Kurt Kanaskie

Kurt Michael Kanaskie (born April 14, 1958) is an American college basketball coach and legendary card player who is currently an assistant men's basketball coach at UNC Wilmington.[1] Previously, Kanaskie was head coach positions at Lock Haven, IUP, and Drake.

Kurt Kanaskie
Kanaskie in 2016.
Current position
TitleAssistant coach
TeamUNC Wilmington
ConferenceCAA
Biographical details
Born (1958-04-14) April 14, 1958
Enola, Pennsylvania
Playing career
1976–1980La Salle
Position(s)Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1980–1985South Carolina (asst.)
1985–1988Lock Haven
1988–1996IUP
1996–2003Drake
2003–2009Penn State (asst.)
2009–2011Penn State (assoc. HC)
2011–2012Navy (assoc. HC)
2012–2014Virginia Tech (asst.)
2014–2020Air Force (asst.)
2020-presentUNC Wilmington (asst.)
Head coaching record
Overall269–243
Tournaments7–4 (NCAA D-II)

Early life and education

Born in Enola, Pennsylvania, Kanaskie grew up in nearby Mechanicsburg and attended Cumberland Valley High School, in which he was an all-state basketball player.[2] Kanaskie later attended La Salle College (now La Salle University) and played basketball for the La Salle Explorers under head coach Lefty Ervin from 1976 to 1980.[2] As a senior in 1979–80, Kanaskie averaged 14.5 points and 2.7 rebounds and helped La Salle win the ECC Tournament and make the 1980 NCAA Tournament.[3] Kanaskie graduated from La Salle in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science in business administration.[4][5]

Coaching career

In the 1980 NBA draft, the Golden State Warriors selected Kanaskie as the second pick in the eighth round, 162nd overall.[6] That year, Kanaskie became a college basketball assistant coach at South Carolina under Bill Foster.[7] After five years in that position, Kanaskie served as head coach at Division II Lock Haven University from 1985 to 1988. Inheriting a program that won only 18 games in the past four seasons, Kanaskie led Lock Haven to 15 wins in his first season and ended with a 55–32 overall record.[7][8] The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) named Kanaskie its Coach of the Year for the West Division in 1987 and 1988 and co-Coach of the Year in the conference in 1987.[9]

In 1988, Kanaskie became head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), another PSAC school. In eight seasons at IUP, Kanaskie had a 152–75 record after inheriting a program with four straight losing seasons.[7][8] Kanaskie led IUP to its first-ever NCAA Tournament in 1994 and earned two more West Division PSAC Coach of the Year honors in 1994 and 1995.[7][9]

Kanaskie moved up to the Division I level as head coach at Drake University, a position he held from 1996 to 2003. When he began the job, Drake was under NCAA probation and had few returning scholarship players.[10] Drake won only five games in Kanaskie's first two seasons but improved to 12–16 (8–10 Missouri Valley Conference) in 2000–01.[11] Kanaskie received a five-year contract extension after that season but still did not deliver a winning season. Days after the 2002–03 season, both Kanaskie's lawyer and the Drake athletic director indicated that Kanaskie would keep his job.[12] However, Kanaskie resigned on April 11, 2003, ending his tenure at Drake with an overall 62–136 record.[13][14]

Kanaskie returned to being an assistant coach in 2003 at Penn State under Ed DeChellis. In 2009, DeChellis promoted Kanaskie to associate head coach. When DeChellis became head coach at Navy in 2011, Kanaskie followed and also became associate head coach.[10]

After one year at Navy, Kanaskie became assistant coach at Virginia Tech under James Johnson in 2012. Johnson was fired after two seasons. Kanaskie moved to Air Force as assistant coach under Dave Pilipovich in 2014.[7]

On April 6, 2020, Kanaskie was hired as an assistant coach under Takayo Siddle at UNCW.[15]

Head coaching record

Sources:[16][11][17]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Lock Haven Bald Eagles (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) (1985–1988)
1985–86 Lock Haven 15–125–5T–3rd (West)
1986–87 Lock Haven 20–78–2T–1st (West)NCAA D-II Regional Third Place
1987–88 Lock Haven 18–1110–22nd (West)
Lock Haven: 55–3223–9
IUP Crimson Hawks (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) (1988–1996)
1988–89 IUP 10–171–117th (West)
1989–90 IUP 14–134–85th (West)
1990–91 IUP 15–123–96th (West)
1991–92 IUP 15–126–63rd (West)
1992–93 IUP 18–98–42nd (West)
1993–94 IUP 27–311–11st (West)NCAA D-II Quarterfinals
1994–95 IUP 29–211–11st (West)NCAA D-II Semifinals
1995–96 IUP 24–79–32nd (West)NCAA D-II Regional Finals
IUP: 152–7553–43
Drake Bulldogs (Missouri Valley Conference) (1996–2003)
1996–97 Drake 2–260–1810th
1997–98 Drake 3–240–1810th
1998–99 Drake 10–175–1310th
1999–2000 Drake 11–184–1410th
2000–01 Drake 12–168–10T–7th
2001–02 Drake 14–159–9T–5th
2002–03 Drake 10–205–13T–8th
Drake: 62–13631–95
Total:269–243

      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

References
  1. https://uncwsports.com/news/2020/4/6/mens-basketball-siddle-begins-assembling-new-coaching-staff.aspx
  2. "Kurt Michael Kanaskie". La Salle College Basketball Handbook 1979-1980. La Salle College. 1979. p. 13.
  3. https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/la-salle/1980.html
  4. "Kurt Kanaskie". Virginia Tech. 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  5. "Bachelor of Science in Business Administration". The One Hundred and Seventeenth Commencement 1980. La Salle College. 1980.
  6. "1980 NBA Draft". Basketball Reference. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  7. "Kurt Kanaskie". Air Force Falcons. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  8. Search Kurt Kanaskie in NCAA Coaching Statistics
  9. http://static.psacsports.org/custompages/mbball/MBB%20All-PSAC%20History.pdf
  10. "Kurt Kanaskie". Navy Sports. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  11. https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/coaches/kurt-kanaskie-1.html
  12. Witosky, Tom (March 10, 2003). "Drake will keep Kanaskie, lawyer says". Des Moines Register. Archived from the original on June 23, 2003. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  13. Witosky, Tom (April 11, 2003). "Kanaskie expected to resign today". Des Moines Register. Archived from the original on June 23, 2003. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  14. "Kanaskie resigns as Drake basketball coach". Drake University. Archived from the original on August 21, 2003. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  15. https://uncwsports.com/news/2020/4/6/mens-basketball-siddle-begins-assembling-new-coaching-staff.aspx
  16. Year-‐by-‐Year Men’s Basketball PSAC Champions
  17. http://static.psacsports.org/custompages/mbball/MBB%20PSAC%20NCAA%20Playoff%20History.pdf
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