| Jay Spoonhour | |
| Current Title: | Assistant Coach |
| Current Team: | Missouri State |
| Current Conference: | Missouri Valley |
| Birth Date: | 14 October 1970 |
| Birth Place: | Springfield, Missouri, U.S. |
| Player Years1: | 1990–1994 |
| Player Team1: | Pittsburg State |
| Coach Years1: | 1994–1996 |
| Coach Team1: | Central Missouri State (GA) |
| Coach Years2: | 1996–1999 |
| Coach Team2: | Saint Louis (assistant) |
| Coach Years3: | 2000 |
| Coach Team3: | Valparaiso (assistant) |
| Coach Years4: | 2000–2001 |
| Coach Team4: | Wabash Valley |
| Coach Years5: | 2001–2004 |
| Coach Team5: | UNLV (assistant) |
| Coach Years6: | 2004 |
| Coach Team6: | UNLV (interim HC) |
| Coach Years7: | 2004–2006 |
| Coach Team7: | Missouri (GA) |
| Coach Years8: | 2006–2009 |
| Coach Team8: | UTSA (assistant) |
| Coach Years9: | 2009–2012 |
| Coach Team9: | Moberly Area CC |
| Coach Years10: | 2012–2021 |
| Coach Team10: | Eastern Illinois |
| Coach Years11: | 2023-Present |
| Coach Team11: | Missouri State (assistant) |
| Overall Record: | 224–189 (college) |
| Tournament Record: | 1–1 (CIT) |
| 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.
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.
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]