Zach Spiker
American basketball coach (born 1976)
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Zachary John Spiker (born September 30, 1976) is an American college basketball coach who is the current head basketball coach for the Drexel Dragons.
Spiker coaching at Army in 2011 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Drexel |
| Conference | CAA |
| Record | 146–161 (.476) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | September 30, 1976 Morgantown, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Ithaca College (2000) |
| Playing career | |
| 1996–2000 | Ithaca |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2000–2002 | Winthrop (GA) |
| 2004–2009 | Cornell (asst.) |
| 2009–2016 | Army |
| 2016–present | Drexel |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 2002–2004 | West Virginia (admin. asst.) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 248–273 (.476) |
| Tournaments | 0–1 (NCAA Division I) 0–1 (CIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Awards | |
| |
Early life
A native of Morgantown, West Virginia, Spiker attended The Hill School[1] before playing college basketball at Ithaca College.[2][3]
Coaching career
Cornell (2004-2009)
Spiker served for five years as assistant coach for Cornell Big Red under head coach Steve Donahue.[4] In 2009, he was hired by the Army Black Knights to replace the recently-fired Jim Crews.[5]
Army (2009—2016)
In the 2012–13 season, Spiker lead Army to its first overall winning record since 1984–85 (a drought of 28 years), and also the Black Knights' first ever winning record in the Patriot League. For his efforts, Spiker was named 2012-13 Patriot League Coach of the Year,[6] the first Army head coach in eleven years to win the award.[7]
Spiker has joined Bob Knight and Mike Krzyzewski as the only coaches in Army history to win at least 65 games in their first five seasons.[8]
In 2013–14, the Black Knights set a school record for wins in the Patriot League (10), had only their second season with a winning conference record, and had their first ever back-to-back seasons with winning conference records - all under Spiker.[citation needed]
Finally, under Spiker, Army had its first four-year streak of 15 plus wins (2012–16) since 1920–24.[9]
Drexel (2016–present)
On March 25, 2016, Spiker was hired as head coach of Drexel to replace former head coach Bruiser Flint.[10] His first year at Drexel concluded with a 9-23 record.[11]
On February 22, 2018, Spiker led Drexel to a 34-point comeback win over Delaware, the largest comeback win in Division 1 history.[12]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army Black Knights (Patriot League) (2009–2016) | |||||||||
| 2009–10 | Army | 14–15 | 4–10 | 8th | |||||
| 2010–11 | Army | 11–19 | 3–11 | 8th | |||||
| 2011–12 | Army | 12–18 | 5–9 | 6th | |||||
| 2012–13 | Army | 16–15 | 8–6 | 4th | |||||
| 2013–14 | Army | 15–16 | 10–8 | 5th | |||||
| 2014–15 | Army | 15–15 | 6–12 | 10th | |||||
| 2015–16 | Army | 19–14 | 9–9 | T–4th | CIT first round | ||||
| Army: | 102–112 (.477) | 45–65 (.409) | |||||||
| Drexel Dragons (Coastal Athletic Association) (2016–present) | |||||||||
| 2016–17 | Drexel | 9–23 | 3–15 | 10th | |||||
| 2017–18 | Drexel | 13–20 | 6–12 | T–7th | |||||
| 2018–19 | Drexel | 13–19 | 7–11 | T–6th | |||||
| 2019–20 | Drexel | 14–19 | 6–12 | 8th | |||||
| 2020–21 | Drexel | 12–8 | 4–5 | 6th | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2021–22 | Drexel | 15–14 | 10–8 | T–4th | |||||
| 2022–23 | Drexel | 17–15 | 10–8 | 5th | |||||
| 2023–24 | Drexel | 20–12 | 13–5 | 2nd | |||||
| 2024–25 | Drexel | 18–15 | 9–9 | T–7th | |||||
| 2025–26 | Drexel | 17–16 | 10–8 | T–5th | |||||
| Drexel: | 146–161 (.476) | 76–93 (.450) | |||||||
| Total: | 248–273 (.476) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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Personal life
He is married to Jennifer DePrez, a former college soccer player for the University of Rochester. They have 3 children.[13]