continent Conference with a 13-1 mark and finished 28-6. Behind future NBA point guard Winston Garland, they made it to the second round of the 1987 NCAA Tournament as a #13-seed, beating 4th-seeded Clemson 65-60 before losing to 5th-seeded Kansas 67-63.
After the 1991-92 season, he went to Saint Louis University, where he led the Billikens to three NCAA tournament appearances in seven seasons. In 2001, he went to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he retired from coaching following the 2003-04 season.
In 2010, he was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and placed on the recipient list for a lung transplant. He received the lung transplant at Duke University Medical Center in August 2010, and was said to be in good condition, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He spent the next six months recuperating at Duke.
On February 1, 2012, Spoonhour died at the age of 72. Charlie is survived by his wife, of 25 years, Vicki; two sons, Jay, and his wife, Nicole, and Stephen, and his wife, Lisa; and five grandchildren: Grace, Charles, and Samuel (Jay) and Michael and Shea (Stephen).
On April 6, 2012, Spoonhour's son, Jay Spoonhour, was named the head men's basketball coach at Eastern Illinois University.
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Missouri State Bears (Association of Mid–Continent Universities/Mid–Continent Conference) (1983–1990) | |||||||||
| 1983–84 | Southwest Missouri State | 18–10 | 9–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 1984–85 | Southwest Missouri State | 17–13 | 8–6 | 4th | |||||
| 1985–86 | Southwest Missouri State | 24–8 | 10–4 | 2nd | NIT Quarterfinal | ||||
| 1986–87 | Southwest Missouri State | 28–6 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 1987–88 | Southwest Missouri State | 22–7 | 12–2 | 1st | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 1988–89 | Southwest Missouri State | 21–10 | 10–2 | 1st | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 1989–90 | Southwest Missouri State | 22–7 | 11–1 | 1st | NCAA First Round | ||||
| Southwest Missouri State Bears (Missouri Valley Conference) (1990–1992) | |||||||||
| 1990–91 | Southwest Missouri State | 22–12 | 11–5 | 2nd | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1991–92 | Southwest Missouri State | 23–8 | 13–5 | 1st | NCAA First Round | ||||
| Southwest Missouri State: | 197–81 | 97–31 | |||||||
| Saint Louis Billikens (Great Midwest Conference) (1992–1995) | |||||||||
| 1992–93 | Saint Louis | 12–17 | 1–9 | 6th | |||||
| 1993–94 | Saint Louis | 23–6 | 8–4 | T–2nd | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 1994–95 | Saint Louis | 23–8 | 8–4 | 2nd | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| Saint Louis Billikens (Conference USA) (1995–1999) | |||||||||
| 1995–96 | Saint Louis | 16–14 | 4–10 | 3rd (Blue) | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1996–97 | Saint Louis | 11–18 | 4–10 | 3rd (Blue) | |||||
| 1997–98 | Saint Louis | 22–11 | 11–5 | 3rd (American) | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 1998–99 | Saint Louis | 15–16 | 8–8 | 5th (American) | |||||
| Saint Louis: | 122–90 | 44–50 | |||||||
| UNLV Rebels (Mountain West Conference) (2001–2004) | |||||||||
| 2001–02 | UNLV | 21–11 | 9–5 | 3rd | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2002–03 | UNLV | 21–11 | 8–6 | T–3rd | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2003–04 | UNLV | 12–9 | 4–6 | 5th | |||||
| UNLV Rebels: | 54–31 | 21–17 | |||||||
| Total: | 373–202 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||