- Kurt Kanaskie
College coach infobox
Name = Kurt Kanaskie
Sport =Basketball
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DateOfBirth = birth date and age|1958|4|14
Birthplace =
DateOfDeath =
Deathplace =
College = La Salle
Title = Asst. coach
Awards =
Championships =
CurrentRecord =
OverallRecord = 269-243
Player = La Salle
Years =
Team = La Salle
Position =
Coach = *
CoachYears = 1980–1985
1985–1988
1988–1996
1996–2003
2003–present
CoachTeams = South Carolina asst.
Lock Haven
Indiana PA
Drake
Penn State asst.
CollegeHOFID =
BBallHOF =Kurt Kanaskie (born
April 14 ,1958 ), is an assistant head men's basketball coach atPenn State University . Prior to coaching the Nittany Lions, Kanaskie held head coaching positions at Drake, Indiana (Pa) and Lock HavenPreviously, Kanaskie served as the head coach at Drake for seven seasons (1996-2003) and was one of the most successful Division II head coaches in Pennsylvania history.
At Drake, Kanaskie inherited a program on NCAA probation with few scholarship players returning. Under Kanaskie, Drake posted the two worst records in the history of the school, 2-26 in 1996-97 and 3-24 in 1997-98. During those 2 seasons, Kanaskie was 0-36 in
Missouri Valley Conference games. Kanaskie was forced out at Drake in April 2003 after having compiled an overall record of 62-136, including 31-95 in the MVC,He was the 2000-01 MVC Coach of the Year runner-up.
Prior to his tenure at Drake, Kanaskie was head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) for eight seasons. Kanaskie inherited an IUP program that had posted four straight losing seasons and, after a first year of building a solid foundation, posted seven straight winning records. In 1993, IUP made the
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) semifinals for the first time in 16 years.The next season (`94-'95), IUP grabbed its first national ranking in school history (No. 5), earned an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time ever and advanced to the Elite Eight.
A year later (`95-'96), IUP earned a No. 1 national ranking and advanced to the national semifinals.
Kanaskie was twice named PSAC Coach of the Year, earned NABC District Coach of the Year honors twice and was twice named the Basketball Times National Coach of the Year.
Prior to his tenure at IUP, Kanaskie served as the head coach at nearby Lock Haven for three years (1985-88). He inherited a Bald Eagle program that was 18-84 over the previous four seasons and in his first year set a school record for wins with 15.
His LHU team reached the NCAA Tournament a year later and earned the school's first-ever national ranking. He was named PSAC Coach of the Year twice at LHU, giving him a total of four PSAC coaching awards.
The
Mechanicsburg , Pa., native began his coaching career as an assistant coach at theUniversity of South Carolina and served on the Gamecock staff for five seasons.Kanaskie was an All-State basketball player at
Cumberland Valley High School and earned his Bachelor of Science Degree from LaSalle University in 1980 and a Master of Business Administration from South Carolina in 1985.While at LaSalle, he earned All-
Big Five and All-East Coast Conference honors, was an Academic All-American, and left as the school's ninth all-time leading scorer. He was drafted by the NBA'sGolden State Warriors .External links
* [http://gopsusports.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/kanaskie_kurt00.html Penn State profile]
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