Atlantic Sun Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose | Jul 8, 2020

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 22: Sherwood Brown #25 of the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles celebrates with fans against the Georgetown Hoyas during the second round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Center on March 22, 2013 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

5 of 11

University of Central Florida coach Kirk Speraw (Photo by A. Messerschmidt/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

7. Kirk Speraw – UCF (2000-2005)

Long before UCF joined Conference USA and then the AAC, they did some pretty fantastic work under Speraw in the Atlantic Sun. Prior to taking over the program in 1993, he had been an assistant at Florida under Lon Kruger in addition to a few other jobs. He led the Knights to two NCAA Tournaments in his first three seasons, though by the turn of the century things had been far less successful for the Knights.

Fortunately, Speraw got this program dancing again, winning the Atlantic Sun titles in 2004 and 2005. His team gradually improved in each of those five seasons, winning the regular-season title in 2005 as well. Neither of those teams could pull off an opening-round win, but Speraw was responsible for a significant portion of the program’s success.

Speraw spent five more years at UCF as they departed for Conference USA in 2005. Since his firing, he’s been on staff at Iowa, though those 17 years at UCF are an obvious highlight of his career. He led UCF to four NCAA Tournaments, and the two since the turn of the century are certainly enough for his inclusion on this list.

Home/Mid Major Conferences