| Charlie Spoonhour | |
| Birth Date: | 23 June 1939 |
| Birth Place: | Mulberry, Kansas, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Player Years1: | 1958–1961 |
| Player Team1: | Ozarks |
| Coach Years1: | 1961–1963 |
| Coach Team1: | Rocky Comfort HS (MO) |
| Coach Years2: | 1963–1967 |
| Coach Team2: | Bloomfield HS (MO) (co-HC) |
| Coach Years3: | 1967–1968 |
| Coach Team3: | Salem HS (MO) |
| Coach Years4: | 1968–1972 |
| Coach Team4: | Southwest Missouri State (assistant) |
| Coach Years5: | 1972–1974 |
| Coach Team5: | Moberly JC |
| Coach Years6: | 1974–1975 |
| Coach Team6: | Oklahoma (assistant) |
| Coach Years7: | 1975–1981 |
| Coach Team7: | Southeastern CC (IA) |
| Coach Years8: | 1981–1983 |
| Coach Team8: | Nebraska (assistant) |
| Coach Years9: | 1983–1992 |
| Coach Team9: | Southwest Missouri State |
| Coach Years10: | 1992–1999 |
| Coach Team10: | Saint Louis |
| Coach Years11: | 2001–2004 |
| Coach Team11: | UNLV |
| Overall Record: | 373–202 (college) 205–63 (junior college) |
| Tournament Record: | 3–8 (NCAA Division I) 3–5 (NIT) |
| Championships: | 4 Mid-Continent regular season (1987–1990) 2 Mid-Continent tournament (1987, 1989) MVC tournament (1992) |
| Awards: | Henry Iba Award (1994) 3x Mid-Continent Coach of the Year (1984, 1987, 1988) |
Charles Graham Spoonhour (June 23, 1939 – February 1, 2012) was an American 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.[1] 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 Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State).[2]
Ten years later, Spoonhour was on the staff of Nebraska coach Moe Iba, when he was hired as head coach of SMS 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,[2] they made it to the second round of the 1987 NCAA tournament as a #13-seed, beating fourth-seeded Clemson, 65–60, before losing to fifth-seeded Kansas, 67–63.[3]
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.
Spoonhour was known for wearing sweaters and slacks while coaching.
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.
On April 6, 2012, Spoonhour's son, Jay Spoonhour, was named the head men's basketball coach at Eastern Illinois University.